But the Canadian soccer system is broken, or rather it works in the sense that a machine which makes bad bread also, technically speaking, “works”. In the short term, players are not the ones who are going to reform the CSA (which is desperately needed).

I agree with the previous poster who suggested that if De Guzman were born in another soccer powerhouse and moved to Holland then it’s a fairer argument to have.

Off topic to finnster, as a former green card holder, I believe there will be a point when you’ll be asked if you want to get naturalized. It can get a bit complicated, but a family friend had held his green card for 15 plus year now and he is still not converting. I guess the fact that he owns a house here in the US helps even though he doesn’t really live here. I don’t know if he can still keep doing this, i.e.: request for extention for green card.

–H

I’m completely Dutch in ancestry from both sides of my family, my grandparents on both sides having moved to Canada. Despite the fact that my parents and I were born in Canada, for my entire life I’ve considered myself Dutch-Canadian. Canada is where I live, where I am a citizen and resident, but I still consider myself distinctly Dutch as well. Growing up my family always had a Dutch flavour to it, and in lots of small ways I could see the influence of being Dutch compared to my friends who’s families came from different countries.
I believe before you said your family came to American from Holland a long time ago, so perhaps you didn’t have that same “Dutch flavour” growing up, but for relatively recently immigrated families it is still a strong influence. For this reason I always thought that if I had the chance to choose to play for Holland or Canada (not very likely) I would choose Holland without hesitation. This is also one of the main reasons I choose to support Oranje before Canada.

In another case, for players with absolutely no ties to another country who just move there to get citizenship and then play for the national team (for example, the Brazilians on rich Arabic countries’ teams), I would also have to disagree with using citizenship/residency to determine national team eligibility.

As for Guzman and nationalities, this is an interesting discussion. I am afraid it is only going to get more complicated due to forces both commercial and social. I am not sure there will ever be a clear-cut way to determine a person’s nationality. But if they ever start allowing players to easily switch senior national teams, the end is near.

your posts are as eloquent and striking as always. This time you hit the nail in the head on a topic very dear to my heart. I was born a Norwegian, grew up in Norway, got educated in the UK, went back to Norway to work for a few years as a scientist after graduation. Proceeded to London and eventually landing in New York on April 8th, 1990. Have lived and worked here ever since. All my familiy live in a small fishing village of 12000 people.

Now, I am still a Norwegian citizen. Norway is one of those few countries that does not allow a second citizenship. If I were to become a US citizen, which I easily qualify for, I would technically have to give up my Norwegian one to stay within the bounds of the Norwegian law. What makes it even stranger is that I have a 12 year old daughter who was born and bred here (US) and of course is American. Yet, somehow I have never gotten myself to give up my Norwegian citizen ship.

I have no intention to move back to Norway or anywhere else anytime soon, yet I feel very strongly about not giving up that passport. I pay my US taxes on time, I am a law abiding citizen, have my green card which I had to qualify and apply for the hard way, speak the language, and try to do the best I can to help this country(US)in my own little ways to move forward.

My Norwegian citizenship will never be useful for anything, my daughter having a different passport is plain old weird, especially at certain Airports as we have to do different lines, yet I can not get myself to give that passport up. As a kid I ran track, and once I ran with the Norwegian flag on my chest, and that feeling of proudness will stay with me until I die.

The US have given me many things that I am forever grateful for. What I do not like, is people coming here (or elsewhere for that matter) and not make an honest effort to learn the language, the customs, get a job, contribute to society etc. We have them in the US, we have them in Norway, and I am sure we have them in Holland too. If you go visit someones house, your parents taught you to take off your shoes, your hat, be polite and abide with their rules as you are a guest. No diffrent if you should decide to move to another country. Does not mean you have to give up your culture (we have small, but very active, Norwegian society here in NY. I am sure there is a Dutch one too). But you should show respect for the country you decide to live in.

And yet, I am a die hard Oranje fan…Go figure…Blame it on Cruiff and Johan Neeskens.