Can Aron Johannsson Be an X-Factor for USA in 2014 World Cup?

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: November 6, 2013

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Over the past year, there have been few players in the United States men's national team pool who have created as much excitement as Icelandic-American Aron Johannsson.

Johannsson came onto the radar of most USMNT fans in the 2012-13 season when he scored 14 goals in just 15 starts for Danish side Aarhus before transferring to Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.

However, as a dual international, Johannsson was eligible to represent both Iceland and the U.S. and even represented Iceland multiple times on the youth level.

In October 2012, he accepted a call-up to the Icelandic squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Switzerland.

As fate would have it, Johannsson ended up with a groin injury and missed the matches—which would have permanently cap-tied him to Iceland.

Then, this summer, Johannsson declared his interest in playing for the U.S., writing the following on his Facebook page:

I have decided to make myself eligible for the USA national football team. I was fortunate in that I could choose between playing for Iceland or the USA since I have dual citizenship. It was neither an easy nor hasty decision, because I was faced with two good national teams. I thank the coaches of Iceland for their interest in me and wish the Iceland national team all the best in the future.



His decision wasn't taken very well by the Icelandic FA, but Johannsson's one-time switch with FIFA was completed, and he played shortly thereafter for the U.S. in their August friendly against Bosnia.

Since then, he has made three more appearances for the U.S., coming on as a 90th-minute substitute against Costa Rica, starting and playing 72 minutes against Jamaica and coming on as a 62nd-minute substitute (and scoring his first goal for the U.S.) against Panama.

But the question still remains, can Johannsson be a contributor for the U.S. next summer at the World Cup ...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - International Football

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