Eligibility Rules, Okay

[tetsujin1979]

an early version of this article - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/aiden-mcgeady-is-still-trying-to-dispel-the-doubters-30556184.html - included the lines

Aiden, now 28, attempted to have his first born in Ireland so he could follow in his footsteps. His second and third children were both born in Russia so none of his children, should they have the talent, will be eligible for Ireland.
which isn't true, they would only be ineligible if they were born before he got his Irish citizenship, so they are eligible

[BonnieShels]

Provided he places them in the foreign births register before ethey reach 18.

[geysir]

an early version of this article - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/aiden-mcgeady-is-still-trying-to-dispel-the-doubters-30556184.html - included the lines
Aiden, now 28, attempted to have his first born in Ireland so he could follow in his footsteps. His second and third children were both born in Russia so none of his children, should they have the talent, will be eligible for Ireland.

which isn't true, they would only be ineligible if they were born before he got his Irish citizenship, so they are eligible

I think the article has it correct.
Irish nationality is not enough on its own to qualify McGeady's children for Ireland.
If they were born outside Ireland, then they have to qualify under the criteria of article 7 and they only have Irish born great grandparents.

[geysir]

And I want 3 get-out-of-jail-scot-free cards for this clean-up job of a deliberate misinformation sabotage in the eligibility thread.

[BonnieShels]

The issue is acquiring the Nationality through residency after 18.

They'll acquire it without residency provided Aiden does the paperwork. Shouldn't be an issue.

[Olé Olé]

I think the article has it correct.
Irish nationality is not enough on its own to qualify McGeady's children for Ireland.
If they were born outside Ireland, then they have to qualify under the criteria of article 7 and they only have Irish born great grandparents.

That is one valid point that I can draw with this waffle from Ally Ross.
http://greenscene.me/2011/01/trapattoni-and-mccarthy-in-quotes/

Hell mend them both, because the fact is playing careers are very short. Once that is over, and assuming he doesn’t go to live in Ireland (these football converts never do) he will be a stranger in his own land. His world has just shrunk. And not just in terms of the millions of Scotland fans who will no longer smile in his direction. Commercially he’s a bad lot

McGeady's old man was on the books of Sheffield United himself for a spell but his career was cut short. Fair to say football is in the genes there.

It's an interesting one though. If McGeady is the last of his family tree that can declare for Ireland without being born here then the next generation wouldn't be eligible.

Not sure if I'm too late on this one but somebody should tell McCarthy to make sure his partner arranges a birth here!

[The Fly]

And what of England's current great white hope, Raheem Sterling, who was born in Jamaica? I doubt Sky mention that inconvenient truth.

I think most viewers get that one already.

[geysir]

The issue is acquiring the Nationality through residency after 18.

They'll acquire it without residency provided Aiden does the paperwork. Shouldn't be an issue.
The issue is eligibility to play for Ireland, for an irish national who has acquired his nationality through descent. I say the criteria of article 7 applies.
Under that criteria, they don't qualify unless they spend at least 5 years in residence > age 18.

Only one exception afaiaa,
should McGeady moves to ireland with his children and they grow up here or his children come here to take up residence and go to school here for some years before the age of 18 , then that goes a long way for them to be regarded by FIFA, as article 5 eligible.

[samhaydenjr]

OK, so the Sky Sports tweet mentioned earlier on seemed to be implying that half the Irish team are only choosing to pull on the green shirt as some sort of "jersey of convenience" and have a very limited emotional connection to the country - so let's have a quick look at the ten players born outside the island of Ireland (a good opportunity, also, for an overall "gut-check" on the part of us all):

