It might be a bit premature for Darlington Nagbe fans to get excited over his US national team prospects.
But Portland Timbers owner Merritt Paulson reminded everyone that time is not far off.
In an interview with Extra Time Radio on Thursday, Paulson said the Timbers forward/midfielder, a native Liberian, will soon be eligible for USMNT selection.
“Darlington Nagbe is going to be likely eligible for the national team this September, so there’s a unique skill-set guy I imagine they’d be interested in,” Paulson said.
Nagbe’s family fled Liberia due to civil war when he was just 5 months old and settled in the Cleveland, Ohio area. The 24-year-old, the No. 2-overall pick out of Akron by the Timbers in the 2011 SuperDraft, enjoyed a breakout season in 2013 with nine goals and four assists. He scored just one goal this past season but recorded a career-high seven assists.
Nagbe told MLSsoccer.com early in the 2014 season that he would prefer to be part of the US national team, rather than Liberia, the country his father, Joe, represented.
“He does so much besides score, and I think most folks recognize that,” Paulson said on ExtraTime. “… I do think that you’re going to see a really good year from Darlington; he was playing really high-quality soccer at the end of the year. … He certainly should’ve had more goals than the numbers indicated, but I think he’s got a big season in front of him.”
