During the recent FIFA Congress in the Bahamas, world soccer's governing body passed new rules regarding international players; no longer will youth internationals be required to declare which nation they will play for by their twenty-first birthday.

The immediate impact of the rules on the US National Team wasn't clear; while there are players who might switch to the US after playing for youth teams of other nations but had not been capped by the senior side, tracking down those names is not always easy.

The first domino may have fallen, however, as Schalke midfielder and former German youth international Jermaine Jones has declared his desire to play for the US. While I'm not intimately familiar with Jones, it appears that he's a defensive midfielder. The US pool isn't deep enough that he probably shouldn't get a shot at some point, though it's hard not to wish that he was a back or a striker.

Jones also has a bit of a temper, apparently, and it will be interesting to see if his less-than-perfect history keeps him from getting called up by Bob Bradley.

When do you think he'll get his first call up?