1. Aiden McGeady - grandparents from the Gaeltacht; singled out by Rangers fans for particular abuse in the anti-Irish "Famine Song"; wanted to have an Irish-born child so they could play for us
2. James McCarthy - fulfilling pledge to dying grandfather (as I understand it); has come through the underage system with us; rebuffed a number of attempts to get him to switch allegiance
3. Ciaran Clark - Mother/both parents are Irish; switched from England set-up at the age of 21 when it could be considered that he was still a good prospect for their senior team
4. Richard Keogh - Referred to captaining the team (in a friendly against Oman!) as "the proudest moment of my career by a long way"; has lobbied for inclusion in the squad so openly and enthusiastically that TOWK considers it unseemly.
5. David McGoldrick - Brought up in Irish household; wanted to play for us but thought he was ineligible due to being adopted before actively researching his bloodline to find a connection; in the interview on his own thread mentions that he always got Irish players' signatures on his programmes as a kid; in the same interview gets a wee bit emotional when talking about his happiness at his paperwork finally coming through; turned down Scotland.
6. Jonathan Walters - Irish mother, who sadly passed away when he was young
7. Alex Pearce - said "The country I have always wanted to play for is Ireland."
8. Rob Elliot - Family from People's Republic of Cork; said “We have always been cricket England and football Ireland in my family"; played underage for us; enthusiastic about being part of the squad even though he realises that we've "got three top keepers – and one of them is my best friend in football – Darren Randolph, so I can’t really complain.”
9. & 10. Anthony Pilkington & Cyrus Christie - OK so these two lads would probably be considered clear "granny-rulers" - one Irish grandparent each and haven't expressed any particular emotional connection to Ireland prior to call-up. But they would probably pass the Clinton Morrison granny-ruler gut test as laid out Clinton in a recent RTE interview, when asked about the Mark Noble issue: They were asked to commit at a point in their respective careers when they could have held out reasonable hope of future involvement for England, they considered it and got on board without messing us about. Also, three words: Lawrenson, Aldridge, Townsend.

[gastric]

OK, so the Sky Sports tweet mentioned earlier on seemed to be implying that half the Irish team are only choosing to pull on the green shirt as some sort of "jersey of convenience" and have a very limited emotional connection to the country - so let's have a quick look at the ten players born outside the island of Ireland (a good opportunity, also, for an overall "gut-check" on the part of us all):

1. Aiden McGeady - grandparents from the Gaeltacht; singled out by Rangers fans for particular abuse in the anti-Irish "Famine Song"; wanted to have an Irish-born child so they could play for us
2. James McCarthy - fulfilling pledge to dying grandfather (as I understand it); has come through the underage system with us; rebuffed a number of attempts to get him to switch allegiance
3. Ciaran Clark - Mother/both parents are Irish; switched from England set-up at the age of 21 when it could be considered that he was still a good prospect for their senior team
4. Richard Keogh - Referred to captaining the team (in a friendly against Oman!) as "the proudest moment of my career by a long way"; has lobbied for inclusion in the squad so openly and enthusiastically that TOWK considers it unseemly.
5. David McGoldrick - Brought up in Irish household; wanted to play for us but thought he was ineligible due to being adopted before actively researching his bloodline to find a connection; in the interview on his own thread mentions that he always got Irish players' signatures on his programmes as a kid; in the same interview gets a wee bit emotional when talking about his happiness at his paperwork finally coming through; turned down Scotland.
6. Jonathan Walters - Irish mother, who sadly passed away when he was young
7. Alex Pearce - said "The country I have always wanted to play for is Ireland."
8. Rob Elliot - Family from People's Republic of Cork; said “We have always been cricket England and football Ireland in my family"; played underage for us; enthusiastic about being part of the squad even though he realises that we've "got three top keepers – and one of them is my best friend in football – Darren Randolph, so I can’t really complain.”
9. & 10. Anthony Pilkington & Cyrus Christie - OK so these two lads would probably be considered clear "granny-rulers" - one Irish grandparent each and haven't expressed any particular emotional connection to Ireland prior to call-up. But they would probably pass the Clinton Morrison granny-ruler gut test as laid out Clinton in a recent RTE interview, when asked about the Mark Noble issue: They were asked to commit at a point in their respective careers when they could have held out reasonable hope of future involvement for England, they considered it and got on board without messing us about. Also, three words: Lawrenson, Aldridge, Townsend.


And you think that makes it okay? How dare they not show allegiance to Engerland, that wonderful footballing nation? It is really hard to get good objective commentary these days and you Sammy have shown more objectivity and understanding than some Sky tw#t.
Well done!

[punkrocket]

I'd add Kilbane to that wee list.

[jbyrne]

john aldridge always strongly defends his Irish links on twitter and obviously still considers Ireland his team.

[Stuttgart88]

I'd add Kilbane to that wee list.

