ITALIAN-american

Giuseppe Rossi was born in Teaneck, New Jersey, a New York City suburb of just under 40,000 residents. New Jersey also happens to be the birthplace of another important American in football, Bob Bradley, the head coach of the US National Team. Rossi is the son of two Italian immigrants who met in America. Both of his parents worked at Clifton High School, where Rossi was raised. Giuseppe Rossi, however, felt that his allegiance was to the country of his ancestry and not the country of his birth. This is why Rossi chose to play for the Italian National team and not the United States.

Rossi's age, experience, and performance have made him one of the most sought after footballers in Europe. Rossi has played for Serie A's Parma, English Premier League sides Manchester United and Newcastle, and is currently playing for La Liga's Villarreal, where another young American is trying to make a name for himself across the pond, former New York Red Bull Jozy Altidore. But unlike Altidore, Rossi is not trying to gain experience at a higher level to add to his ability to play well for the US National Team.

Instead, the 21 year-old Rossi chose to challenge the likes of Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino for a spot as a first team striker on the reigning World Cup Champion Italian side. Rossi had gone through the ranks of the Italian National Team, playing for the Italian under-16, under-17, under-18, and under-21 teams. He has cemented his commitment to his newly adopted nationality by gaining his first international cap (which denotes when a player plays for his national team). Rossi made his debut for the Italian senior team on October 11, 2008 against Bulgaria making him all but ineligible to play for the country of his birth.

This is one of the reasons why soccer seemingly will never be as popular on this side of the Atlantic as it is where Rossi decided to hang his "cap". If American born players choose to represent the countries of their ancestry and not the country where they were born (and in Rossi's case, where he would be the first name on the team-sheet) the sport will continue to flounder on US soil. No amount of David Beckhams or Juan Pablo Angels can change the fortunes of this wonderful game in America. It is the Jozy Altidores and the Clint Dempseys and, in a perfect world, the Giuseppe Rossis who would lead this game into American's hearts. The only way to do it is through the World Cup, and not just hosting it like in 1994, but making news on the pitch. Altidore, Dempsey, Landon Donovan, and Freddy Adu must lead the US National side deep into the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. That is how to make Americans pay attention to the most popular sport in the world, not with flashy imported stars like Beckham.

Then maybe a future young Italian-American will chose the country on the other side of the hyphen to represent after he scores his first goal.