Gedion Zelalem. (Getty Images)
By NATE SCOTT
On Tuesday morning American soccer fans got very excited indeed when the Washington Post’s Steve Goff broke that Gedion Zelalem had gotten his United States citizenship and would be declaring his intent to play international soccer for America. President of U.S. Soccer Sunil Gulati then sent out a tweet confirming it, and USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann welcomed him as well.
Great news about Gedion. He's a very promising young talent and we hope to have him on board soon.
— Jürgen Klinsmann (@J_Klinsmann) December 30, 2014
Let us now answer your questions.
So who is Gedion Zelalem?
Zelalem is a 17-year-old midfielder who currently plays for Arsenal’s reserve team. Arsenal has a pretty decent track record of developing young talent, so if they think that Zelalem is worthy of a spot on their reserve team, he’s someone that soccer fans are understandably going to be excited about.
And he’s going to play his international soccer for the U.S., which is a good thing.
How did he become a United States citizen?
Zelalem was born in Germany, and his father is from Ethiopia, so he could have potentially played for either of those countries. As a child, though, Zelalem moved with his family to Maryland and started playing soccer for club teams in the area. At a Dallas Cup match, an Arsenal scout spotted Zelalem and the club flew him over to London for a trial, and he’s been there more-or-less since.
With his family having a strong base in the States, he was able to apply for and receive citizenship. He received his passport this week.
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Related:
Arsenal’s Gedion Zelalem is a U.S. citizen (The Washington Post)
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