Ah Jaysus, is he back in the squad? A useless, lumbering, one trick...oh, wait, we love him now :)

[tetsujin1979]

OK, so the Sky Sports tweet mentioned earlier on seemed to be implying that half the Irish team are only choosing to pull on the green shirt as some sort of "jersey of convenience" and have a very limited emotional connection to the country - so let's have a quick look at the ten players born outside the island of Ireland (a good opportunity, also, for an overall "gut-check" on the part of us all):

1. Aiden McGeady - grandparents from the Gaeltacht; singled out by Rangers fans for particular abuse in the anti-Irish "Famine Song"; wanted to have an Irish-born child so they could play for us
2. James McCarthy - fulfilling pledge to dying grandfather (as I understand it); has come through the underage system with us; rebuffed a number of attempts to get him to switch allegiance
3. Ciaran Clark - Mother/both parents are Irish; switched from England set-up at the age of 21 when it could be considered that he was still a good prospect for their senior team
4. Richard Keogh - Referred to captaining the team (in a friendly against Oman!) as "the proudest moment of my career by a long way"; has lobbied for inclusion in the squad so openly and enthusiastically that TOWK considers it unseemly.
5. David McGoldrick - Brought up in Irish household; wanted to play for us but thought he was ineligible due to being adopted before actively researching his bloodline to find a connection; in the interview on his own thread mentions that he always got Irish players' signatures on his programmes as a kid; in the same interview gets a wee bit emotional when talking about his happiness at his paperwork finally coming through; turned down Scotland.
6. Jonathan Walters - Irish mother, who sadly passed away when he was young
7. Alex Pearce - said "The country I have always wanted to play for is Ireland."
8. Rob Elliot - Family from People's Republic of Cork; said “We have always been cricket England and football Ireland in my family"; played underage for us; enthusiastic about being part of the squad even though he realises that we've "got three top keepers – and one of them is my best friend in football – Darren Randolph, so I can’t really complain.”
9. & 10. Anthony Pilkington & Cyrus Christie - OK so these two lads would probably be considered clear "granny-rulers" - one Irish grandparent each and haven't expressed any particular emotional connection to Ireland prior to call-up. But they would probably pass the Clinton Morrison granny-ruler gut test as laid out Clinton in a recent RTE interview, when asked about the Mark Noble issue: They were asked to commit at a point in their respective careers when they could have held out reasonable hope of future involvement for England, they considered it and got on board without messing us about. Also, three words: Lawrenson, Aldridge, Townsend.
Walters played for us at U21 level, before dropping down the divisions to play regular football.
Pilkington played U19 football for us too, took his time confirming his allegiance to the senior squad though.

[Straightstory]

OK,. Also, three words: Lawrenson, Aldridge, Townsend.
I think if any of those three had been approached by England before Ireland, they would have chosen England. Let's face it, most footballers are mercenaries.

[Olé Olé]

4. Richard Keogh - Referred to captaining the team (in a friendly against Oman!) as "the proudest moment of my career by a long way"; has lobbied for inclusion in the squad so openly and enthusiastically that TOWK considers it unseemly.
5. David McGoldrick - Brought up in Irish household; wanted to play for us but thought he was ineligible due to being adopted before actively researching his bloodline to find a connection; in the interview on his own thread mentions that he always got Irish players' signatures on his programmes as a kid; in the same interview gets a wee bit emotional when talking about his happiness at his paperwork finally coming through; turned down Scotland.


In this interview here, Keogh explains his father was born and bred in County Carlow before emigrating and that declaring for us was a 'no-brainer' (in all respect, he probably wasn't sought after by England, slightly different situation to Clark):
http://www.thescore.ie/richard-keogh-ireland-scotland-1777259-Nov2014/

That David McGoldrick one is an awesome story, as far as I can see. (I'll try and be very sensitive here, it's a tricky one) But he was adopted by a family who, as far as I know, are quite Irish. By deduction, it's likely he stood out from the rest of his family in terms of his race. The fact that he thought that he couldn't declare for Ireland probably added to any distinction that may have existed or have been perceived. As an aside, it's interesting to note that he and Leon Best came up through the ranks at Notts County- someone who had an Irish upbringing (Irish mother, time spent here) and played up front. Envious, surely.

