If nothing else, the appointment of Jurgen Klinsmann as U.S. national team coach should mean an inside track with the now familiar tradition of German-bred American players. It started 20 years ago with former defender Thomas Dooley and currently includes midfielder Jermaine Jones, who is the son of an American serviceman and a German mother.
But Klinsmann hasn’t exactly gotten off to a good start.
Timmy Chandler has been lauded as the next great player of German-American lineage. The 20-year-old defender, who made his U.S. debut last year, was included on the initial list of 20 players for this week’s friendly against Mexico until he was scratched late Friday because he was “working back to full fitness after suffering an injury setback in advance of the start of the Bundesliga season,” according to U.S. Soccer.
Sure enough, Chandler then started and played a full 90 minutes Saturday for his Bundesliga club, FC Nuremberg, in its season-opening 1-0 victory at Hertha Berlin.
Despite having played for the United States, questions have risen repeatedly about Chandler’s allegiance, including earlier this summer when he rejected a chance to play in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, a tournament that would have tied him to the U.S. program. Chandler cited a long first season with Nuremberg’s first team as his reason at the time.
In both that case and last week, U.S. Soccer’s attempts to protect the player have served only to increase speculation, not stifle it.
Fortunately, Chandler reportedly has committed to be a part of matches against Costa Rica and Belgium in early September.
