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University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
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‘Ni de aquí, ni de allá’: To choose a country as a Mexican-American soccer player
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‘Ni de aquí, ni de allá’: To choose a country as a Mexican-American soccer player
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‘Ni de aquí, ni de allá’:
T o choose a country as a Mexican-American soccer player
by
Eugenio T amés Alanís
A Thesis Presented to the
F ACUL TY OF THE USC ANNENBERG SCHOOL FOR COMMUNICA TION AND
JOURNALISM
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
MASTER OF AR TS
(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)
May 2023
Copyright 2023 Eugenio T amés Alanís
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work wouldn’ t have come to fruition without the guidance and constant help of my thesis
chair , Alan Abrahamson, throughout my time at USC.
All my gratitude also goes to my readers, Gabriel Kahn and Allan Lopez, for their time and ef fort
to get the best out of me during this year .
T o my family: I wouldn’ t be on my way to graduating if it wasn’ t for all your love and support.
Thank you.
ii
T ABLE OF CONTENTS
Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………ii
Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………..iv
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………1
Chapter One: T o challenge FIF A ’ s interpretation of national identity…………………………3
Chapter T wo: Christian T orres. T o be comfortably undecided………………………………...8
Chapter Three: Herculez Gomez. T o stand between two countries…………………………...13
Chapter Four: Maricarmen Reyes. T o trust your heart over your brain……………………….18
Chapter Five: T o make a definitive decision…………………………………………………..22
Bibliography…………………………………………………………………………………...25
iii
ABSTRACT
T o be faced with one decision, at a young age, that will af fect your personal life, your
professional career and even your sense of identity , is a dif ficult moment that soccer players with
more than one nationality must confront.
Soccer , in particular , is a sport in which athletes have to choose a single citizenship in order to
represent a country at an international level. Once they play an of ficial match for a national team,
they can't change their decision to represent another country . Therefore, the importance of the
decision for multinational players goes beyond what their feelings towards the country might be.
They have to consider what's best for their careers.
iv
I n t r o d u c t i o n
Mexico scored the winning penalty kick. The players ran towards their teammate, screaming,
jumping and crying. They all melted into one big hug, celebrating the country’ s first-ever
CONCACAF women’ s under -20 championship.
Somewhere among the excitement on the field at the Ato Boldon Stadium, in Couva, T rinidad
and T obago, stood Maricarmen Reyes. She looked up into the stands to find her mother and
father , crying. They knew how much this victory meant for the midfielder . Reyes knew , too, how
much it meant to her Michoacán-native parents.
For Reyes, as for many other Mexican-Americans, the border that divides the two nations is a
blurry line. Belonging to both cultures, relating to the history of both, loving people in both
countries, ultimately results in a complex sense of identity .
Defeating the United States, the country where Reyes was born and lived her whole life, only
made this victory more special. The gold medal she earned as a 17-year -old in 2018 remains
what she considers her greatest sports achievement. At that moment, she thought: “Our team is
special and our country is special.”
A month after the tournament, Reyes received a call-up to the United States under -20 team.
Having dual nationality , she had the dif ficult task of deciding which country to represent.
The dilemma came from the fact that once she played an of ficial match for a senior national
team, she could not change her mind.
1
She remembers asking her parents at the time, unsure of a decision that could define her
professional career: “What am I going to do?”
In the global game of soccer , several players hail from more than just one country , including
world-class stars such as Erling Haaland, who plays for Norway , and Kylian Mbappé, for France.
For players with more than one nationality , choosing to represent one country over another can
often be tremendously dif ficult. Some think about their families, others think about their future
and potential professional careers. Then there’ s national pride and cultural identity . Most of the
time it’ s a combination of all of those factors.
FIF A rules mandate that a player who has minutes on the field during an of ficial match for a
senior national team can no longer represent another country . This means many players have to
make one of the most important decisions in their career at a very young age, a decision that will
af fect the rest of their personal and professional lives.
Multiple citizenship is a growing phenomenon. It redefines “national identity .” In the case of
Mexican-Americans, the challenge is all the more acute. Why? There is, overlaying everything, a
sense of belonging to neither . Of not being fully accepted by either country .
Political views and historical conflict between Mexico and the United States create the most
complicated of environments for those who have established roots on both sides of the border ,
including many soccer players.
