Theoson Jordan Siebatcheu has declared himself ready to pledge his international soccer allegiance to the United States men's national team, having been eligible for both France and Cameroon before now.
The 24-year-old, who was born in Washington, D.C., and raised in France, is currently enjoying a productive spell on loan with UEFA Europa League round of 16 participants BSC Young Boys of Bern in Switzerland from Stade Rennais of France's Ligue 1 and exclusively told CBS Sports of his choice.
"Yes, I have decided," Siebatcheu said. "I made my choice a few weeks ago. I will be very happy to play for the USMNT. I am very focused right now with YB and hope to play with the national team -- if that possibility is presented."
The USMNT are due to face Jamaica in Austria on March 25 in a 2019 Gold Cup semifinal rematch with a clash with Northern Ireland three days later. Gregg Berhalter's squad is expected to be named next week and Siebatcheu is now a possibility for that.
The Stade de Reims youth academy graduate has scored 12 goals across the Swiss Super League and the UEL this season with three across the two legs of a 6-3 aggregate win over Bayer Leverkusen in the round of 32 last month.
There has been USMNT interest in the past, but the calls came early in Siebatcheu's breakout period with Reims where he signed professional terms in September of 2015 after debuting earlier that year before moving on to Rennes in 2018 after a 17-goal haul in Ligue 2 to restore SdR to Ligue 1.
"I was very young; I had just broken into the Reims team," Siebatcheu told CBS Sports exclusively. "With my agent, we decided that it would be best for me to stay in Europe because of the travel involved so early in my career.
"Travelling to the USA to play in friendly matches would have been tiring and the best thing was to focus on club soccer and not international at this moment. When I was called by France in the past, it was not far from the country, so not too demanding."
Despite not yet representing USMNT internationally and growing up in France, Siebatcheu speaks English and has kept a very close eye on the national team of his country of birth -- notably the influx of American players to Europe this past January and Lille OSC's Timothy Weah.
Welcome to Tim's house 😎#Weah 🇺🇸 #USMNT #LOSC pic.twitter.com/VZCXXisp0J
— LOSC Lille EN (@LOSC_EN) March 5, 2021
"It is very good for the team and for the country," Siebatcheu said. "There are more and more players coming and joining big clubs like Borussia Dortmund and Barcelona. American soccer was already at a good level, but these moves can push it even higher. It is extremely positive, and I hope that it continues.
"I watch some of Timothy's matches in Ligue 1. I have friends in Lille. He is a very good player and I like his style of play."
On the topic of potential FIFA World Cup success in the future, Siebatcheu is convinced that the quality will be there during his playing career and it is something that he could be involved in if he establishes himself under Berhalter.
"Why not? In the big competitions, of course you need experience, but you also need desire and to apply yourself," Siebatcheu said. "In a cup competition, anything can happen. With players playing at higher and higher levels, why should it not be reflected by the national team?"
USMNT-eligible Jordan Siebatcheu gives Young Boys the advantage 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/HFhvR3qzzL
— Champions League on CBS Sports (@UCLonCBSSports) February 25, 2021
Siebatcheu is enjoying a new lease of life on loan at Wankdorf Stadium from Rennes, where he first sampled Europa League action during a promising initial start before injury interrupted him and prevented him from playing in the Coupe de France success of 2019 against Paris Saint-Germain.
"It is very great," he told CBS Sports exclusively about the UEL run and life in Switzerland. "I am very happy to be with Young Boys. I am good here and I want to keep scoring more and more goals.
"For the moment, I just want to play for YB and focus on what I am doing here. I want to keep scoring goals and enjoying what I am doing. For now, I am not thinking about it. I just want to play, keep smiling and maybe think about the future in a month or two.
"I saw the news," he added about Rennes replacing Julien Stephan with Bruno Genesio as coach recently before stressing that the Breton club have not reached out. "There has been no contact with him or the club for the moment."
Siebatcheu is relishing the prospect of coming up against continental giants and UEFA Champions League dropouts AFC Ajax in the Europa League round of 16 later this week on Paramount+ and believes that he and his teammates can dream of another upset after eliminating Leverkusen.
JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHLLLLL! YB setzt sich gegen Bayer 04 Leverkusen durch und steht im Achtelfinal der UEFA Europa League! HAT MAN WORTE?!? #BSCYB #B04YB #UEL #YBFOREVER pic.twitter.com/PbVTSsZCWi
— BSC YOUNG BOYS (@BSC_YB) February 25, 2021
"They are a very big team," he said of the Amsterdam outfit. "We played against Leverkusen already. Ajax are another big team with a different style of play. We are very excited to play against them.
"If we play like we did against Leverkusen, I think we can cause an upset. Everything is possible in the Europa League. It is up to us to play our football, remain focused and then God will decide."
If USMNT hopeful Siebatcheu can maintain his current scoring form and add to the goals he scored against the Germans in the last round, then Ajax are in for a difficult time at Johan Cruyff Arena on Thursday and the following week in Bern.