Dom Dwyer's marriage to Sydney Leroux doesn't affect his citizenship, USMNT status

Dom Dwyer is now married to Sydney Leroux, a United States citizen. That means he's on the fast track to citizenship himself and can play for the U.S. soon, right? Not quite.

Because Dwyer is married to an American citizen, he can apply for citizenship in three years, which is a shorter wait than the usual five-year wait after getting a green card, but that doesn't matter to Dwyer. That's because Dwyer got his green card in 2012 and he can apply for citizenship in 2017, before his expedited marriage eligibility kicks in in 2018.

The 24-year-old Dwyer scored 24 goals for Sporting Kansas City last year, his first as a regular starter in MLS. He was born in England, but moved to the U.S. for college and was drafted by Sporting out of the University of South Florida. He spend part of 2013 on loan with Orlando in USL before becoming first choice with SKC and bagging goal after goal in 2014.

With a new contract at Sporting, Dwyer figures to stick around for a while. He and Leroux just bought a house in the city together and figure to stay, meaning that in two years, Dwyer will be a citizen eligible to play for the national team.

Will Dwyer play for the U.S.? Well first of all, he has to be good enough. If his play last year is any indication, he certainly is, but that was only one season. Now Jurgen Klinsmann will have to keep watching and see if that is his new norm, or a blip on the radar.

After that, Dwyer has to want to play for the U.S. If his comments from the summer still hold true, it sounds like he does.

"If the offer ever came to me, I think it would be a difficult one to say no to," he said. "I'm from England, born and raised there, but I've been in the US for quite a few years and have a lot of love for this country and enjoy being here."

So he's going to be on the radar come 2017. And if he's still scoring goals, he should go from on the radar to in a U.S. shirt.