FIFA has given U.S. Soccer its blessing to play David Wagner, the German-born striker who played for his native country’s U-18 and U-21 teams, U.S. Soccer’s Tom King told Soccer America Online this afternoon.
The Canadian Soccer Association had filed a protest with FIFA claiming Wagner was ineligible to play for the U.S. and asking that the U.S. 3-0 win over Canada in Palo Alto, Calif. on March 16 be overturned.
Following a conference call this afternoon with FIFA’s Walter Gagg, German soccer federation (DFB) secretary general Horst Schmidt and King, Gagg ruled that the only games Wagner did play for Germany were friendly games and therefore he was free to play for another country.
FIFA rules stipulate that once a player has played for a country in an official competition, he can only play for that country in the future.
As reported on Soccer America Online yesterday, the CSA had a case of mistaken identity regarding a Wagner that had represented Germany in U-18 matches in 1987 and 1988 as part of the UEFA qualifying tournament for the FIFA’s U-20 World Cup in Saudi Arabia in 1989.
The three matches Wagner did play for Germany were not official matches, contrary to what the CSA claimed.
He played in two U-18 games against France in Berlin in the summer of 1988, and he in a U-21 friendly against Turkey in October 1992.
King did say that the DFB had cleared Wagner to play for the U.S. last summer. Wagner’s first appearance for the United States was in a friendly against El Salvador last summer.
Wagner is one of the candidates to replace the injured Roy Lassiter in the U.S. attack alongside Eric Wynalda for the Mexico game at Foxboro Stadium Sunday. Other candidates include Brian McBride and Claudio Reyna, who may be moved into an attacking role.