“Growing up, I played with all white girls. I was the only one that looked dif ferent,” said
Maricarmen Reyes, “and on the (Mexican) national team, I’m white. It doesn’ t make any sense.”
2
C h a p t e r O n e : T o c h a l l e n g e F I F A ’ s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f n a t i o n a l i d e n t i t y
After an injury to starting striker Diego Costa, Munir El Haddadi was called to the Spanish
national team in September 2014, when he was only 18. A product of ‘La Masía,’ FC
Barcelona’ s academy , El Haddadi was considered a star in the making.
He was subbed in during the European Championship qualifying match against Macedonia, for
what would be his first and only game representing his country of birth. Since it was an of ficial
match for the senior national team, it meant a definitive commitment to Spain for El Haddadi.
E l H a d d a d i d u r i n g h i s d e b u t f o r t h e S p a n i s h n a t i o n a l t e a m a g a i n s t M a c e d o n i a i n 2 0 1 4 . ( P h o t o b y J o s e J o r d a n / A F P
v i a G e t t y I m a g e s )
As he would later express, his actual desire was to play for the country his parents were born in.
Morocco.
3
In 2017, El Haddadi formally petitioned FIF A asking for his Moroccan eligibility to be
regranted. It took almost three years for the player to hear some good news.
Gianni Infantino, FIF A ’ s president, who himself carries Swiss and Italian citizenships,
understood some flexibility is needed, particularly from a global entity in an increasingly
interconnected world.
“It is important that, in a globalized world,” he said at the FIF A Football Law Annual Review of
2021, “where players are maybe from a nationality but are born in another country , or have two
or three dif ferent nationalities or passports, that they are given the opportunity to choose their
country .”
In September 2020, FIF A updated its rules, allowing certain players to represent a second
national team, as long as they comply with specific characteristics.
The general rule remained the same: players can’ t switch their national team once they’ve played
an of ficial match with the senior squad. Nonetheless, FIF A added three exceptions to the rule,
which allowed a limited number of players, Munir El Haddadi included, to play for a new nation.
T o understand the exception requires first some history and context.
FIF A was founded in 1904. International soccer remained very much amateur for a long time.
The rules hardly reflected a professional sport.
During the first half of the twentieth century , FIF A rulings regarding national eligibility weren’ t
clear or consistent. Even the best players in the world wore the colors of several countries for
of ficial competitions.
4
Alfredo Di Stefano, one of the greatest goal-scorers of all time, played for three senior national
teams in the ‘50s and ‘60s: Ar gentina, Spain and Colombia. His Real Madrid teammate Ferenc
Puskás took Hungary to a W orld Cup final in 1954 and eight years later represented Spain in the
same tournament.
None of that would be allowed by modern-day FIF A.
As shown in Daniel Gordon’ s documentary , FIF A Uncover ed , money came into FIF A in 1974
with the arrival of the new president, Brazil’ s João Havalange. W ith significant economic
interests also came the professionalization of international competitions in order to generate
more profit. Rules were better established. The regulatory framework on eligibility for national
teams was defined.
Since then, the concept of nationality is the starting point for any player to be eligible to play for
a national team. FIF A ’ s eligibility regulations state clearly and simply: “No nationality , no
eligibility .” Only players granted citizenship can be considered as an option to that country’ s
national team.
On top of nationality , to be eligible, the player has to either have been born in the territory of the
association; have a biological mother , father or grandparent born in that territory; or have lived in
the territory for a minimum of five years.
The definition of the eligibility criteria was more specific regarding players with more than one
nationality . Logic dictates such a player has more than one option in representing a national
team.
5
“Any player who has already participated in a match (either in full or in part) in an of ficial
competition of any category or any type of football for one association may not play an
international match for a representative team of another association,” reads FIF A Statements
Article 5.
In this context, an “of ficial competition” is understood as any tournament or ganized by FIF A or
its dependent confederations. Professional football or ganizations that are not members of FIF A
are basically non-existent.
In other words: only international friendlies are excluded from tying a player to a country .
At that time, a single exemption was added to the rule, which allowed players who have only
represented a country at an underage level, and not the senior squad, to switch allegiances only
once.
