John Brooks (soccer, born 1993)

John Anthony Brooks Jr. (born January 28, 1993) is a professional soccer player who plays as a defender for Bundesliga club TSG Hoffenheim. Born in Germany, he played for the United States national team.[3] Mainly a centre-back, he can also play as a left-back.

This article is about the soccer player. For other people with the same name, see John Brooks (disambiguation).

John Brooks
Brooks with VfL Wolfsburg in 2021
Personal information
Full name John Anthony Brooks Jr.[1]
Date of birth (1993-01-28) January 28, 1993[1]
Place of birth Berlin, Germany
Height 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 TSG Hoffenheim
Number 23
Youth career
Hertha BSC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2015 Hertha BSC II 37 (2)
2012–2017 Hertha BSC 119 (7)
2017–2022 VfL Wolfsburg 126 (6)
2022–2023 Benfica 2 (0)
2023– TSG Hoffenheim 23 (1)
International career‡
2010–2011 United States U20 4 (0)
2011–2015 United States U23 2 (0)
2012 Germany U20 1 (0)
2013– United States 45 (3)
Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's soccer
CONCACAF Nations League
Winner2021 United States
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of October 22, 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of September 8, 2021

Born in Berlin, Germany, he began his career at hometown club Hertha BSC, making his professional debut in 2012 and totaling 130 games and nine goals for the club. The team won the 2. Bundesliga in 2012–13. In 2017, he transferred to VfL Wolfsburg for €20 million, a record at the time for an American player.

Brooks represented both Germany and the United States at youth international level, qualifying for the latter through his father. He made his senior international debut in 2013 and represented the nation at three tournaments, including the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

Early life

Brooks is the son of an American serviceman from Chicago, Illinois, and was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. He has a map of Illinois tattooed on his left elbow and one of Berlin on his right. He has never lived in the United States.[4][5]

Club career

Hertha BSC

Brooks came through the ranks of his hometown club, Hertha BSC. He reached Hertha's reserve team halfway through the 2010–11 season, although he still had a year and a half of remaining eligibility for the U-19 team. Brooks signed a four-year professional contract with Hertha after the season, turning down interest from Bayern Munich. Brooks spent nearly all of the 2011–12 season with Hertha II, taking a brief foray back to the U-19 team. Brooks continued to grow during this time, reaching 6'4".

Hertha suffered relegation from the Bundesliga in 2012. After the departure of some players and his form in preseason, Brooks made his professional debut as a starter in Hertha's 2. Bundesliga opener on August 3, 2012, a 2–2 draw with SC Paderborn 07 at the Olympiastadion. He played 29 matches over the season as the team won the league title and promotion, and scored once in the last game of the season on May 19, 2013, a late equalizer in a 1–1 home draw with Energie Cottbus.[6]

Brooks scored in his Bundesliga debut on August 10, 2013, in Hertha BSC's 6–1 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt.[7][8] His appearances over the season were limited by injury and poor form, and he also missed time in April 2014 while recovering from the application of a large back tattoo, a decision that did not please manager Jos Luhukay.[9]

On December 17, 2014, Brooks opened the scoring for Hertha in a 4–4 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt that saw Berlin throw away a two-goal lead in the final minute.[10] During the 2014–15 Bundesliga season, Brooks won 68% of his direct duels in a total of 27 league appearances for the club, ranking third best among Bundesliga players making at least 17 appearances.[11] Brooks also had a pass accuracy of 75% while finishing top 12 in the Bundesliga in clearances per match.[12]

In the 2015–16 season, Brooks played four matches in Hertha's run to the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal. On December 15, he headed the second goal of a 2–0 win at 1. FC Nürnberg in the last 16 of the tournament.[13]

VfL Wolfsburg

On May 31, 2017, Brooks signed with fellow Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg.[14] The reported €20 million transfer fee was a record for an American soccer player at the time, later broken by Christian Pulisic's €64 million transfer to Chelsea in 2019.[15][16] He made his debut on August 13 in the first round of the DFB-Pokal away to fourth-tier Eintracht Norderstedt, but suffered a torn thigh tendon and was substituted in the first half of the 1–0 win, being ruled out for the next three months.[17] On October 28, he returned to the team to start on his league debut for the club, a 1–1 draw at Schalke 04.[18] Affected by injury all through his first season at the Volkswagen Arena, Brooks totaled just ten appearances before playing the full 180 minutes of the 4–1 playoff win over Holstein Kiel that kept his team in the Bundesliga for the following season.[19]

On March 2, 2022, it was confirmed that Brooks would leave Wolfsburg at the end of the season.[20]

Benfica

On September 1, 2022, Brooks signed a one-year contract with Primeira Liga side Benfica on a free transfer.[21] He made his Primeira Liga debut on September 18, replacing António Silva in the 89th minute in the 5–0 home win over Marítimo.[22]

