A Costa Rican journalist cornered Aleman following the press conference and asked him about his decision to represent his adopted home rather than his nation of birth.
In summary, Aleman said that then-manager Jorge Luis Pinto called him two months prior to the 2013 U20 Concacaf Championship and asked him to represent Costa Rica. He said he declined the invite because after playing with both the Canada U17 and U20 teams "he couldn’t do that to his teammates.” Most importantly, he says he’s happy he chose Canada.
It's just a great thing to hear for Canada supporters smarting from being on the wrong end of such decisions too many times. It's a sore spot, but Aleman really represents the reality of 21st century global migration and sense of identity clashing with much of the soccer-watching public’s 20th-century concept of nationalism. (The Fifa rules governing the subject exist in their own world.)
Aleman said in the above interview that he moved to Canada as a child. That his extended family still lives in Costa Rica - grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles - and that it’s only ever been him and his parents in Canada. This is where it gets complicated. He tells his interlocutor that he always wanted to play for Costa Rica but Canada came knocking first. Simply that. Canada called first.
If I can be so bold as to put words in the man's mouth, it sounds like Aleman feels a strong loyalty to the Canada program while still largely identifying as a Costa Rican, or at least an expat one. Canadian supporters throw out the word “traitor” quite freely in these situations (this author sheepishly included) without necessarily realizing that particular accusation flies both ways. Take the comments below Thursday's Aleman story on this Facebook page presumably operated by a Herediano supporter. You'll spot an el traidor or two, but with the reverse implication: look at this Costa Rican guy who took off to a better, wealthier country and chose its national team instead of his own.
It's almost like we need to convene an ad hoc barstool committee to drunkenly weigh the evidence in each particular case of country switchin' and determine which players to direct the incoherent rage towards and which ones to sort of give a pass. Contrast the Aleman situation with that of Vancouver Whitecaps' prospect Marco Bustos, a kid born and raised in Winnipeg to immigrant parents, who also participated with Canada's national youth programs and appears to have been far more flirtatious with his suitors from the U20 Chile squad. I guess it's just complicated guys.
As for the actual football in all this, is Herediano a step down from the Spanish second division, where Aleman had been playing with Valladolid B? At first glance the optics of a move from Spain to Costa Rica don't look great. And the player plainly states his goal is to return to Europe. But if you consider Herediano is one of the top teams in Costa Rica -- third most titles after Saprissa and Alajuelense, most recently champion in the 2013 Clasura season -- it really starts to depend on playing time. Herediano isn't in the current Concacaf Champions League, but did qualify for the tournament the previous two seasons and made the quarterfinals in 2012-13. They finished third in the recently finished Clasura 2014 Primera Division season.
He'll have some esteemed company in midfield in the form of Costa Rica international Esteban Granados, who didn't play any minutes during the World Cup but still managed to earn a yellow card from the subs bench in the round of 16 victory over Greece. Granados was recently named to the squad for Costa Rica's first national team microciclo following the World Cup, along with Herediano defender Pablo Salazar.
Personally, I'm excited to have what a guy who is hopefully a men's national team regular playing club football in Central America. I've said many times I think the program would benefit from more players in such a situation.