Players

Weston McKennie: Five things you didn't know about the Juventus figure who plays with Cristiano Ronaldo

By Fredi Roman

The American's all the rage across Europe

The American's all the rage across Europe

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Weston McKennie's one of the great sensations that Juventus has. Definitively signed a few days ago from Schalke 04, the American midfielder has a compelling life story few know. For this reason we decided to reveal five details that nobody knows.

The first is that he lived three years of his childhood in Kaiserslautern. Like other American players who started in the Bundesliga and later made the leap to a higher league, McKennie has had an emotional bond with Germany since childhood. It was while his military father had been posted to a base near Ramstein. At that time, when he was only 6 years old, he fell in love with soccer, a sport that currently has him as one of the great stars. In 2004 he joined FC Phönix Otterbach and two years later had his first match at USMNT, in the juniors.

Another fact is that he met Christian Pulisic from Borussia Dortmund when he was 13 years old. In addition, they shared several years the plenary sessions of the youth selected and forged a good friendship off the field of play. In his time, he was very close to having played football.

Growing up in Texas, it was almost inevitable that McKennie would develop his passion for the sport. What's more: on several occasions he agreed on both disciplines and one afternoon he had two games. In the first one he scored two goals and then shone in the other sport's offense. At one point he had to choose and opted for soccer.

The road was never easy for McKennie. He developed the formative categories at FC Dallas, a team he was desperate to sign when he was 17 years old. The University of Virginia also offered him a full scholarship. And on the way there was an offer from Schalke 04 to sign his first professional contract. And he didn't hesitate. "I made the right decision", he commented later.

Lastly, his mother's his great support. He supports him at all times and on more than one occasion gave him the same advice: "You always have to remember who you are and where you come from. The day you don't remember and become a star, I will break your legs so that you remain the same".

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