As the US suits up to face Mexico in a cashcow friendly, one name will catch the eye: Julian Green, a prodigiously talented teenager playing for Bayern Munich. Julian's decision to play for the US encapsulates the current "open arms" era of US soccer. However, that hasn't always been the case. Rather, the US has always had a bipolar relationship with immigrants and soccer is no different. A look at the past shows the key role immigrants have played in many of US soccer's successes and why they've been so coveted and crucial to the Klinsmann era.

First, a primer on the complex relationship between the US and immigrants. On the one hand, all of us, except for Native Americans, are immigrants or the descendants of immigrants. The Statute of Liberty says "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses." For decades, immigrants from Europe waltzed through long lines at Ellis Island, filled out paperwork upon arrival, proved they didn't have tuberculosis (or worse, were trade unionists!), and then got a ticket to the American dream. Acceptance upon arrival with scant qualifications was the law. Yet, while the law reflected an open doors policy, simmering tensions existed between the early arrivers and newcomers. For example, Benjamin Franklin famously complained about German immigrants and their reluctance to learn English. Many folks' grandparents will recall the days when "Irish need not apply" signs dotted the windows of businesses up and down the East Coast.

If immigrants were accepted but then marginalized, then soccer in the US during the early 20th century followed a similar track. Dubbed an "immigrants' game", other so-called "native sports" like basketball, baseball, and football grew exponentially in popularity. The US fielded world class athletes that consistently won Olympic gold, but failed to qualify for a World Cup from 1954 to 1990. The roster for the 1950 team featured three Italian-Americans, Charlie Colombo, Frank Wallace, and Gino Pariani, from the Hill Neighborhood of St. Louis. In fact, Frank Wallace's birth name was Frank Valicenti but his family changed it (possibly due to discrimination or a desire to assimilate, or both). The US team also featured Joe Gaetjens, a Haitian of German descent who immigrated to the US, studied at Columbia University, and scored the winning goal vs. England off a header. Defender Joe Maca was also an immigrant from Belgium and Ed Mcllvenny was Scottish.

Flash forward to 1990. The US still lacked a proper first division, but qualified for the World Cup. Perhaps their best player, Tony Meola, was an Italian-American. The team was captained by Mike Windischmann, born in Nuremburg, West Germany. Tab Ramos, probably the team's most skilled player, was born in Montevideo, Uruguay. If the 1950's team was St. Louis plus immigrants, then the 1990's edition was New Jersey plus immigrants. The 1994 team, coached by Bora Multinovic, was much more cosmopolitan: Thomas Dooley was a German immigrant, Hugo Perez was from El Salvador, Earnie Stewart was a Dutchman, Roy Wegerle hailed from South Africa, Frank Klopas was Greek, Fernando Clavijo was Uruguayan, Claudio Reyna was the child of a Portuguese immigrant and Alexi Lalas was a Greek-American.

From 1950 to 1994, the number of immigrants on the US team increased exponentially. US Soccer welcomed with open arms players from Europe and South America. Bora instilled a remarkable team spirit and confidence, and the team went on a dazzling run at USA '94. Then, though, the disaster of 1998 happened. Despite veteran defender Jeff Agoos playing okay in qualifying, coach Steve Sampson heavily recruited French-American David Regis. Sampson swore he didn't promise him a starting spot, but Regis became a citizen just in time for the World Cup and started all three group games. He was joined by other immigrants Dooley, Wegerle, Ramos, and "Preki" Radosavljevic of Serbia. Unlike 94, Sampson failed to find the right team chemistry. The unexpected removal of John Harkes and arrival of Regis rubbed senior players, perhaps past their prime, the wrong way. The team lost all three games and finished last.

Then we enter the Bruce Arena era. MLS had been in existence since 1996, giving American-born talent a viable professional league to ply their trade. More importantly, Arena confirmed in an interview that he felt recruiting two-passport players with servicemen fathers was "against the spirit". For Korea/Japan 2002, the US roster featured only four immigrants: Pablo Mastroeni, an Argentine who grew up in the US and played in MLS, Carlos Llamosa, a Colombian who played in MLS, Regis, and Earnie Stewart. A cosmopolitan roster this was not. However, the team clicked, upsetting Portugal in the opening game and going on a run to the quarterfinals.

The 2006 roster featured only a single immigrant: Pablo Mastroeni. The team also lost two games, tied Italy, and exited in the group stages. More importantly, Arena will be remembered for the star player who got away: Giuseppe Rossi. At the time, Rossi was a promising star at Manchester United. He had not yet been capped by Italy, and was fair game. Bruce Arena faxed a request to United to allow Rossi to come to a friendly. He also called Rossi a few times and invited him to a camp, but no dice. Arena admitted that Rossi would have been a great addition to the '06 team and many feel Arena could have and should have done more.