FIF A ’ s rules regarding an association change can seem harsh when put next to those of the only
comparable entity in sports.
The International Olympic Committee only asks from an athlete a three-year waiting period in
which the athlete has not represented Country A in order to switch to Country B. That waiting
period can even be reduced or waived if both the IOC and the involved National Olympic
Committees agree. No ultimatums, no maximum age and no determination regarding the
competitions in which the athlete has previously taken part in.
Under the previous FIF A Statement, El Haddadi wouldn’ t have been able to represent Morocco,
because, of course, he played for Spain. Then came the three exemptions added in the 2020
eligibility rules update.
6
Under the new regulations, a player who took part in three or fewer senior games before turning
21 is now allowed to switch associations one time, as long as there’ s a waiting period of three
years after the last game the player represented the previous national team. Nonetheless, the
exemption only applies when the games in which the player participated were at a qualifying
stage and not in the final stage of an “of ficial” tournament.
FIF A now also allows a national team change when a player loses the nationality of the country
they once represented.
Munir El Haddadi finally played with the Moroccan national team in January 2021. That same
year , he played in the African Cup of Nations.
He is, to this day , one of the few beneficiaries of FIF A ’ s specific exemptions as detailed in the
2020 rules update, in a case that portrays the complexity of international representation within an
inflexible sporting entity .
E l H a d d a d i w i t h t h e M o r o c c a n n a t i o n a l t e a m d u r i n g t h e 2 0 2 2 A f r i c a n C u p o f N a t i o n s . ( P h o t o b y U l r i k
P e d e r s e n / N u r P h o t o v i a G e t t y I m a g e s )
7
C h a p t e r T w o : C h r i s t i a n T o r r e s
T o b e c o m f o r t a b l y u n d e c i d e d
In 2014, Manchester United winger Adnan Januzaj was often hyped as one of the most exciting
young players in the world.
W ith the Brazil W orld Cup coming up, Januzaj, 19, had to decide which national team he was
going to represent. Among his options, thanks to his multinational family , were Belgium,
Kosovo, T urkey , Albania and Serbia.
Of those five, the highest-rated national team, and the only one that qualified to the W orld Cup,
was his country of birth, Belgium. Januzaj thus decided to attend the tournament and made his
debut at an of ficial game for the Belgian national team against South Korea.
He never established himself as a proven star . Since that W orld Cup, he has only seen the field
with his national team for a total of 173 minutes. That’ s less than two full games.
Januzaj can no longer switch allegiances to play for any of his grandparents’ countries, where he
could have significantly more minutes and even be the star of the team.
Christian T orres, 18, doesn’ t want to follow those steps. The LAFC winger values patience when
it comes to important decisions, including the future of his international career .
T orres recently represented Mexico at an under -20 level for a couple of tournaments, just a few
years after wearing the Stars and Stripes jersey for the under -15. W ithout having minutes on the
pitch with either senior side yet, his commitment to a single country is still very much in the air .
8
“I’m enjoying my time in Mexico right now , but whatever happens, happens,” he said. “No
closed doors yet.”
T orres grew up in Fontana, California. His Mexican roots, as well as his love for the sport, trace
back to his father ’ s family in Michoacán. “For me, growing up,” he said, “the passion (for
soccer) was always around.”
His father took him to play all over Southern California, playing for dif ferent teams in Fontana,
Irvine, San Bernardino and Pomona, among others. Crisscrossing highways several times a week
for practice or driving over 100 miles to get to games wasn’ t an issue, as long as playing soccer
was the purpose.
T orres was recruited by LA Galaxy’ s academy , only to move with its crosstown rivals a few
years later .
In August 2020, just 16, T orres was subbed in for Brian Rodríguez in an MLS game against
Seattle, becoming LAFC’ s first homegrown player to make his debut for the senior squad.
A month later , T orres became the youngest player in MLS history to start an of ficial game. He
scored his first professional goal just one game later . Once again, he was one of the youngest in
the league to ever do it.
9
C h r i s t i a n T o r r e s c o n d u c t s t h e b a l l p a s t P a u l M a r i e d u r i n g t h e M L S b e t w e e n L A F C a n d t h e S a n J o s e E a r t h q u a k e s i n
2 0 2 0 . ( P h o t o b y S h a u n C l a r k / G e t t y I m a g e s )
“Those two were huge milestones in my career ,” he said. “Doing it at such a young age was
definitely special.”
