Read it and weep.

Remember how we were discussing, not long ago, the concept of “who is the next great U.S. scorer? From where is he coming?”

Well, we have an answer. The next great American scorer was born in (and grew up in) New Jersey … but plays for Villarreal and Italy. 

Ugh.

Here is a story by our correspondent Ian Hawkey, one that appeared in The National on Wednesday morning, on Giuseppe Rossi, The Next Big Thing in Italian soccer. He is so impressive, we’re writing about him here in Abu Dhabi.

And he could have played for the U.S.

If you didn’t follow the link — and you really should, if you’re interested in U.S. soccer — Rossi is a baseball fan, for goodness sakes. He stayed up into the middle of the night, in Spain, to watch the World Series. He calls soccer “soccer” as often as he does “football.”

And the guy plays for Italy.

If I remember correctly, Bruce Arena knew about Rossi when he was a teen, and invited him to join the U.S. camp … but he never accepted the invitations. I’m pretty sure Rossi is the guy of whom Arena said, “we’re not going to get on our knees and beg the kid.”

Well, maybe he should have. But, probably, Rossi always wanted to play for Italy and thought he was good enough to make it happen. By 2008, he played for Italy at the Beijing Olympics, and that was that in terms of national team commitment.

Rossi, a 5-foot-8 forward, has 12 goals this season for Villarreal, the third-place team in La Liga, behind only Barcelona and Real Madrid. Last month, Tottenham reportedly offered about $50 million to Villarreal for Rossi, and instead the club decided to keep him and give him a five-year contract.

Had Rossi played for the country of his birth, we wouldn’t be having discussions about who is going to score for the U.S. once Landon Donovan, 30 next year, and Clint Dempsey, 30 the year after, have left the scene. Instead we might be mulling the attacking pair of big ol’ Jozy Altidore and the quick little Giuseppe Rossi.

Ack.