The US men’s public group pool is brimming with some of MLS’ buzziest players, yet despite the fact that he’s not yet qualified, Julian Gressel stays on the personalities of many watching the public group. Also, the D.C. Joined midfielder, who got his green card in spring 2019, hit a potential future call up for his embraced home an honor.
Gressel, who was brought into the world in Germany prior to going to the U.S. for school, was a visitor on The Cooligans webcast this week, where he shared his global desires.
“If the possibility’s there, I think it’d be a tremendous honor,” Gressel said. “I think if there was no way for me to get a call up from Germany and the US would be interested to call me up into a camp or for a game or whatever, I’d be very honored to represent the US. I’ve been here now for a long time and call this my home so it’d be a cool thing for sure, but for now we’ve still got to wait a little bit.”
He likewise tended to US mentor Gregg Berhalter’s remarks that he would hang tight for Gressel, saying he “appreciates the compliment.”
“I think it’s an honor for him to mention that ’cause he doesn’t need to talk about me,” he said. “I’m so far away from even the possibility of me playing there. It’s obviously an honor for him to say that and to have me in his mind is kind of cool.”
Gressel, who joined D.C. Joined in a major cash exchange from Atlanta United in front of the 2020 season, likewise offered a report on his way to US citizenship, saying he is on target to be qualified to turn into a resident in April or May of 2022, three years subsequent to getting his green card.
“I think next year, either April or May, that’s when I would be able to become eligible to become a citizen — I’ve had my green card then for three years, I think,” Gressel said. “That’s the first time it would even be a possibility but until then, I’m just going to continue to play better than I did last year in MLS and win some more games. That’s really all I can control right now, and I’m just going to try and focus on that.”
It would conceivably make him qualified for the US only months before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, with Gressel cheerfully saying “the timing’s actually great.”
Look at the full meeting with Gressel on The Cooligans, where he discusses his expectations for an improved 2022 with D.C. Joined together and bounty more.
