By this time next year, Jermaine Jones could be a starter for the United States at the World Cup in South Africa. Jones, a midfielder for Schalke 04 of the Bundesliga, is a citizen of Germany and the United States, a son of an African-American serviceman and a German woman. Jones has spent his entire professional career in Germany, with Eintracht Frankfurt, Bayer Leverkusen and Eintracht again before signing a four-year contract with Schalke in 2007.
FIFA recently changed its eligibility rules for senior internationals because of pressure from African and Asian nations. Playing internationally at the youth level does not preclude a player from petitioning FIFA for a one-time change, providing the player had dual citizenship when he initially participated. FIFA also now allows players over 21 years of age to switch national teams if they haven't participated in any official international competitions. According to an e-mail message Monday morning from the American federation spokesman Neil Buethe, the lifting of the age restriction is effective Oct. 1. Jones, at 27, is a defensive midfielder known for his toughness and skill. He could could give the national team some needed steel in the middle of the field.
"Now that I have a chance to play for America, I want to play for the States," Jones said in a telephone interview from Frankfurt with the Times' Jack Bell on Saturday. "Now with the new rule from FIFA, they said I can play for the States. I am one-half American and one-half German and now I want to play for the U.S." Jones, whose tattoos help his tough-guy demeanor, thinks he will fit better in the U.S. national team than with the German one, which he has failed to break into. "I'm a player, when you see me, I have tattoos and in Germany the people maybe don't like that stuff," he said. "When I want to say something, then I say it. In Germany, it is all about the team and now there are more players who say nothing. Maybe this is the problem with me. I thought I maybe would have a chance with the national team of Germany. But for me, now this is over."