I've seen many Americans playing on foreign teams.  How are they eligible to do this?
99811
I am unaware of many (if any) circumstances where this is the case - I assume you are refering to hockey, since there aren't that many other team sports in the Olympics? Are you sure the people you believe to be American in fact are? Many NHL players who play for American teams are not actually American.\n\nIn other cases, there may be individuals with dual citizenship who choose to represent the other country they have nationality for. It is within their legal rights to do this, if they have a residence there.
994780
First off, your nation must be an association in FIFA. There are currently 207 associations in FIFA.\n\nSecond, your team must qualify (until its the host nation, like Germany this year, then you get an automatic bid). Now, the qualification process is different in each zone or continent. In most cases, a team must play anywhere from 10-20 games in the qualification process. However, many nations are eliminated from qualifying after only two games.\n\nEach zone gets a set number of teams to send to the World Cup. For example, Africa got 5. Some zones get "half-teams", like Asia which got 4.5. What they do is the top 4 teams from Asia automatically qualify for the World Cup, the fifth place team must play a home-and-away series against a team from another zone which had a "half-team". The winner of that series qualifies for the World Cup.
67379
Become? Man....its huge!! Ok in comparison to other countries...no, true we are not. But on the amateur level it is huge. Starting out kids at such an early age and playing all through college. Travel teams.......etc. The USA women's soccer team came to my hometown with Mia Hamm and played Canada's team and our entire stadium was filled. There is a huge fan base because of all of the young generations that play. I don't know that we'll have multiple teams ever like football or baseball on the pro level. But we have an excellent USA team and wonderful fans. If we aren't there yet, I feel we at least are on our way. :)
488042
I highly doubt it.  They only have one player on their squad from international play and that makes it very hard to qualify against players who get so much competition in Premier league, Serie A, and Spanish Primera.  They haven't gotten past the first round and thats call for inexperience.
428024
Typically there are no try-outs for NBA teams.  Most often, a player obtains an agent and declares himself eligible for the draft.  The teams will have workouts and scrimmages to watch the players in action.  \nYou can ask them for more details via email here:\nhttp://www.nba.com/email_us/
377354
All teams play in their domestic (home country) leagues. Teams finishing in the top 2, 3 or 4 places (depending on previous success) qualify for the UEFA Champions League. Teams from the major European countries (Spain, Italy, England, Germany) usually have three of four qualifiers. It is called the 'Champions League' because until 1993 a team had to win the national championship to qualify. Alas, this is no longer a requirement and teams can become 'Champions of Europe' without winning their own domestic league first.\nTeams from less succesful nations (e.g. Scotland, Belgium, Switzerland) may only have one or two qualifiers, and some countries with no proven history of success, and newcomers (Latvia, Estonia, Luxembourg) enter their Champions into a qualifying tournament.\nA consolation prize for teams finishing below the Champions League Qualification is the UEFA Cup. Teams placed from 3rd to as low as 6th place, plus the domestic knock-out cup winners, compete in this competition. The confusion for some is that some early eliminated teams from the Champions League are also put into the draw for this competition.\nMost countries in Europe have at least one professional domestic league (in England, the FA Carling Premiership; in Spain the Liga; in Germany the Bundesliga and in Italy the Serie A) and then depending on the numbers of registered players in a country several professional leagues below this one. In England there are a further three professional leagues in a tier system before amateur leagues.
1008419
If you reside in the country for (I think) more than 7 years, you can become a national player if you become a resident.\n\nAs for the question of "Who can they play for?" the answer lies in parents and grandparents. Michael Owen was actually born in Wales, and I'm sure Wayne Rooney (Rooney is an Irish name) has Irish heritage, he could probably have played for them if he'd wished.\n\nAnother interesting point - Lukas Podolski, Oliver Neuville and Miroslav Klose were all born in Poland, yet they play for Germany due to their ancestry.
360637
I also came from a similar situation.  I grew up in a small town in Colorado and the prospect of any college looking at me was minimum to none.  There are ways around this though.  I was able to get recognition as a player when I went abroad as an exchange student to Germany.  In Germany, soccer/fussball is king to all other sports and I was able to enhance my playing capabilities by playing with a team in Germany.\nYou may not have this opportunity to travel abroad, but in the US there is a large population of hispanic men and woman that play soccer as their primary means of recreation.  If you can start playing pickup games against these weekend clubs or teams your skills will enhance dramatically.  It isn't that American based teams won't offer you the best experience, but the hispanic teams seem to offer a greater skill base.  Most of them grew up where soccer was the king sport and so they are all pretty good at it.\nYou are a Freshman, so you have ample time to hone your skills of the game.  Just get out there, find a team that will challenge your current abilities and those of your current team members on the high school league.  If you keep playing with the same people all the time, you will never truly get better as you will grow accustomed to their abilities and stop growing.\nAs far as getting picked up by a college, you can always walk on for try outs, especially on a soccer team.  Soccer teams rarely recruit players unless they have a lot of recruiting money.  Colleges tend to spend the majority of their cash on football and basketball players.  Most players who will be playing on a soccer team for a college have also walked on for their positions as well. \nBest of luck!\nMatty Gray
138931
Players from all over the world play in the US
1162933
FIFA allows nationalized players to play for their "adoptive" country.  In cases of double nationalities, the players can choose which country to represent.\n\nThis happens very, very often and usually because of one of these two reasons:\n\na)  A player is very very good (e.g. Klose, Podolski) and would definitely make the team in either of its two nationality countries.  Commonly he would choose to play in the "bigger" team since that would allow him a better shot at say, winning the World Cup.\n\nb)  The player is good enough to make it to the national team of his adoptive country but not his country of birth. (e.g.  Guille Franco).  He was born in Argentina but there is no way on Earth he would be chosen for that team, he just wouldn't cut it.  After he nationalized Mexican, he was immediately chosen for the Mexican squad and he now can afford to play in the world cup and is actually one of the better players of that team.