Then, he gets in touch with his birth parent and, lo and behold, he does indeed have a Irish 'blood' coarsing through him. Great stuff.

[Stuttgart88]

Whatever about other doubts (minor, but there nonetheless and I personally think exaggerated by TOWK) I don't think anyone's gut would rumble at Keogh's "Irishness".

[Fixer82]

I must say (off topic) that it is a pleasure to be on a forum where people write and spell well.
Have been looking through comments on Irish team on Score.ie and I actually leave it in bad form with the morons and their ill-formed and badly worded opinions.

Back to topic, I really wish Keogh well (especially now that I live in Carlow). He seems like a good honest player.
I felt his concentration lapsed at times in the past for us but if one part of our game has improved under O'Neill, it has been our defensive concentration.
Although, at the start of Trap's tenure, that was also a notable element of our style

[BonnieShels]

john aldridge always strongly defends his Irish links on twitter and obviously still considers Ireland his team.

He did it again on OTB last night.

As regards them picking England over us, they didn't so forget about it. Can we complain about any of them in an Irish shirt?

Aldridge, McGrath and Keane were my favourite players growing up sure. Heart wasn't wanting at all.

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

I will put it this way.

The last thing I want after a performance like his performance against Portugal is for him to go to the media (AGAIN) and wax lyrical about what a fantastic team they are - which they aren't, they regularly struggle to break down teams like Liechtenstein - and completely deflect attention away from, and ignore, how poor his own performance was.

I think the lad needs to do his talking on the pitch. He is a squad player. IDK why he is doing so much media time for Ireland. He's vocal about wanting to be in the team to the point where he was talking as if he was starting against Scotland several days ago. I get it. Everyone wants to be in the team not just him.

I know I'm fighting a losing battle with this one, which I completely understand this time. I am simply baffled as to why there is always several media interviews with him before and after every single game; more than O'Shea, Clark & Pearce put together.

[BonnieShels]

Remember that time we struggled to break down Liechtenstein. Sh1t happens. Teams like Liechtenstein and the Faroes HAVE to set up a certain way to counteract the bigger teams like France and Portugal. We shouldn't. Our inept performance against Portugal also came just before a world cup at the end of a long season.

Were you full of praise for our result v Costa Rica who we clearly underestimated.

Anyway, this has feck all to do with eligibility.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Aldo' was mediocre for Ireland at best, can't recall who he was up against for a place. But didn't like him for us and once told him to his face. He wasn't happy, but unlike some, he took it!

Never rated him or Townsend for Ireland, but nothing to do with their roots or heritage.

[Fixer82]

Aldo' was mediocre for Ireland at best, can't recall who he was up against for a place. But didn't like him for us and once told him to his face. He wasn't happy, but unlike some, he took it!

Never rated him or Townsend for Ireland, but nothing to do with their roots or heritage.

What? You didn't rate Townsend or Aldridge?
Jeez there's no pleasing some

[ArdeeBhoy]

Pair of tossers. It happens. Even preferred a certain Corkonian, which is saying something.

[Fixer82]

Pair of tossers. It happens. Even preferred a certain Corkonian, which is saying something.


Pair of tossers personally you mean?
I honestly couldnt care what they're like in person once they do the job on the field

[Fixer82]

Although if you told me to my face I was mediocre at best I think I'd be a bit of a tosser to you

[Charlie Darwin]

To be fair, if he said it in a Louth accent there's every chance Aldo just didn't have a clue what he said :)

[Stuttgart88]

My brother, who has a foot on the autism spectrum, if not two, met Mark Calcavecchia once and said he was a pig ignorant so and so. Then I thought of how my brother has verbal diarrhoea, can never understand personal boundaries and can never get when he is going too far or tell the mood of a conversation. Now, I'm not saying AB is anything like that, but for some reason a burly golfer popped into my head.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Hah, just always came across as tossers playing for Ireland. Aldo' can't have that been bad, he gave me a mouthful of Scouse back, whereas can't imagine Townsend having the same fire in his belly.

Different times, but personally never rated either as an international footballer.

McGrath, Houghton, O'Leary, now you're talking...
:wink:

[ArdeeBhoy]

Now, I'm not saying AB is anything like that, but for some reason a burly golfer popped into my head.