So, the Arena era whimpered to an end with a one immigrant and zero loss showing at the World Cup. Then came Bob Bradley, an American with extensive experience in MLS. At the time, Rossi was still fair game. While Bruce was perhaps reticent to suck up to Rossi, Bradley at least gave it a second effort. He even attempted a classic coach recruiting trick: he spoke to Rossi's dad, a coach at Clifton High in New Jersey. Dad made it clear that Rossi respected the US, but his dream was to play for Italy. He soon got capped by Italy during World Cup qualifying, and that was that. Bradley, though, still expanded the reach of the US program. His roster for South Africa 2010 featured two players from the Mexican League, Francisco Torres and Herculez Gomez. He convinced Scotsman Stu Holden to play for the US. He convinced Torres to play for the US instead of possibly Mexico. Lastly, after the World Cup, Bradley convinced Jermain Jones to don the red, white and blue.

And then we entered the Klinsmann era. A look at the recent US friendly with the Ukraine shows a plethora of two passport players: Fabian Johnson, John Brooks, Aron Johannsson, Mix Diskerud, to name a few. If Bradley subtly worked behind the scenes to get dual passport players, then Klinsmann has been much more public. Like France 98, this initially rubbed players the wrong way and the US did lose to Honduras 2-1 at the start of qualifying. However, the integration of these players has resulted in unprecedented depth and competition for spots. The US coasted to qualifying, has beaten good teams like Italy and Germany abroad, and recently set a record with 12 consecutive wins. Klinsmann's cosmopolitan roster recalls Bora's 94 team. Based on results, it clearly works.

More importantly, folks ask, just how has Klinsmann been able to land so many good players? First, the rise of the US program has made it more enticing. A chance at a World Cup is a huge carrot. Second, himself a German-American, Klinsmann has no qualms or reservations about dual passport players. Third, Germany is loaded with soccer talent, so plenty of good players can't make the national team. Fourth, and most importantly, like a fine-tuned college basketball program, he realizes that championships are won in the summer (recruitment), not the spring (tourney time). He also has implemented a full court press beyond a few player phone calls, faxes, and chitchats with parents. Sports Illustrated has reported that he personally called the CEO for Bayern Munich to beg for Green (born in the US to US/German parents but moved to Germany at the age of two) to be released for a friendly with Mexico. From the perspective of an 18 year old who can't get a sniff of first-team football just yet, can you imagine a bigger compliment? Julian's father has said Jurgen played a big role in his decision. Could Bruce have pulled it off? Or Bradley?

Of course, we can't fault past coaches Bradley and Arena because they both had MLS backgrounds. They were used to dealing with MLS players with a few years of college and acquired through the draft. The whole "kiss the buns of a teenager" tactic is still somewhat foreign to US soccer but a staple of European clubs. In North America, though, for decades, every summer, millionaire basketball coaches have driven around inner cities and rural nowheres to sit in living rooms with talented prospects. Like a national team coach, they can't offer money, just a shot at sporting glory. Klinsmann, a bottle of optimism, has embraced this role. He's also taken advantage of the FIFA one-time switch rule and a generous US soccer scouting budget.

In this bizarrely wonderful way, the Green decision reflects the never-ending debate about immigration: we have this new, wonderful, untapped talent that has recently arrived. Clearly, the established but perhaps less-talented players feel threatened. The nativist question of "is he truly American" perhaps gets hidden by remarks that he "didn't do anything in qualification." Thus, you have this tension between pure merit versus established orders. Klinsmann would call this dynamic "competition." So would I. Just as immigrants can refresh an aging population and fill in holes in a labor force, Green could perhaps supplant (or inspire better performances from) the misfiring tandem of Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey. If recruiting the children of service members is "gamesmanship", then, well isn't soccer a game? If defending champion Spain is refreshing their forward ranks with a Brazilian, then the US can follow the same path or get left further behind.

So, today, on the eve of Julian Green's probable debut, Jurgen Klinsmann has taken a team that plays a "game for immigrants" and filled the roster with immigrants. After eight years of Arena's limited vision and Bradley's lack of connections, US soccer is looking beyond its borders, embracing immigrants, and ultimately building a better team. It's nothing new (Bora did it), but it's still refreshing to see. Here's hoping the rest of the US will wake up and follow suit.

Elliott Turner blogs about soccer at Futfanatico.com. He is the author of An Illustrated Guide to Soccer & Spanish.