All of the success for such a young player , of course, didn’ t go unnoticed. In 2021, T orres was
called up to the under -20 Mexican national team to take part in the Revelations Cup.
“That was really special coming from a Mexican household,” he said. “When I told my
grandparents about it, they just started crying.”
Even with a language barrier , T orres gets along well with the other players in the national team.
“When I go to Mexico, my teammates mess around with me, because I didn’ t speak Spanish too
well back in the day ,” he said. “They would make jokes with me, but they were always very
supportive.”
10
T orres spoke Spanish growing up, but stopped practicing once he started elementary school.
Now , he wants to get it back “slowly but surely .”
According to the 2022 T elemundo study The futur e is fútbol , the number of soccer fans is
growing faster than any other mainstream sport in the U.S. That growth is also reflected in the
investment in youth development, which has also impacted the number of Mexican-origin
players born in the United States with opportunities to play for a national team.
But, for which?
In that sense, T orres is not alone. T ony Leone, Erik Dueñas, Jonathan Gómez, Richard Ledezma,
Cade Caldwell and Brandon Vázquez are but a few on a long list of Mexican-American players
yet to make a final decision on which country to represent.
Vázquez, for example, was called up to the USMNT for two international friendlies this past
January . Since those games were friendly and not of ficial, Vázquez is not yet bound to the U.S.,
but said he looks to be short of options at this point in time.
“Mexico hasn’ t reached out to me and the U.S. has, so I guess that’ s all there is to it,” he said in
an interview with Lizzy Becherano of the soccer website 90min.
Indeed, many times, it can ultimately come down simply to which country gives the player the
opportunity . That’ s a big reason for Christian T orres not to rush his decision.
“From a player standpoint, you have to look at whether you would play , whether you would be
able to make an impact,” he said. “It is one thing to represent the crest, it is one thing to represent
the country , but you want to be able to play .”
1 1
Representing a national team does not require a personal connection, according to Dr . David
Storey , a geographer at the University of W orcester and author of the 2021 book Football, place
and national identity . “Y ou can ar gue that players have two motivating forces. One is enhancing
their careers,” he said. “What I would also ar gue is that, for many players, they do feel an af finity
(towards the country).”
Others, he said, simply make a career choice.
Storey pointed to W ill and Michael Keane. One plays for England, the other for Ireland. W ith
similar personal experiences, they made dif ferent professional choices. “Their father is Irish but
they grew up in England. So you have twin brothers who theoretically could play against each
other .”
Christian T orres has his mind set on playing in the 2026 W orld Cup. The country that of fers an
opportunity for him to achieve that dream might very well be presenting the deciding factor for
him to choose.
“(My main objective is) to get a spot in the 2026 roster for the W orld Cup,” he said, “whether
that’ s either with the U.S. or with Mexico, whatever comes up.”
12
C h a p t e r T h r e e : H e r c u l e z G o m e z
T o s t a n d b e t w e e n t w o c o u n t r i e s
In the 1997 movie Selena , directed by Gregory Nava, there’ s a scene that perhaps depicts the
feelings of many Mexican-Americans.
A young Selena Quintanilla, before becoming a Spanish-language music icon, sits in the
backseat of a car while her father drives. Selena wants to perform in Mexico, but her father
seems hesitant. He doesn't feel fully accepted by people in the country of his ancestors.
He explains to Selena how tiring it is to be Mexican-American, having to prove how American
you are to Americans and how Mexican you are to Mexicans.
“W e’ve got to be twice as perfect as everybody else,” said Selena’ s father . “W e’ve got to know
about John W ayne and Pedro Infante. W e’ve got to know about Frank Sinatra and Agustín Lara.
W e’ve got to know about Oprah and Christina.”
As if it were engraved in his mind, Herculez Gomez, former professional soccer player , recites
the scene with emotion.
Remembering Edward James Olmos’ words while portraying Abraham Quintanilla Jr ., Gomez
confirms the struggle of feeling judged by both countries.
“It’ s exhausting,” he said.
