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"&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Arsenal midfielder&amp;nbsp;Gedion Zelalem&amp;nbsp;has become a United States citizen and plans to commit to U.S. soccer, reports the &lt;em&gt;Washington Post&lt;/em&gt;.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;According to the report, Zelalem&amp;nbsp;was in Washington on Monday to finalize the naturalization process and now just needs FIFA approval, which is believed to be \"a perfunctory exercise.\"\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022 &lt;strong&gt;STRAUS: Best, worst from Brazil: 2014 World Cup superlatives&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Becoming a U.S. citizen would allow the 17-year-old to play for the U.S.,&amp;nbsp;Germany (where he was born) or Ethiopia (his family's homeland), but he has told American officials that he will play for the U.S., according to the &lt;em&gt;Post&lt;/em&gt;.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The earliest that Zelalem could be called up to the U.S. men's national team by&amp;nbsp;Jurgen Klinsmann is in late March, according to the &lt;em&gt;Post&lt;/em&gt;.&amp;nbsp;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From the report:\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Zelalem is eligible for a U.S. passport through the Child Citizenship Act, a federal law that allows offspring of naturalized parents to also become citizens. Zelalem\u2019s father, Zelalem Woldyes, was naturalized this year. The law applies to children under 18 only; Zelalem turns 18 on Jan. 26 -- an approaching deadline that had raised anxiety among U.S. supporters and officials.\r\n\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;\u2022&amp;nbsp;\u200B&lt;strong&gt;LYTTLETON:&amp;nbsp;Transfer options as window nears&lt;/strong&gt;\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Zelalem spent several years of his childhood in the United States in the Maryland area. He joined Arsenal's under-21s in April 2013, then made his debut with Arsenal's senior team in January. In March, he signed his first professional contract with Arsenal.\r\n\r\n&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;- &lt;em&gt;Molly Geary&lt;/em&gt;\r\n&lt;/p&gt;"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2014/12/30/gedion-zelalem-usmnt-us-citizen-arsenal>