American Made

She was from Savannah, Ga., and she was studying in Strasbourg, France, for the 1993-94 school year. He was from Martinique, a French possession, but had lived in France since he was a child, packed off lock, stock and cleats to improve his education and his soccer prospects.

He was climbing steadily up the professional soccer ladder, playing for the local club, Racing Club de Strasbourg, when they met. He spoke no English. But David Regis needed no words to convey what he felt as he shared coffee and baguettes with this beautiful neighbor in a cafe near where they both lived.

“It was like a bolt of lightning,” he said of their first meeting. “I knew right away, within 30 seconds. It was the same for her too.”

The marriage of Nikki Fogle and David Regis was for love. If the marriage of David Regis and the U.S. World Cup team was born of convenience, consummated for mercenary reasons, it’s still felicitous.

Thanks to an obscure provision of the Immigration and Naturalization Act and some help from the U.S. Soccer Federation, Regis became a naturalized American citizen late last month, passing his exam barely in time to be included on the American roster for France 98. Lean and swift, blessed with a powerful left foot and strong instincts, he is expected to start on defense and be the top marking back Monday when the U.S. makes its tournament debut against Germany at Parc des Princes in Paris.

“I have an American passport, but the way I play is the same,” he said. “It hasn’t changed. I think very little has changed.”

That’s not quite true. The caliber of the American defense changed for the better when Regis, 29, was awarded the 22nd and final spot.

His poise and flair were apparent in the two pre-tournament games he played, against Kuwait and Scotland. Unafraid to take an occasional chance offensively, his skills are likely to be extremely useful to a team that has been unable to finish its chances with any consistency.

That Regis played the most recent of his nine professional seasons for the Germany First Division club Karlsruhe is a bonus for the U.S. team. Besides proving he can score--he had six goals in league and tournament play, four on headers--he became familiar with many of the players the U.S. will face Monday.

“We can take advantage of the vast amount of experience he has and his knowledge of German players. He has marked consistently, week in and week out, the top German players in the Bundesliga,” said U.S. Coach Steve Sampson, who heard about Regis from a sports agent who had read in a magazine that Regis was married to an American.

“He has the ability to be a marking back and also a sweeper or a defensive midfielder. He brings great versatility. He has very good speed and heading ability and the ability to come forward and attack. He could be a very big help to us.”

He first proved he’s a fast learner by easily passing a citizenship test that challenged his knowledge of the Constitution, the president and the branches of government. He has also proved his soccer worthiness to teammate Thomas Dooley, the U.S. captain and a kindred soul in that Dooley, born in Germany, spoke almost no English when he became a U.S. citizen in 1992.

“He’s another very good player on defense you can trust. He’s very good in the air and very good man-on-man. He’s very fast and has a good touch with the ball,” Dooley said. “You could see in the first 10 or 15 minutes [of his first game] that you can trust him. He played in France and he played in Germany. I hear Kaiserslautern wants him, Schalke wants him. He is a great player. He’s one of the guys that is very important to us.”

Regis, the youngest of 10 children, left home when he was 10 for Valenciennes, a town north of Paris. “I miss the music, the ambience, my family, my mother,” he said. But he found a new life and a new profession--and with Nikki, he has created a new family. They have a toddler daughter, Emma, in whose honor he wears a small heart pendant around his neck.

He had never been to the United States until October 1994. “I had to come here to meet her parents. They had seen photographs of me and read about me in the newspapers before that,” he said. “Now I am their favorite son.”

It’s also because of Nikki that he’s a citizen.

Normally, the process requires having a green card for five years and then waiting for paperwork to be processed, but his citizenship was expedited because of a provision in immigration law that applies to spouses of American employees stationed in other countries and working for U.S. firms or American corporations that promote foreign trade. Nikki Regis, with the help of the U.S. Soccer Federation, got a job in France with a travel agency that is arranging travel for family and friends of U.S. World Cup players.

He is not sure where they will go after the World Cup, but he probably will be hotly pursued by many clubs. “I don’t know. I’ve talked to clubs in France and England. It depends,” he said.

First, he will concentrate on helping his new country perform well here.

“Against a team with big talent like Germany, your concentration must be strong. You don’t want to change the way you play the match, but you must use your head before all,” he said. “There is a lot of quality here. But in Europe there are a lot of good countries. I think this team might be the biggest surprise. We have a good mentality and we have experience. I think we can be a very good surprise. . . .

“This a dream for me. I never thought it was possible.”