857831
In the US to play football its all about who you know, if you have none then you would have to be really really really good to get someone to even look at you. Its not impossible but it is extremely difficult without the right connections.
442098
All countries, whether it be a huge soccer nation like Brazil, or a smaller one like Togo, need to qualify for the World Cup by participating in the qualification process, which basically means playing other teams in their region.  For example, if Grenada qualified for the World Cup, they would have to play other teams in CONCACAF- a region that includes teams like the USA, Mexico, Canada, Honduras, and others.  World Cup Qualifying is a process that is over a year long with various rounds that gradually have less and less teams playing, until only a select top few from each region (CONCACAf, UEFA, CONMEBOL, etc.) go on to play at the World Cup.
374852
Consistent play, comprehensive preparations and a slew of talented players – many of whom helped see them through to the quarter-finals at Korea/Japan 2002 – ensured the United States can look forward to a fifth consecutive appearance on the world's biggest stage at Germany 2006. \nGone are the days when the North American nation was derided as a second-tier footballing side, and coach Bruce Arena has his team believing that their capricious mix of young talents such as DaMarcus Beasley and Landon Donovan and wily old campaigners like Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna could be enough to see off the world's best. \n\nArena's Americans reached the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ with three matches still to play in the final round of North, Central American and Caribbean qualifying. And even with a loss late in the campaign to fellow qualifiers Costa Rica, the USA still finished top of the regional pack for the first time in their history. \n\nWith only one loss in their opening six final round matches, the US needed a win at home against arch-rivals Mexico on 3 September 2005 to book their place and a capacity crowd in Columbus, Ohio roared on the Stars and Stripes in one of the most colourful atmospheres ever seen at a football game in the United States. \n\nGoals from Steve Ralston and Beasley saw the Americans defeat their neighbours to the south and kick off wild celebrations in and around Crew Stadium in the heart of the Midwest. "You'll look at it and say it's real easy and it's a breeze. But it's not a breeze. It's very difficult," Arena said of their qualifying campaign. \n\n"I remember back to our first game in this round away in Trinidad and every game has been difficult, but I think our experiences over the last four years have positioned us to be successful, and our guys know how to win in big games." \n\nIn their three remaining qualifiers Arena – who has been coach since 1998 – took the opportunity to experiment with an eye on the finals in Germany. "The goal is 2006 and I need to look at everybody I can," Arena said after the final qualifier, a 2-0 win over Panama in Boston in which Taylor Twellman and Kyle Martino scored their first international goals. \n\nAfter reaching the semi-finals of the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930, the USA's fortunes were decidedly less impressive for a long time, but they have been on an upward trajectory of late. After nearly a half century without reaching the finals (from 1950 to 1990) the States finally returned to the big stage at Italia 90. After reaching the second round as hosts four years later, they finishing last in their group at France 1998, but came out flying at Korea/Japan 2002. \n\nLed by Donovan, Reyna and McBride, the Americans beat Portugal in their opener before knocking out Mexico in the second round to reach the quarter-finals where they lost to Germany. With a host of new players and the old guard from Korea/Japan still largely intact, the USA will be keen to improve on their performance of 2002 when they arrive in Hamburg – the German city they have selected as their home base – in the summer of 2006. \n\nFounded 1913 \nAffiliated 1913 \nWC participations 7 (1930, 1934, 1950, 1990, 1994, 1998, 2002) \nWC honours Semi-final 1930, Quarter-final 2002 \nContinental Titles Gold Cup (1991, 2002), Pan American champions (1991) \nFacts\n\n\nIn recent years the United States have emerged as a force to be reckoned with, qualifying for the last four FIFA World Cup finals. The Americans reached the quarter-finals at Korea/Japan '02, losing narrowly to the eventual runners-up Germany.\n\n\nThe USA reached the semi-finals of the first FIFA World Cup in 1930, although only 13 teams took part. Argentina ended American hopes with a 6-1 win.\n\n\nIn 1948, the USA suffered their worst defeat, when they lost 11-0 to Norway in Oslo. Their best result came in 1993 when they beat the Cayman Islands 8-1, watched
406119
It's certainly cool here in England (we call it football)and it is the world's most popular sport. Look out for the Football World Cup starting in Germany this June. The US have qualified and will have done well if they get to the knock out stages. The first games are on a 4 team, league basis with 3 points for a win, 1 for a draw and none for a loss. They play each other once, 3 games in total. The top 2 teams in each group qualify for the next rounds where it becomes a straightforward knockout in each match. Win - and you advance towards the final. It is a hell of a lot bigger than the Olympics, although most Americans do not know of it's existence. Get your kids playing on to an adult level. With your population you should be worldbeaters - but you are nowhere near it. Catch the World Cup on TV if you can. The atmosphere will be phenomenal!
365025
Despite the National team doing so well at Euro 2004 and the Greek side winning the Eufa cup the other year they don't really stand a chance. There's not the money to attract the quality of player like in the top euro leagues. The best national players play abroad, and the eufa cup is not very good quality. I mean look at the teams in that are still in it!
1061070
The teams are comprised of passport holders of the nation they represent.  There is no player playing for a different country.  What you may see is a player that belongs to a club in another country, but not the national team.\nYou are correct, they don´t get to practice together for too long, usually a couple of months.  That is why they have as many friendly matches against other countries as they can.
1116526
It all depends on the country and the finances of the countries football assc.some countries are poorer than others,if i was picked for my countries team to play in the worldcup,i would play for nothing,i would consider it an honor to play for my country....