As a Mexican-American player , Gomez understands the conflict of standing between two
countries. T o choose one over the other to represent inside the field can become a secondary
issue when even your own identity is hard to define.
13
Gomez believes that there’ s a particular way of being when you don’ t feel like you belong to
either country . “It’ s something many people don’ t understand,” he said, “because they’ve never
lived it.”
T o be Mexican-American can be something completely dif ferent than being just from one of
those countries, and Storey agreed: “I think you have people that maybe see themselves as one or
the other (nationalities), but you have others that see themselves as more of a hybrid way .”
Now , imagine you have Mexican ethnicity and you are growing up in the United States, hearing
wonderful stories about the nation of your roots. This only enhances passion for the national
team. But there are two national teams. This is precisely the hybrid.
H e r c u l e z G o m e z f i g h t s H e c t o r M o r e n o f o r t h e b a l l , d u r i n g a f r i e n d l y m a t c h b e t w e e n M e x i c o a n d U S A i n 2 0 1 2 .
( P h o t o b y M i s a e l M o n t a ñ o / L a t i n C o n t e n t v i a G e t t y I m a g e s )
Herculez Gomez was born in California and grew up in Las V egas, Nevada. Both of his parents
are from Jalisco, Mexico, and went to high school in the United States.
14
He spoke both English and Spanish at home, although his father preferred his native tongue. “If
(my father) spoke in English, it was only to say a curse or ,” the son said, “to mock you in some
funny way .”
After finishing high school, Gomez didn’ t have of fers to play college soccer , so he decided to try
his luck in Mexico. He quickly realized the country wasn’ t what he had imagined. Not even the
language was what he was accustomed to.
“I realized that not only do I have a lot of Spanish to learn, but that it’ s a whole dif ferent
language,” he said. “I grew up thinking that I was Mexican. Until I went to Mexico.”
The experience left him wondering where he was actually from. That process of defining your
national identity , he said, can be even tougher for a soccer player , as you have to add the pressure
of being an athlete and the sporting rivalry between the two countries.
Gomez thinks such identity issues can have a tough impact on young players.
“Imagine being 14, 15 or 16, critical years of your life, and due to a sport, you’re asked, ‘Who
are you? Are you American or Mexican?’ Just for a soccer game.” He says that players have to
decide very young a huge part of their identity . “They don’ t have the emotional intelligence at
such a young age to handle the attention or to understand how this decision will af fect them.”
In 2007, Herculez Gomez was called of ficially for the first time by a major national team to
represent the United States in the Copa América, held in V enezuela. Being American, but having
Mexican parents, Gomez was also eligible to play for Mexico at an international level.
15
Gomez, then 25, had no doubt when he got the call-up from the U.S: “Back then, it was an easy
decision for me, especially because I grew up in this country . I studied in this country . I now
have all my family in this country . Everything I knew was in this country .”
At the same time, Gomez heard from Olaf Heredia, his former coach and a Mexican national
team assistant, that he was under consideration for the under -23 Mexican team seeking to qualify
for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
From Gomez’ s perspective, that wasn’ t good enough. Not for a player eying the senior squad.
If the Mexican major squad had come calling? Things might have been dif ferent for Gomez.
“W ould that have changed my mind? It would have definitely given me a lot to think about,” he
said. “That's the truth.”
For Herculez Gomez, a dif ference for Mexicans living in Mexico and those living in the United
States is noticeable when looking up at the fans in the stands. While in Mexico players like
Héctor Herrera have said they feel less backed up, further north the support is unquestionable.
“When you see the people supporting the Mexican national team (in the U.S.), even if they don’ t
fully speak Spanish or don’ t know all the Mexican traditions,” said Gomez, “the feeling and the
sense of identity of being Mexican is much more powerful.”
There’ s a particular sense of nostalgia, often promoted by Mexican parents who miss their
country , which is later passed on to their children. In that sense, Gomez feels the parents’
influence on young soccer players isn’ t always positive.
16
“When giving advice, the family talks about what they know: the importance of Mexican fútbol
to them,” he said. “They are not as torn as you, and they’re being an influence on the decisions
that will make an impact in your whole life.”
Still, no matter how complicated the decision, Gomez believes the national identity of the young
players should never be put into question.
