U.S. soccer team to feature intriguing dual nationals vs. El Salvador in Fort Lauderdale
Among the compelling story lines at the U.S. soccer team training camp in Fort Lauderdale this week is the invisible tug-of-war over six dual national players who at some point will have to decide which shirt they want to wear.
Three of the players training for Wednesday’s friendly against El Salvador at Inter Miami CF Stadium have dual passports with Mexico, one with Colombia, one with Nigeria and another could play for the United States, Nigeria or Canada.
U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter does not begrudge them for being torn. On the contrary. He said “it’s smart” for players at this early stage of their international career to explore their options.
One of the most promising players is Efrain Alvarez, the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 18-year-old midfielder, who was born in L.A., made his MLS debut at age 16, played for the U.S. Under15 team, then for Mexico’s U15 team and scored four goals in seven games for Mexico in last year’s Under-20 World Cup.
Mexico has been heavily recruiting him, as has the U.S. Soccer Federation.
Alvarez impressed Berhalter after his first practice Tuesday at the Inter Miami training grounds.
“What I saw from him in training is a guy you want around the ball, very creative, has a good change of pace, very good in tight spaces,” Berhalter said. “To me, it was really, really interesting to watch him. I can see him in an attacking midfield role, winger role, even in the 9 [center forward] role. He’s a quality player.”
To be eligible to play for the U.S. team in Wednesday’s 7:30 p.m. game, Alvarez would have to request an official switch from FIFA because he has played official FIFA games for Mexico.
“It’s a common thing in this day and age to have guys with dual passports, guys that have already participated for other countries, who have history in the United States but cultural ties to other countries,” Berhalter said. “We’re talking about really, really young players who have the world in front of them. All we want is to bring them into our environment and show them what we’re about and it’s up to them to make a decision where they end up committing to.
We’ll be fine with whatever decision they make, but I think it’s important for players to see what we do and how we work.”
He said he is not concerned when Alvarez — or others — bounce between one country’s camp and another’s.
“You can say he played for us and then he played for Mexico, and we’re going to hold that against him and we’re never going to call him in again, but that’s not the way we look at it,” Berhalter said. “You’re talking about extremely young players with cultural ties and emotions. I can understand a player making a decision like that. For us, it’s just about saying, `Hey, there is an open door and we want to create an environment players want to be in.’ We want to attract good, quality players and the rest is up to them and their families to decide.”
The other dual nationals in camp are: Orlando City midfielder Andrés Perea, a Colombian-American who was born in Tampa. He played for Colombia in the U17 and U20 World Cups. His Orlando teammate, forward Daryl Dike, is eligible for the U.S. team and Nigeria. Toronto FC forward Ayo Akinola has ties with USA, Nigeria and Canada. Portland Timbers defender Marco Farfan and LA Galaxy defender Julian Araujo are Mexican-Americans.
Mexican-American FC Cincinnati midfielder Frankie Amaya traveled to South Florida but was not allowed to participate after testing positive for COVID-19 upon arrival. Real Salt Lake goalkeeper David Ochoa injured a right quadriceps and was replaced Thursday by San Jose Earthquakes keeper JT Marcinkowski.
Five more players to watch:
▪ Walker Zimmerman: Inter Miami fans are familiar with the 6-3 Nashville SC center back, who makes life miserable for opponents and was voted 2020 MLS Defender of the Year. The 27-year-old has played 12 times for the U.S. team and scored twice. He last played on Feb. 1 in a 1-0 win over Costa Rica.
“He’s a great teammate, first and foremost,” Berhalter said of Zimmerman. “As a coach, you want him on your team. He’s a really good person to have on the field and off. He really brings the best out of his teammates. That’s a really important quality. He benefited from how Nashville played. They’re a very compact team. He is very good in duels, aggressive stepping forward in tight areas and winning balls and driving forward, those are in his skill set. He’s been in and out with us, but is always hanging around.”
▪ Daryl Dike: The 20-year-old Orlando City forward had a standout rookie season with eight goals and four assists in 17 games.
“We would most likely use the forward in a different way if Daryl was on the field because he’s such a physical presence,” Berhalter said. “He’s a guy you need to get the ball to. You saw what he did in the game against New England. He made it very hard for the center backs to play. Very physical, very aggressive, powerful. They just needed to get him the ball in the box more. I could imagine when he’s on the field, we’d look to get it to him in the penalty box either back to goal or on crosses to draw in defenders and perhaps lay off or take them on himself.”
▪ Ayo Akinola: Another 20-year-old who is a rising talent with Toronto FC. He was born in Detroit and moved to Canada as a child. He played for the U.S. youth national teams but is also eligible to represent Nigeria and Canada.
“Akinola has shown very good movement off the ball, is able to find space, good running behind the line,” Berhalter said. “Both he and Daryl are here for a reason. We told the players they’ve earned this call-up for what they do well, so keep doing that well and we’ll fit them into what we do.”
▪ Paul Arriola: The 25-year-old D.C. United midfielder is the most experienced player in this U.S. camp with 33 games under his belt. He played well in the 2019 Gold Cup but tore his right ACL and missed most of the 2020 MLS season. He returned to the field on Nov. 28 and played 21 minutes.
Asked why he brought Arriola into camp, Berhalter said: “He has been a fixture in this team since we took over. Unfortunately, he had this injury. We were thinking he was going to miss the first six games of qualifying, now with everything that’s happened in the world [schedule delays], it’s fortunate that he didn’t. Now we want to get him back into the fold as soon as possible.”