John Daly?

[Fixer82]

John Daly?

No, Mark Calcavecchia

[ArdeeBhoy]

But he's not eligible...
Unlike Daly?

Plus no idea who he is.

[Fixer82]

Daly could certainly cover a good chunk of the goal

[Stuttgart88]

Calcavecchia won the British open in the 80s and still plays that tourney every year. One of the better golfers of his era. Drinks four pints of beer, no more and no less, every day.

[punkrocket]

All right maybe he's not great in the silky skills dept. but I thought we were discussing the commitment to the cause dept. which he had in abundance

[punkrocket]

Ah Jaysus, is he back in the squad? A useless, lumbering, one trick...oh, wait, we love him now :)

Oops meant to fire in a quote there.

[liamoo11]

an early version of this article - http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/football/international/aiden-mcgeady-is-still-trying-to-dispel-the-doubters-30556184.html - included the lines

which isn't true, they would only be ineligible if they were born before he got his Irish citizenship, so they are eligible

heard really interesting nterview bout erskine childers former president. fianna fail had to change the citenzen laws to allow him become a citizen before he became minister as his father who were a strong anti treaty man was executed in 1922 and was an englishman

[BonnieShels]

He became a naturalised citizen in 1938. There was no need to change laws for him.

He became an Irish citizen under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1935 whose main body of effect was kept in the 1937 constitution.

[liamoo11]

He became a naturalised citizen in 1938. There was no need to change laws for him.

He became an Irish citizen under the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Act 1935 whose main body of effect was kept in the 1937 constitution.


thank you, The interview said that the act allowed government to bestow citzenship on someone who provided an exceptional service to the country. is that how mcgeadys sons could play for ireland?

[BonnieShels]

That Act exists but it didn't apply to Erskine.

The kids will already have Irish citizenship or an entitlement to Irish citizenship through their father.

[Stuttgart88]

Passionate stuff from Steven Reid here

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/european-championships/we-need-to-learn-from-parkhead-and-turn-aviva-into-a-fortress-30749419.html

[TheOneWhoKnocks]

Why does he watch Ireland matches with Harry Redknapp & Mauricio Isla?

[osarusan]

Passionate stuff from Steven Reid here

http://www.independent.ie/sport/soccer/european-championships/we-need-to-learn-from-parkhead-and-turn-aviva-into-a-fortress-30749419.html
Found this very interesting:

In total, under six different managers, including Noel King as caretaker boss for the victory over Kazakhstan last year, we have played 30 competitive home games since the 2002 World Cup and won just 13 of those, drawing 11 and losing six.

Worse again, those 13 wins were almost entirely against lower-ranked teams, Gibraltar, Kazakhstan, Macedonia, Cyprus (twice), Georgia (twice), the Faroes (twice), Albania, Wales and San Marino.

The 1-0 victory over Slovakia in 2007 under Steve Staunton stands out as a time when we went toe-to-toe against a higher ranked nation and came out on top. Otherwise the years post 2002 have been characterised by near misses.

We drew against Italy, Bulgaria, Austria, the Czechs, Russia and Israel despite taking the lead in all those games. We lost 2-1 to Sweden last year after going 1-0 up.

Makes for pretty bleak reading when it's all laid out like that.


EDIT: probably better in the...'world ranking' thread, maybe? Not here anyway.

[Irwin3]

Came across the case of Gedion Zelalem and it seems to confirm the premise that acquiring citizenship and a passport as a minor is enough to acquire eligibility to play for that nation.

Born in Germany to Ethiopian parents. Moved to USA at the age of 9. Moved to England at the age of 16. His father has now naturalized as a USA citizen last month, and due to the fact that Gedion was under 18 at the time of this happening he also acquires this. He actually turns 18 later this month so the father got this through just in time so that it is automatically passed down.

The USMNT has congratulated Gedion and confirmed that they are getting the FIFA wheels in motion to transfer him. He did represent German youth teams in 2012-13.

So it seems to me that it confirms that acquiring a nationality as a minor counts as it being a 'permanent nationality' and that this is all that is required for such a player to become eligible for the new country.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/soccer-insider/wp/2014/12/30/everything-you-need-to-know-about-u-s-prospect-gedion-zelalem/

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2318729-usmnt-watch-gedion-zelalem-now-a-us-citizen-mix-diskerud-still-out-of-contract

[ArdeeBhoy]

Boo.
Ethiopia or Germany, no-one else.

