American Born Giuseppe Rossi of Manchester United says he would consider playing for the US over Italy, who he has played with in the Youth Levels, if Arena puts him in the World Cup Squad. Is Rossi good enough to play in the 2006 World Cup?

There is an article in an Italian News Paper quoting Rossi as saying he would have to think hard if USA were to offer him a place on the US World Cup squad. Now in my mind, I would think Rossi would be among the 23 best players for America.
Now the more interesting question that arises is that Arena put in a request for Rossi for the Scotland game....the request was not turned into a call, meaning one of two things, Rossi turned Bruce down or Bruce decided it wasn't worth it to tempt Rossi for a meaningless friendly.
This kid can straight out play though. Whatever we have to do to get him, is well worth it in my book. He dominates the reserve league in England and he is only 18. Italy has turned him down numerous times, so his patience has to be getting thin and then he has to think of all the forwards he is behind in Italy. Cassano, Toni, Totti...
And yes, Rossi is good enough to play for us in Germany. He would be the supersub of the tournament.

Btw, Freddy played against Rossi at the youth level for their respective clubs, i believe freddy pulled it out 1-0 (i think i read that somewhere)

Edit:
As soon as I say this, Arena is quoted as saying he doesn't want Rossi. He thinks Rossi is just using USA as leverage to make Italy give him a call up sooner.
"Clearly he's not interested in playing for the U.S. team, and if he's not then we're not interested in having him," says Arena, who says he spoke with Rossi about the possibility of a call-up for the U.S.'s recent friendly against Scotland. "We're not chasing around 18-year-old players that can't get games for their club team and tell me they want to play for Italy. It's a futile exercise."
BURN!
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writ...draw/index.html
End of this topic, maybe we are still in line for George Weah Jr. now

can we turn this into a discussion on rossi then? i believe this kid has unforseen potential for the usa

in the near future, if he is to be pursuaded, rossi and adu on the same time would be KILLER

"We have decided to contact Adu to ask him to decide whether he would like to play for Ghana or the United States. We have just over a month to persuade him to come. I believe that if he has sentiment for Ghana, he will play for the Black Stars. And playing at the World Cup would be a big opportunity for him to show the rest of the world, not just America, that he is a great (soccer player)."
-- Ghana coach Ratomir Dujkovic, telling BBC Sport the Black Stars hope to convince 16-year-old Freddy Adu to play for them in the World Cup. Adu has played for the USA in U-17 and U-20 FIFA world championships but is eligible to play for the USA or his native Ghana in the World Cup.
FromSoccer America

My thought is that they will tell freddy that they will be sure to play him this world cup. That will get freddy to thinking, but in the end I think he will stay with the US. Just to clear up, if freddy plays with the Ghana mens national team once there is no going back to the US and Vice Versa. That is why I came to my conclusion.

already a topic on this

i would rather see him play for his home country...not his adopted country

I dunno...he was born in Ghana, but grew up in the US, hr moved her when he was 6! He's lived here longer, and this is where he first started playing organized soccer. I think the US is only place he should consider.

who r u talking about..rossi or adu?..because i was talking about rossi...but same applies for adu if u were talking about him

then what country are you talking about? Italy or USA?
He was born in America.

hes talking about adu being born in ghana

He'll play for Italy, simply because the Azurri are the better country to play for. As much as I dislike the Italians, they always have a good team and the USA are just not a football country. Doesn't matter where you are born, it's about where your heart lies. That's why Kalou (born in the Ivory Coast) wants to play for Holland.

I would disagree about the examples above with "where their heart lies." I think many people make their choice based on which team they think has a better chance of doing well. Rossi is a case in point. I would think that he would feel more strongly tied to the United States since he spent more time there. But it looks like he is more of the opinion of playing with Italy, most likely for the reasons you laid out above.

Frankly, I know on paper, Italy has a MUCH better team than the United States. But recent history provides a very mediocre report card for Italy. While winning their qualifying group, it was hardly a difficult group and it wasn't particularly impressive. In the Euro 2002, they showed some very uninspiring stuff.

I'm more scared of Ghana right now actually. Italy, as I said, CLEARLY has a ton of talent. However, their results don't seem to be commensurate to that talent. Perhaps they just haven't found the right chemistry. Perhaps Luca Toni will provide them with the last piece of the puzzle. But right now, while I'd much rather face Trinidad & Tobago, I'm certainly not counting my country out against Italy.

I never said the USA don't stand a chance against Italy, in a WC everbody can beat eachother. If he plays for Italy things get easier for him. Little things like traveling for international games, because he will keep playing for European Club teams.

That is certainly true. I don't think it is much of a factor in people's choice of what nation to play for. I think you were right, he thinks Italy has a better chance of doing well in competitions.

How entertaing would it then be if the US team advanced out of the group & Italy did not (aside from all of the conspiracy theories from the Italian media)?

Anyway, I've not seen him play so I really don't know if he "belongs" on either of the national teams (yet).

i bet if US beats italy in world cup then Rossi might really consider playing for us

I'm with Bruce on this one. We have more important things to focus on in the upcoming months than a youngster who doesn't even want to play for us.

Bruce has dismissed Rossi from his mind, so I guess that's why I think he's a miserable jerk in mine.

As I understand it, it is more that Rossi shut the door by declining and invitation for the Scotland game. With the WC fast approaching, it seems that Rossi made it clear that he wasn't interested.

he'll never play for italy, what a moron

Rossi will be keeping his options open, I don't think he will of completly shut the door on USA, Italy is a place very close to him no just because of his nationality ties but he's played with them at sub-20 level etc so I think he'll decide on a team he would prefer to play for in time, he's only young he mght regret a decision if he made it now.