Italy’s American soccer star

Giuseppe Rossi hates being soccer’s Benedict Arnold, said Jeff Bradley in ESPN the Magazine. The 23-year-old soccer phenom is reviled by American soccer fans for choosing to play for Italy’s national team, which beat the U.S. last year in a game in which Rossi scored two goals. A soccer prodigy born to Italian immigrant parents in Clifton, N.J., Rossi trained at a youth academy for one of Italy’s most dominant soccer clubs from age 12, eventually developing into a dominant striker. When he was courted by both the Italian and American national teams, the choice wasn’t hard, because he’d grown up idolizing Italian soccer stars.

“How can I explain it?” says Rossi. “Off the field, I have always felt American. On the field, I’ve always felt Italian. The TV I watch, the websites I visit, the music I like—it’s all from America. But Italy is where I grew up as a player.” After he helped Italy beat the U.S., Americans began calling him “Judas” and “traitor.” “If I could have picked any team to score against,” Rossi sighs, “the United States would have been my last choice.” He dreads the prospect of another match against the U.S. at the World Cup in June. “I root hard for America,” he says. “Against anyone but Italy.”

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