By David Beard, Globe Staff

Shalrie Joseph always gets a lot of help from his Revolution teammates.

But the New England Revolution stalwart said fellow midfielder Jeff Larentowicz and defender Jay Heaps were invaluable off the field as well in recent weeks, quizzing him on American arcania as Joseph prepped for the US citizenship test.

Joseph, speaking at his locker after a dominating midfield performance Sunday night in the Revolution's 3-1 victory over Real Salt Lake, joyfully emerged this past week as a new American citizen.

The Grenada-born midfielder, whose homemade video of his proud day is atop this post, has little doubt he knows more about American history and civics than many of his US-born teammates. Joseph, who first played for Grenada's national team as a teenager, said he also will retain his citizenship to the Caribbean island nation.

Joseph, troubled by knee injuries earlier in the season, says he is much stronger now. He was especially proud of Kheli Dube's three-goal effort on Sunday and optimistic about the team's playoff chances.

He is particularly close to his midfield partner, Larentowicz, whose contract expires at the end of the season. "He (Larentowicz) does all the dirty work,'' Joseph said -- tackling hard and distributing the ball well.