Matthew Hoppe opens up about crazy Bundesliga season
Matthew Hoppe may be on the move this summer but the United States national team forward is still basking in what has been a whirlwind season.
It was Matthew Hoppe, of course, who burst out in the Bundesliga this past year, scoring six goals after making his first team debut with Schalke last fall. In his fifth appearance with the senior team, he scored three goals in a memorable 4-0 win over Hoffenheim.
In an interview last Friday on ‘Counter Attack’ on Sirius XM, Hoppe told hosts Tony Meola and Brian Dunseth about the past year and his quick rise from the Bundesliga club’s youth teams to becoming a first team regular.
“So I moved over when I was 18, and I moved over to the 19-team, and at Schalke, they’re, they’re known for their development of players, and the coach that they have for the 19 team Norbert Elgert,” Hoppe told the Sirius XM show.
“He’s like hardcore, like, everything is has to be perfect. Everything has to be done a certain way and he, I guess trains us and prepares us for the how it will be on the first team[for] when he will we actually make that jump. It’s not as big of a jump as it may seem, you know? So I spent a year with him in the U19team and then I wanted to [U23] and then getting I was well prepared for the moment when I got the call up and I was able to take advantage of it.”
Hoppe made 22 appearances and scored six goals last season for Schalke in his first season with the senior team. The club finished bottom of the Bundesliga with just 16 points and is heading to the second division.
They scored a league low 25 goals, making Hoppe’s performance as a young, emerging player even more impressive.
Matthew Hoppe is with the United States national team
Not many knew the name Matthew Hoppe this time a year ago, but the 20-year old forward from California’s quick ascent in Germany now has him on the cusp of the United States national team. Hoppe, the subject of intense transfer interest from several English Premier League sides, is a part of the United States’ roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
He did not play in Sunday night’s 1-0 win over Haiti.
Even with what seems like seemingly quick success, Hoppe said that the mentality that turned him from a virtual unknown a year ago into someone now knocking on the door of the United States national team will remain the same.
He might have more name recognition and now be linked to top English clubs, but Matthew Hoppe is remaining humble.
“There’s no time to celebrate or to take my foot off the gas. But I think teams got used to, or they started understanding how we wanted to play,” Hoppe said in his interview with Meola and Dunseth.
“It was a difficult year with how everything worked out.”