My musings on various topics in the world of American Soccer:

As the US Men's National Team prepares to defend its Gold Cup reward from 2005, it has to be said that Bob Bradley's inclusion of New England Revolution defender Michael Parkhurst was a very intriguing selection.

Not because he doesn't have a chance at making the squad for the next World Cup (although, to be honest, he wasn't on my radar screen), but due to the fact he had also been called into the Ireland national team squad the week before, along with Toronto FC winger Ronnie O'Brien and MAC Hermann award-winning Notre Dame striker Joseph Lapira.

Parkhurst and O'Brien declined their invitations, but Lapira suited up in Ireland's friendly against Ecuador last week. Although born in Louisiana, the 20-year old forward has an Irish mother, as well as an uncle who works in the Child Protection Agency for the national federation, according to press spokesman Fran Whearty - why the FAI needs such a department, I'll never know.

Keep in mind that Lapira's appearance as a 20-year old in a "B" international (as determined by FIFA) does not rule him out of being called up by the USMNT. This isn't just a one-way thing either, Freddy Adu can technically still one day heed the call of Chelsea's brilliant midfielder Michael Essien and play for Ghana, the country of his birth, though I think the Nike contracts would dry up pretty fast.

If any country is a master at finding fellow countrymen anywhere but their hometown, it's the Irish. At the 1994 World Cup, one of the biggest jokes in Britain at the time was 'Where can you find the largest peaceful combination of Englishmen and Scotsmen?'

Answer: The Ireland Football team.

Using the grandparent rule, many players who may not have had the same opportunity with the English or Scottish squads, found a home with the Republic. Listen to former Irish standouts such as Andy Townsend, Mark Lawrenson (of BBC Match of the Day fame) and Mick McCarthy speak, and you get the feeling they couldn't tell you where the Guinness factory is in Dublin.

Rather than these recent call-ups being perceived as three traitors wanting to play for a foreign country, this opens a new chapter in American soccer, a greater degree of respect for the talent that is starting to emerge from the colleges and high schools across the country.

The FAI's Whearty said as much to me in our recent conversation. "We have been watching these players for two years," he said, indicating that the FAI has broadened its search for talent across the globe. I put the question to Whearty about who else they had an eye on, noting that another Notre Dame player (Greg Dalby) had recently applied for an Irish passport as a way towards securing a contract with Glasgow Celtic after a successful trial at the Parkhead club's training ground. While Whearty answered that they had not contacted Dalby, he admitted to being familiar with the former US Under-20 captain.

Before you get mad at these at these three for allegedly turning their backs on their country, remember that many Americans have two heritages, so it shouldn't be viewed as a surprise when the pull of family ties wins the tug. Also, being a first team international is so personally lucrative to players that they cannot ignore the opportunity if their first choice country won't give them a shot. After all... it's the economy, stupid.

Ireland's approach for Lapira, O'Brien and Parkhurst (who has stated that he is Red, White & Blue all the way) isn't been the first episode of this kind. It made the rounds through several sources in Europe that current USMNT rising star Benny Feilhaber had been approached by the Austrian FA shortly after signing on for Hamburg, and I'm sure that most readers are aware of the Giuseppe Rossi episode, though when Rossi will actually pull on the Azzurri colors is anyone's guess.

The USSF has also engaged in this activity as well; Thomas Dooley, Preki, Earnie Stewart, Carlos Llamosa, David Regis and Pablo Mastroeni were all foreign-born players who eventually chose the US for their international soccer. Mastroeni once even hinted that if he was good enough to crack the Argentinean line-up, he would have tried it.

And who can forget Roy Wegerle, who, when he chose to play internationally for the USA in 1989 (through his marriage to an American citizen), was at the time eligible to play for four other countries (England, Scotland, Wales and his native South Africa).

England coach Bobby Robson was actually considering him for a place in the squad when Wegerle made his declaration, prompting severe criticism from the England coach at the time.

I have to admit that there was a time when I wondered whether I should support Scotland, the country of my mother's birth, or the US, where I was born (I actually missed being born in Scotland by exactly one day! True story!). I honestly fretted over this question until the day I went to see Scotland play the USMNT at RFK stadium in a Washington DC friendly before the dreadful 1998 World Cup.

I had even taken a Scotland scarf to the game, and was eagerly chatting with all the Scots in the crowd. Then, late in the game, one of the strikers in the Scotland squad slipped through the US defense on a breakaway against Kasey Keller - I knew right then there was no way I wanted him to score and was relieved to see Keller deflect it against the bar.

From that point on, Scotland became a distant second in my national team support... although, if anything, it's given me a healthy dislike of the English team.

Next on the agenda, and maybe this story is a little dated, but it deserves a few words nonetheless. In case you missed it, Bob Bradley was handed the reins of the US Men's National Team on a permanent basis two weeks ago. I know you're shocked, right? What with all those European coaches falling all over themselves for the job, it's just got to be the surprise of 2007, doesn't it?

All sarcasm aside, Bradley is a solid choice, and I wish him nothing but success now and up to 2010. But what struck me as odd was the timing of the announcement. American soccer fans will recall that one reason Bradley was slapped with the interim tag last December was so the USSF could wait for the end of soccer seasons in Europe to interview other possible foreign candidates.

So, why, after setting all this pretence of looking at other candidates, of making it seem that the job was still open, does USSF president Sunil Gulati decide to remove the interim tag weeks before the end of the European campaigns?

With people like new Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce, Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz and Gerard Houllier of Lyon supposedly in the frame, you would have thought at least a courtesy call would have been made to at least one of them.

It becomes even more intriguing when you consider that both Allardyce and Houllier left clubs just this past week (although Allardyce was very quickly snapped up by Newcastle). The timing of the decision just didn't seem to make sense, but on a personal note, I would have loved to have seen "Big Sam" Allardyce take over the USMNT. He has done wonders with a Bolton team that was lower division fodder as little as five years ago, plus he could've been the kind of snappy quote machine you rarely see with US-based coaches these days.

The whole process - from the courting of Jürgen Klinsmann to Bradley's appointment - does nothing to alter the impression that the USSF is a very dysfunctional organization, and one that is increasingly hampering our chances for respect from soccer organizations around the world. From the broken youth structure in ODP (which more journalists are starting to take notice of), to the recent coach search, the USSF hierarchy is in desperate need of a true leader to step up and take charge.

After all, the stakes are much higher now. Qualification to World Cups is not the ultimate goal, succeeding at them is, and that means getting into the second round. Anything less is failure (keep in mind that the US is one of only six nations to qualify for every tournament since 1990 - the other five? Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy and Spain).

Over in MLS, Bruce Arena has really constructed a very strong side in New York, with former Aston Villa striker Juan Pablo Angel the final piece in the puzzle. It's sad that the US did so poorly at World Cup 2006 because Arena's star was in the ascendancy, and it was even muted that he would move on to a European club after the tournament. Strange how two weeks can do so much damage to nearly 20 years of success. Don't be surprised to see NYRB in MLS Cup this year.

Sticking with the Metros... er... Red Bulls, it's nice to see that Clint Mathis is playing well again, but don't hold your breath on a recall to the USMNT. I also hear that the over/under on the number of games Claudio Reyna plays this year is 20. As he has already missed three games due to injury, I think the under is a safe bet.