“Choosing to play for Mexico or the United States,” he said, “won’ t make you less Mexican or
less American.”
17
C h a p t e r F o u r : M a r i c a r m e n R e y e s
T o t r u s t y o u r h e a r t o v e r y o u r b r a i n
When Maricarmen Reyes first stepped onto the field at Azteca Stadium, she looked around the
stands trying to find her mother , Carmen. But without much success. Understandably .
She knew her mom had to be somewhere around for such an important game, as she always was.
But an 87,000-seat stadium was considerably bigger than the U.S. college soccer fields where
Maricarmen normally plays.
“I always hear her screaming,” Reyes said. But in that game against Colombia, she thought, “My
mom is just not here.”
M a r i c a r m e n R e y e s d u r i n g h e r d e b u t f o r t h e M e x i c a n s e n i o r n a t i o n a l t e a m a t A z t e c a S t a d i u m ( P h o t o b y H e c t o r
V i v a s / G e t t y I m a g e s )
18
When a daughter and mother are close, it’ s only natural that family ties are part of the calculus
when it’ s decision time: which country to play for?
And Maricarmen has always been especially close to her mother , Carmen. When Maricarmen
missed the 2016 under -17 W orld Cup after tearing her ACL, the mother never left the daughter ’ s
side.
“I was super depressed,” Maricarmen said. “My mom was my motor every single day .”
When Maricarmen felt like quitting, Carmen pushed her to keep going and made her get in the
car to go to rehab. “If it wasn’ t for her , I don’ t think I would have ever come back to the player
that I am today ,” said the midfielder , now 23.
Maricarmen Reyes was born in Santa Ana, California, which made her , at that time, the only
American in her family . Her parents and both brothers were born in Mexico. She grew up
speaking Spanish at home.
Something she also picked up at home: soccer .
Her father , Jor ge, was a professional player who spent time in Mexico, the United States and
Germany . Maricarmen’ s two older brothers also pursued a career kicking the ball, both playing
soccer during college and in Europe.
“I always wanted to do whatever they were doing,” said Reyes. Her competitive nature,
especially with her brothers, is what made her get into soccer . “I want to do that, and I want to do
it better than them,” she thought when she was younger .
Since there weren’ t many girls playing the sport in Santa Ana, Reyes started going up against
mostly boys. At first, she mostly got beaten up.
19
“I have to do something about that,” she decided, “and it made me who I am.”
When she was roughly 15, Reyes was scouted while playing in Baja California and got her first
call up to represent Mexico at an under -age level.
Her visits to Mexico for national team camps have not stopped since, although she believes she
is seen dif ferently than the rest of her teammates.
“There’ s a stigma about being Mexican-American that it’ s not talked about enough,” she said.
“Being a Mexican player in the U.S., you’re seen as a Mexican player . Being an American player
in Mexico, you’re seen as the ‘gringo.’”
Herculez Gomez had a similar experience as a Mexican-American. “Y ou feel ni de aquí, ni de
allá ,” not from here but also not from there, he said. Reyes agreed: “ Ni de aquí, ni de allá . That’ s
a big thing.”
Reyes tries to prove herself to other Mexicans on the field. “If I go on this field and I give my
100% and my all, then there shouldn’ t be a debate about if I’m a Mexican-American or if I’m
just Mexican,” she tells herself.
At the end, when deciding which national team to represent, she mainly thought: “Where can I
be myself?”
After the CONCACAF under -20 Championship, Reyes had an of fer from the U.S. Then, in 2021,
the Mexican senior squad came calling. It was decision time.
The United States has the most successful national team in the history of women’ s soccer .
Mexico has never gone past the group stage during a W orld Cup.
20
However , only the Mexican anthem can bring Maricarmen’ s parents to tears while their daughter
stands on the pitch wearing the green, white and red uniform.
“There’ s nothing that can compare,” she ultimately decided.
“I didn’ t really want to make a decision with my heart,” she said, “but it always came down to
that.”
In her debut for the senior Mexican national team against Colombia at Azteca, the seventh
biggest stadium in the world, Reyes scored a goal.
Among the immensity of that stadium in Mexico City , her mom, who Reyes felt missing at first,
made herself heard, screaming in excitement.
“She’ s here,” thought Reyes.