[Stuttgart88]

Boo.
Ethiopia or Germany, no-one else.
I agree, but equally it's a really good post by Irwin3. Very interesting.

[geysir]

The discussion about minors (under 18) took place in the Noe Baba thread (http://foot.ie/threads/174112-Noe-Baba?highlight=noi+baba) a while back, Irwin had asked a good question then, but I had thought (mistakingly?) it was proven beyond doubt there. The evidence of children of immigrants to Switzerland was proof positive of this. One has to consider that no kid u18 can legally apply for a passport without parental/guardian consent. The nationality the immigrant kid assumes, is automatically granted when the parents application is accepted, the kid does not not have to apply seperately for nationality. The parents have to acquired a new nationality, but the kid is granted the nationality automatically. Gideon's US citizenship actually becomes his default citizenship if he choses so.

If the father had applied after Gideon reached 18, then Gedion would have had to apply for US citizenship on his own and then most probably he would have reside in the US before and during his application process.

[Irwin3]

Yeah, I was certainly thinking of the Noe Baba discussions when this news appeared. It certainly seems to reinforce the notion as seen through other various examples that acquiring nationality/passport as a minor fulfills FIFA eligibilty despite this not being explicitly stated in the statutes.

Another thing is that Gideon played for Germany before being made a USA citizen. He is now asking FIFA to change nationality. I thought the rule was you could only change associations after representing a country if you had always been eligible for the country you now want to change to. I'm guessing that it's another case where if you are a minor the rule is waived or the new nationality is retrospectively applied as always having been there.

I'm now reminded of another possible complication for Gideon down the line which I read when Besic was signing for Everton. German nationality law.

It looks like you might be able to keep both until you're 23.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_nationality_law#Birth_in_Germany
"Such children will be required to apply to retain German citizenship by the age of 23. Assuming this law is not changed or overturned by a court, these persons will normally be required to prove they do not hold any other foreign citizenship. The only exceptions are EU citizens and citizens of countries where it is impossible to lose your citizenship, like Morocco, Nigeria or Iran, for example."

The Besic transfer was delayed for several weeks and there was speculation that he would need a work permit but didn't currently have enough international appearances. Besic was signed presumably as a German national (not sure where you can check if a player is a non-eu). Besic turns 23 later this year and so should theoretically lose his German citizenship seeing as he has taken his parents Bosnian citizenship. By this point I think he would have enough appearances to then apply and qualify for a work permit as a Bosnian, if this is necessary.

So going from that Gideon might lose his German citizenship at 23. Seeing as he is now living and working in England under his German passport that would be strange if he had to give it up in 5 years time and reapply as a USA citizen under a work permit. He better hope he gets lots of caps.

[geysir]

Yeah, the discussion with Noe Baba was a bit different, the significance with Gideon's case is that his US nationality appears to be backdated with a DeLorean 'back to the future' stroke of ingenuity but we do have to see that FIFA are in agreement with this interpretation. The thing is though, is he recognised as being capped by Germany? u16 games don't count and he only played one u17 friendly, afaia that does not count as playing for Germany.
I think he will be able to declare for the US based on art 5 (the front door), I think he has a permanent USA nationality not based on residency and will still have the option to change until he is capped in a senior competitive game by the USA. Even if he hasn't a permanent USA nationality, I don't think it matters in his case because he hasn't actually played for Germany.

A side note, I came across Frank Zappa's flexible definition of a country, which to AB's comfort, Gibraltar don't even manage to pass.
"You can't be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline - it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer."

Afaia, Gibraltar don't have their own home brewed beer.

[Irwin3]

Yeah, I think you're correct. Since he didn't represent Germany in a competitive fixture he won't be using his one-time change of association ticket. But presumably he is still currently registered as a German footballer and will now be registered as a USA footballer. So he should still have this one-time change available if he wants to switch in the future and doesn't represent the USA in an official competitive senior match.

Indeed, it would have been interesting to have seen whether this move would have been permitted if they had been official appearances for Germany seeing as he wasn't a USA citizen at the time. (Article 8, 1. a))