Bayern Munich has given promising young striker Julian Green, who has both American as well as German citizenship, permission to train with the U.S. men’s national team aheadof its upcoming friendly against Mexico on April 2. According to SI.com, coach Jurgen Klinsmann called Bayern CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge to ask the German Treblewinner to release Green for the friendly, which does not occur on a designated FIFA international date, and the club agreed.
Green is considered one of the Bundesliga’s most promisingyoung talents although he has yet to play a league game. The 18-year-old made his debut for the Bayern first team in a UEFA Champions League game against CSKA Moscow in November. His father,Jerry, a former U.S. serviceman, lives in Tampa, Fla., and his mother, Ursula, lives in Germany. Green also participated in the U.S. camp before the team’srecent 2-0 loss against Ukraine in Cyprus, but he was not eligible to play because making himself available for selection would have meant he would be tied internationally to the USA underFIFA’s rules. Green has also appeared before for Germany’s youth national teams in official competitions but not for its senior national team.
When asked by SI.com’sGrant Wahl if there was a possibility that he could choose to play for the U.S. in this year’s World Cup, the youngster nodded his head. “Yes, I think so,” he said.“If I can play a World Cup at 18 years old, it would be great, amazing. But I have to train hard.”