M a r i c a r m e n R e y e s h u g s h e r m o t h e r C a r m e n a n d A s h l e y S a n c h e z a t t h e e n d o f t h e m a t c h b e t w e e n U n i t e d S t a t e s a n d
M e x i c o i n t h e 2 0 2 2 C O N C A C A F w o m e n ’ s c h a m p i o n s h i p . ( P h o t o b y A z a e l R o d r i g u e z / G e t t y I m a g e s )
21
C h a p t e r F i v e : T o m a k e a d e f i n i t i v e d e c i s i o n
It’ s hard to say definitive without thinking about what is actually being defined.
In the eyes of FIF A, a soccer player is obliged to, at some point, define his or her af filiation with
a specific national federation if he or she wants to play at international tournaments. Nonetheless,
a player ’ s own identity , sense of belonging or understanding of themselves is not compatible
with the word definitive .
Everyone has a dif ferent path, and everyone has gone through dif ferent experiences that lead to a
personal understanding of national identity . That understanding or attempt of definition does not
have an expiration date, as does the decision to represent a national team in soccer .
W ithin that decision to represent one country over another there can be a wide array of factors
being considered by multinational players to meet a final verdict.
T rying to simplify the situation in favor of clarity , we can look at this range as a spectrum with
extremes. At one end of the reasoning spectrum we can find a choice made based on “feeling”: a
feeling of national pride and belonging within a certain understanding of culture, or a feeling of
love towards family which, at the same time, is a reference towards a country of origin.
The other end of the range shows a decision that prioritizes the player ’ s career . A “business
decision,” as Herculez Gomez calls it, where the priority is to choose a better environment in
terms of sporting development. Where can the player see more time on the pitch? Where does
the player ’ s skills adapt better to the team’ s playing style? Where can the player compete for
titles or image exposure? Where can the player make more money?
22
On a superficial level, we could ar guably place Maricarmen Reyes on one extreme and Christian
T orres on the other . But as ever , the world is not fixed. Reality is far more complicated.
While Reyes attributes her decision to represent Mexico to herself following her heart, it’ s also
true that the Mexican national team gave her more playing time, which might very well have had
an impact on her choice.
T orres, on the other hand, claims his decision depended mostly on sporting opportunities, but
ultimately no person is fully rational and detached from their limbic system.
This is, in the end, a decision forced by the sporting context, but the definition of one’ s national
identity is far more complex and goes beyond a soccer -driven answer .
T o choose one national team can definitely influence that sense of identity . As Storey pointed
out: “Once they’ve made the decision, that maybe brings a sort of belated sense of identity to the
country .” W earing a shirt with certain colors, hearing the national anthem before each game,
being acclaimed by the fans of that nation – all these factors and more, can definitively induce an
af finity for the player towards the country .
Sporting events can be an opportunity to have a tangible representation of national pride and are,
therefore, more impactful in both players and audience.
“In this sense, it becomes important to have opportunities in which something fundamentally
subjective can gain the appearance of an objective reality . And sport is particularly adept at
creating such opportunities,” wrote Storey , with professor Michael Holmes, in a 201 1 paper ,
T ransferring national allegiance: cultural affinity or flag of convenience?
23
Soccer representation and national identity can also be completely separate issues for the players,
and exert no influence on the other .
For many Mexican-American players, the sense of belonging to a specific country is much more
dif ficult to achieve than choosing a team to play for .
As explained by Maricarmen Reyes and Herculez Gomez, it’ s not easy to feel ni de aquí, ni de
allá , to feel like you don’ t fit into the notion of how an American looks, or how a Mexican
should behave and talk.
It’ s important to recognize, in that sense, how dif ferent it can be to be Mexican-American from
being just Mexican or just American. There’ s a hybrid identity that ends up being something
new , something dif ferent, that needs to be acknowledged as its own, non-dependent on the
definition of a single nation.
Soccer can bring those people who feel alienated from a country closer to its core cultures. It can
also end up being a burden, where fans question the players’ real identity and loyalty .
Ultimately , and not because someone chooses to represent a country , it defines them as a person.
It doesn’ t simplify that person’ s identity within the standards of what it is to belong to one
country .
Zinedine Zidane, ar guably the best dual national player ever , reminded us of that idea in a 2004
interview with historian Andrew Hussey .
