Having a child with two passports is awesome. first of all, there is something very James Bond about it. Second of all. I imagine him sitting down with Roy Hodgeson and Jurgen Klinsmann having them duke it out to see which national team he’ll play for.
Guiseppe Rossi and Brede Hangeland aside, The US mens national team has fared well in recruiting dual citizens into its ranks. Whether kids of expats like Mix Diskerud or growing up in the military like Jermaine Jones, the net has been cast far and wide to find talent for the national team and be welcomed into the fold.
I can’t imagine the pressure placed on 18 or 19 ear old kids to pick and choose which path their careers will go. And to many people, it’s simply a choice, country A or B. Like Diskerud, he just went with the first national team that called him up, I think Stuart Holden went with the USA as he spent his foremost years here growing up, and I think Rossi picked Italy because he grew up watching the likes of Baggio and Cannavaro and dreamed of emulating them.
For some reason, the act of picking a country isn’t that simple. nor is it possible. We all recollect the English media hysteria about Adnan Januzaj opting to play for Kosovo instead of an impossible option of picking to play for England.
However, the USA has their own Adnan Januzaj, and Jurgen Klinsmann is apparently moving mountains to try to get the young Arsenal starlet Gedion Zelalem to play for the USA. However, here’s the problem He’s not American, nor are his parents, nor does he live here anymore. 
Given the ease of “cap-tying” others such as Mix, Aron and Jermaine many think it’s as simple as Klinsmann calling him up.
Zelalem was born in Germany of Ethiopian descent. He moved to the USA when he was 9 and spent 6 years as a resident of the USA, however neither he, nor his parents naturalized as US citizens. It is just conjecture at this point (as I don’t know his parental situation) to presume his parents still live in the USA as permanent residents (green card holders)
However, since living in the UK for over 12 months now, Zelalem is no longer considered a permanent resident of the USA. Therefore, He alone is not eligible for US Citizenship on his own merits.
If, as I think is correct, his parents are green card holders, they are eligible for US Citizenship via the 5 year residency criteria. and if they take the oath before Gedion turns 18, then he too becomes a US Citizen. sounds great right? slam dunk right? not so fast. Under German law, if someone takes possesion of a second nationality through choice, they lose their German citizenship (differing laws apply to that of natural born dual citizens as Jones, Julian Green and Shawn Parker are)
So what if he loses German Citizenship? well, then he’ll lose EU citizenship and need to apply for a work visa to play in the European Union.
Why would he put himself in the position of of losing his job, and future job prospects just for the sake of changing FIFA national team requirements?
FIFA is pretty clear on the matter, he can make a 1 time change of representing national association if he holds nationality of the country. Which he does not. (yet, his parents will need to naturalize)
or, live in the USA for 5 years consecutively after the age of 18, which he hasn’t done either.
So despite what his wikipedia page says, and despite what Klinsmann wants to happen. Gedion Zelalem is not eligible to play for the USA.
We need to understand, that when it comes to dual nationals, that we win some and lose some.
