The United States is still, in many ways, a third rate soccer nation. The nice side of that, however, is that you get wonderful stories like that of Troy Perkins. Troy started at DC United as a backup to Nick Rimando, and worked part-time at a sporting goods store to make ends meet while on a bench players wages in MLS (what a joke, btw) Troy worked his way into the starting spot on the team, never relinquished it, and was bought by a Norwegian club last winter. On Saturday, he will be on the United States squad for its game against Cuba. I suspect that if they win, and clinch qualification for the next stage, he might even get capped in the next USA match as it will be meaningless. From a sporting goods story to being called up to the USA’s first eleven. Americans just love those kinds of Kurt Warner-esque stories.
Steve Goff of The Washington Post, America’s best soccer writer in my view, has a great interview with Troy about his new life in Norway and what it means to play for his country.
On the other side of the coin, Giuseppe Rossi was born in New Jersey, started playing football professionally in Europe when he was 14, and is now 21 and a lethal striker at Spanish power Villareal (also the club of one Josmer Altidore). Rossi was born in the USA, but his parents are Italian, and he has always dreamed of playing for Italy.
This week, Rossi was called up to the Italian National team, which has been disappointing to some American fans who feel that Rossi ought to play for the country of his birth. As I understand it, he is tied to Italy forever as soon as he steps onto the field for the Azurri.
Despite the hand-wringing and implications that Rossi is a treasonous character by some American fans, lets not let our disappointment cloud our judgment. Rossi dreamed of playing for Italy, was told repeatedly he should play for America not because of a sense of national pride, but because he probably wouldn’t be good enough to play for Italian team (anyone who saw Italy in Euro2008 should have no hesitation in suspecting this to be false, given the collective showing of Toni, Cambiasso, et al.) He has bounced form club to club, country to country learning the game, working very hard, and is now on the precipice of turning seven years hard work into his childhood dream. Rossi might have spurned USA soccer, but he still represents the same Troy Perkins like story of determination and chasing one’s dreams, etc. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing him get his first cap for Italy.
