United States Soccer took a hit on Monday evening when it was revealed that Bayern Munich II midfielder Julian Green accepted a call-up to the Germany Under-19 squad for friendlies against France over the upcoming international break.
Green, an 18 year old son of an American military serviceman and a German mother, raised hopes that he could play for the USMNT when he accepted a call up from Jürgen Klinsmann to train with the squad as they prepped for friendlies in Scotland and Austria.
Green later decided to turn down the invitation and has now accepted the call to Markus Song’s junior Mannschaft, which plays matches on November 13th and 16th in French Basque country.
“He has started the qualification matches with the German U-19 team and wants to support this team in the upcoming matches, as well,” Green rep Katharina Schrott told MLSsoccer.com. “These matches are a great opportunity for him as a young player to gain further international experience without being determinate too early.”
Green’s initial acceptance of Klinsmann’s invitation raised hopes among US fans that the versatile attacker could file a one-time switch to join the Yanks. And while that possibility still remains, it is now a diluted hope.
Earlier this week Klinsmann released a statement of support and continued pursuit in Green despite his decision to turn down the training invite:
“We are going to give Julian an opportunity to breathe. All of these conversations and attention can be a bit overwhelming for a young player, so we decided to take the foot off the pedal and let him focus on his work at Bayern. We had a great conversation. He’s a mature young man and he clearly has a bright future. I told him that when the time is right, the door is wide open.”
Green’s decision to accept the German call-up should not come as a shock to US fans, as the attacker is already tied to the U-19 team through playing in their Euro 2014 qualifiers last October and is ineligible to play competitively for the US at the youth level. In his competitive debut for that side Green notched an assist against Latvia before doing the same against Scotland.
The door on Green playing for the USMNT will not not slam shut until he enters his final international decision, which is not expected to be made for at least a few years. Green featured for the US U-18s in a friendly match back in September 2013 when the Americans defeated the Netherlands 4-2.