Jozy Altidore’s European Adventure Has Soccer World Atwitter

When social media failures happen to the average person, they become fodder for Internet mirth. When Jozy Altidore, future savior of American soccer, screws up and tweets about it, it’s a reason for concern.Unprofessional Foul has been documenting Jozy’s day, which began with this optimistic tweet, had an interlude that apparently involved him showing up late to Hull City’s match today, involved a now-deleted tweet that read “Apologize to the all of you. I showed up late. Made a big mistake I’m very very sorry,” and ended with manager Phil Brown indicating Altidore will be fined for his indiscretion.

It’s not the world’s biggest story, and Altidore probably won’t be cast as a villain for life because of this, but with his time with Hull City already stalling, it seems imprudent for Altidore to give a coach reason to sit him for anything other than play. He’s a young, unproven outsider as is; adding malcontent and truant to his resume would seem to be a bad idea, especially for something as silly as unnecessarily taking a private apology for tardiness public.

Equally silly: The sense of American paternalism for soccer players overseas. The perception is that American players will only maximize their potential by competing against the best of the best, and that leads the soccer-loving public to take keen interest in players who leave American soil for other teams and shake heads sadly in disappointment if they flail. It happened with Landon Donovan, is happening with Freddy Adu, and will happen with Altidore. But flailing isn’t failing, and the fears of foiled potential are somewhat unfounded, as long as Donovan, David Beckham, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and others can play in MLS and for their national teams. Altidore will be fine: Just give him time.

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