FIFA has approved Aaron Maund’s request for a change of association and he is now eligible to represent the United States in international matches.
Maund holds dual citizenship with the United States and Trinidad & Tobago, but was required to request the change of association after representing T&T at the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. During the U-17 World Cup, he started in all three matches and played all but 16 minutes of the group phase.
As a freshman at Notre Dame, the Dorchester, Mass., native started all 21 games for the Fighting Irish at central defender.
Earlier this week, U.S. Under-20 head coach Thomas Rongen named a 20-player roster for the qualifying tournament which takes place from March 6-15 in Trinidad & Tobago.
The U.S. will open Group A of the tournament on March 6 at Dwight Yorke Stadium against Jamaica at 6 p.m. ET. Two days later, the U.S. will face either Honduras or St. Vincent & the Grenadines on March 8 at 6 p.m. (5 p.m. ET) before finishing out group play against El Salvador on Tuesday, March 10, at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. ET). The U.S. will learn its second opponent when Honduras and St. Vincent & the Grenadines square off in a playoff game on March 2.
A total of eight teams will compete in the CONCACAF event, which is being held in a championship format for the first time since 1996. Group B includes Canada, Costa Rica, Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the 2009 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, which will take place from Sept. 24-Oct. 16 in Egypt. The four teams will also move on to the semifinals of the regional championship, which will be played on March 13 at Marvin Lee Stadium in Macoya, Trinidad. The third-place match and final will be played on March 15 at the same location.
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Maund dumps T&T.
By: Ian Prescott (Express).
After starting all three preliminary matches for Trinidad and Tobago at the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in South Korea, connections of Aaron Maund stopped answering the phone calls from T&T once the United States came calling.
"I was in constant contact with his father until December. I had gotten his passport number and made arrangement for him to join us, then all communication stopped. His father stopped taking our calls. So, after four, five tries, I left a message stating that if they did not contact us, he would not be considered for the team," reported Chris De Silva, manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national under-20 squad, who are preparing for next month's CONCACAF qualifying tournament for the 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup in Egypt.
Maund was born in the United States and was a member of the US Under-14, Under-15 and Under-17 national pools of players, without ever making a national squad.
The 18-year-old Notre Dame defender is one of three children of Karen and Trinidadian father Arnott Maund.
After also failing to make the US squad for the 2007 Under-17 World Cup, Maund contacted Trinidad and Tobago, who he was eligible to play for due to ancestral heritage.
Now, he has changed nationality and has been named by American coach Thomas Rongen in his 20-man squad for the CONCACAF tournament.
FIFA, the governing body for world football, will now decide whether the 6ft 2inch defender will represent the United States at the CONCACAF Under-20 qualifying tournament which takes place in T&T from March 6-15 .
T&T manager De Silva sees no reason to block the move.
"This may be a blessing in disguise," De Silva said. "We want guys with big hearts playing for this country. We want guys who when we are down a goal will scrap and give their all for Trinidad and Tobago. This (Maund) is a boy who wanted to play for the USA, did not make it and so came to play for Trinidad and Tobago. It was we who took him to the World Cup."
Maund is now in camp with the US team which Rongen named this week. The American team came together on Tuesday for a five-day training camp before travelling to Bacolet, Tobago on March 2, where they will play three group games at the Dwight Yorke Stadium.
Of the 20 USA players, nine are currently professionals, with six in Major League Soccer and three overseas. The roster also features three players who were part of the US team that advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2007 FIFA U20 World Cup in Canada in midfielder Bryan Arguez, goalkeeper Brian Perk and defender Anthony Wallace.
A release from the US Soccer Federation (USSF) reported that Maund has been included pending FIFA approval.
"Notre Dame defender Aaron Maund will also be joining the team for training in Bradenton, but his addition to the final roster depends on whether he receives approval from FIFA to play for the United States after requesting a change in national association. Maund, who has dual citizenship with the US and Trinidad & Tobago, played in all three games for T&T in the 2007 FIFA Under-17 World Cup. Maund has submitted the necessary paperwork to change his national association to the United States and US Soccer is awaiting FIFA's decision. The final roster is required to be submitted to CONCACAF 48 hours before the opening game against Jamaica. If a decision is not reached by FIFA before that time, Rongen will name a replacement to the 20-player roster, " the USSF release stated.
Four CONCACAF teams will be final qualifiers for the 2009 FIFA U20 World Cup, with 20 other countries having already booked their place in Egypt.
Asia will send four representatives in Australia, Korea Republic, United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan; while Africa will have five teams, including the hosts, as well as Cameroon, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.
The 2008 U19 European Championship served as the tournament that saw the Czech Republic, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain qualify.
Oceania send Tahiti to their first-ever world championship, while Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela will represent South America.