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For a 21-year-old professional soccer player, with minimal experience, Julian Green has been put through the ringer in his career already. As a 19-year-old phenom with Bayern Munich, he was called up to the United States men’s national team for the 2014 World Cup.
Not only that, but many believed he was called up in lieu of the country’s most prolific goalscorer, Landon Donovan. That brought on even more pressure and attention to his already massive profile.
After making one appearance and scoring a consolation goal against Belgium in the Round of 16, Green headed back to Bayern with big expectations.
Two years later, after a failed season on loan and another with the Bayern reserves, he lost his spot with the national team and has only played in one throwaway friendly against Puerto Rico in 2016.
Now that he’s back in the spotlight after a productive preseason and being named to the club’s first team squad, he’s setting his sights on returning to the USMNT. During an interview with Fox Soccer, he stated that his primary focus is succeeding at Bayern Munich this season, but knows that if he can do that, the U.S. national team will be attainable once again.
“Right now, I’m thinking about now and Bayern Munich,” He told Grant Wahl. “But, of course, if I do my thing here, if I can play, if I work hard every day, I’m sure I can be back with the national team. That’s my goal, also. I want to be back with the team and play with the United States.”
Green also revealed that he’s constantly in touch with Jurgen Klinsmann and discussing his status. He also has remained friends with guys like John Brooks and DeAndre Yedlin despite being away from the senior team for more than two years now.
Playing time at Bayern will not be easy to come by for Green, but being in his current situation will surely be more attractive to Klinsmann than playing for the reserve team. If he can get some minutes this season, it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see him back with the USMNT very soon.