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FC St. Pauli of the 2. Bundesliga took down VfL Bochum last weekend, 2-0, and both goals were scored by American striker Fafa Picault.
Goal number one is here:
Fafa Picault Goal HD - St. Pauli 1-0 Bochum... by AlleTore
Goal number two is here:
Fafa Picault Goal HD - St. Pauli 2-0 Bochum... by AlleTore
Picault's brace even earned a shout out from senior national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann:
nice to see Fafa Picault score twice for FC St. Pauli! Congrats!@Fafagoal23 @fcstpauli https://t.co/RSgBDJVQk8 pic.twitter.com/H85xxYLwLV
— Jürgen Klinsmann (@J_Klinsmann) April 16, 2016
I'm not going to speculate as to whether a call up is on the horizon, but instead focus on who and what sort of player Picault is.
Here's a quick primer:
- Fabrice "Fafa" Picault is a 25-year old New York City native born to Haitian immigrants.
- Grew up in Florida. Was an honors student in high school and was recruited by Ivy League schools. Plans to go back to college when playing career is over.
- Speaks six languages: Italian, English, Creole, French, Spanish, and German.
- Spent his youth career with Italian club Cagliari.
- Nickname is "The Gazelle".
- Called up to the U.S. U-20 team in 2009.
- Picault started his career in the NASL (U.S. second division) with the Tampa Bay Rowdies before moving to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers.
- He spent six months with the dominant Czech Republic club Sparta Praha, making one appearance in their domestic cup.
- Picault is currently on a one-year contract with St. Pauli with a one-year option.
- Described by his coach at St. Pauli as "a fast, straightforward winger who can also be used in the center" who can shoot and win headers despite being 5'8".
- Has three goals and two assists in 12 appearances this season.
- Called up by Haiti for a friendly against Chile in 2014, but did not appear in the match.
Here is a relatively outdated highlight video:
It's always nice to have American players performing well overseas. Hopefully his brace last weekend is a sign of things to come in the future.