“Every day ,” said Zidane, “I think about where I come from and I am still proud to be who I am:
first a Kabyle from La Castellane, then an Algerian from Marseille, and then a Frenchman.”
24
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Adewoye, Gbenga (2021). FIF A clears Munir El Haddadi to switch from Spain to Morocco.
Goal. Retrieved from:
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79bnmpnhky1lnz94nyh9nmu
Campbell, Charlie (2022). Despite W orld Cup heartbreak, the future looks bright for men’ s
soccer in the U.S. T ime. Retrieved from:
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Corkhill, Barney (2008). A tribute to…Alfredo Di Stefano. Bleacher Report. Retrieved from:
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EFE (2020). FIF A modificó la regla para cambios de selección nacional. Retrieved from:
https://www .espn.cl/futbol/nota/_/id/7451485/fifa-modifico-la-regla-para-cambios-de-seleccion-
nacional
Escalona, Gabriela et al. (2022). The future is fútbol. 2022 Report. T elemundo. Retrieved from:
http://online.flipbuilder .com/telemundo/lqcw/
FIF A (2021). Commentary on the rules governing eligibility to play for representative teams.
Retrieved from:
https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/ccab990abf45fcf6/original/ro8mje8vw98yp3rvfbmi-pdf.pdf
FIF A (2021). FIF A publishes explainer on eligibility to play for representative teams. V ideo.
Retrieved from: https://www .youtube.com/watch?v=J8ZhAs-B2U8&ab_channel=FIF A
FIF A (2021). Football law annual review 2021. Retrieved from:
https://www .fifa.com/legal/education/flar/football-law-annual-review-2021
FIF A (2022). Regulations. FIF A W orld Cup 2022. 7th statute: Eligibility of players (p.1 1).
Retrieved from:
https://digitalhub.fifa.com/m/2df8816f3b27563c/original/r6gcejmanhw27gzaa9xb-pdf.pdf
Gomez, Herculez. Interview . October 21, 2022.
Gordon, Daniel (2022). FIF A Uncovered. Documentary film. Netflix. Retrieved from:
https://www .netflix.com/title/80221 1 13
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Greene, Paul (n.d.). Can Olympic athletes change nationalities? Global Sports Advocates.
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https://www .globalsportsadvocates.com/faqs/how-olympic-athletes-can-change-the-country-they
-represent.cfm
Holmes, Michael; Storey , David (201 1). T ransferring national allegiance: cultural af finity or flag
convenience? Sports in Society , V ol. 14, No. 2 (p. 253 - 271).
Hussey , Andrew (2004). ZZ T op. Interview with Zinedine Zidane. The Guardian. Retrieved
from: https://www .theguardian.com/football/2004/apr/04/sport.features
Itv (2013). Which countries can Adnan Januzaj play for? Retrieved from:
https://www .itv .com/news/update/2013-10-09/which-countries-can-adnan-januzaj-play-for/
Kelly , R yan (2021). Why can footballers change international teams? Goal. Retrieved from:
https://www .goal.com/en-us/news/why-footballers-change-international-teams-eligibility-rules-n
ew-updates-explained/qzqdkqcx0x871eprs8yywafpz
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Saf fer , Paul (2014). The star of 2014: Munir El Haddadi. UEF A. Retrieved from:
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[2020].
27
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
To be faced with one decision, at a young age, that will affect your personal life, your professional career and even your sense of identity, is a difficult moment that soccer players with more than one nationality must confront.
Soccer, in particular, is a sport in which athletes have to choose a single citizenship in order to represent a country at an international level. Once they play an official match for a national team, they can't change their decision to represent another country. Therefore, the importance of the decision for multinational players goes beyond what their feelings towards the country might be. They have to consider what's best for their careers.
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Asset Metadata
Creator
Tamés Alanís, Eugenio
(author)
Core Title
‘Ni de aquí, ni de allá’: To choose a country as a Mexican-American soccer player
School
Annenberg School for Communication
Degree
Master of Arts
Degree Program
Specialized Journalism
Degree Conferral Date
2023-05
Publication Date
04/10/2023
Defense Date
04/07/2023
Publisher
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Tag
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Tags
dual national
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