TSG Hoffenheim

On 26 January 2023, Brooks returned to the Bundesliga, signing a two-year contract with TSG Hoffenheim, for a reported fee of €500,000.[23]

International career
Brooks with the United States in November 2013

Brooks, who holds both German and American citizenship, participated in several camps for both the U.S. U-20 and U-23 team and in one for the Germany U20 team.[24] He made his international debut for the U.S. Under-20 team in a 5–0 loss against Paraguay in September 2010.[25]

In July 2013, German magazine kicker indicated that Brooks had received a call-up from the U.S. senior national team to feature in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.[26] Brooks made his senior international debut in the 4–3 victory over Bosnia. Brooks was named in the United States's final 23-man roster for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.[27] In the opening group match against Ghana, he came on as a halftime injury substitute for Matt Besler and scored the winning goal in the 2–1 victory, a header off Graham Zusi's corner kick.[28] He became the first American to score as a substitute at the World Cup.[29]

On June 5, 2015, Brooks scored in a friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam as the United States fought back from a 1–3 deficit to win 4–3, their first victory against the Dutch.[30] Later that month, he was named in coach Jürgen Klinsmann's squad for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup,[31] playing four matches as the team finished fourth.

Klinsmann also called Brooks up for the Copa América Centenario, the centenary edition of the Copa América held in the United States in 2016.[32] He played all five matches as the nation lost 4–0 to Argentina in the semi-finals, but did not take part in the bronze medal match loss to Colombia.

Career statistics

Club
As of match played October 22, 2023
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] League cup[lower-alpha 2] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hertha BSC II 2010–11[33] Regionalliga Nord 160————160
2011–12[34] 150————150
2013–14[35] Regionalliga Nordost 32————32
2014–15[35] 20————20
2015–16[35] 10————10
Total 372————372
Hertha BSC 2012–13[36] 2. Bundesliga 291————291
2013–14[35] Bundesliga 16210———172
2014–15[35] 27110———281
2015–16[35] 23141———272
2016–17[37] 24230—2[lower-alpha 3]0—292
Total 119791—20—1308
VfL Wolfsburg 2017–18[38] Bundesliga 9010——2[lower-alpha 4]0120
2018–19 29330———323
2019–20 25010—5[lower-alpha 3]1—311
2020–21 32220—1[lower-alpha 3]0—352
2021–22 31110—4[lower-alpha 5]0—361
Total 126680—101201467
Benfica 2022–23 Primeira Liga 201020——50
TSG Hoffenheim 2022–23 Bundesliga 15010———160
2023–24 8110———91
Total 23120———251
Career total 30716201201212034318
  1. Includes DFB-Pokal and Taça de Portugal
  2. Includes Taça da Liga
  3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearances in Bundesliga relegation play-offs
  5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International
As of match played May 28, 2016[39]
Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Brooks goal.
List of international goals scored by John Brooks
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 June 16, 2014Arena das Dunas, Natal, Brazil5 Ghana2–12–12014 FIFA World Cup
2 June 5, 2015Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands11 Netherlands2–34–3Friendly
3 May 28, 2016Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, United States21 Bolivia2–04–0Friendly

Honors

Hertha BSC

Benfica

United States

Individual

References
  1. "2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. p. 32. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 1, 2020.
  2. Hoffenheim, TSG 1899. "John Anthony Brooks". www.tsg-hoffenheim.de (in German). Retrieved February 22, 2023.
  3. "Brooks: 'It Was Not A Hard Decision To Play For The USA'". ussoccer.com. August 14, 2013. Archived from the original on August 17, 2013. Retrieved August 14, 2013.
  4. Powers, Scott (June 5, 2016). "USA's John Brooks return to 'hometown' Chicago for first time in 20 years". Major League Soccer. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  5. Peralta, Eyder (June 17, 2014). "After His Game-Winning Goal, We Ask, Who Is John Brooks?". NPR. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  6. "Brooks rettet die Aufstiegsparty im Olympiastadion". Der Tagesspiegel. May 19, 2013. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  7. "Berlin : Frankfurt 6–1(2–1)". bundesliga.com. August 10, 2013. Retrieved August 15, 2013.
  8. Honigstein, Raphael (August 12, 2013). "Hertha Berlin return with a bang and give the manager a sleepless night". The Guardian. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  9. Uersfeld, Stephan (April 17, 2014). "Reports: Tattoo gets Brooks benched". ESPN FC. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  10. "MEIER MAGIC RESCUES FRANKFURT IN EIGHT-GOAL THRILLER". Bundesliga. December 17, 2014. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  11. "John Brooks close to sealing United States spot – Jurgen Klinsmann". ESPNFC. June 8, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  12. "A year removed from Ghana goal, John Anthony Brooks ready to step into bigger role for USMNT". MLS Soccer. June 3, 2015. Archived from the original on June 7, 2015. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  13. Banizo, Franco (December 16, 2015). "John Brooks scores header in German Cup win". SBI. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  14. "Brooks signs: The central defender is making the move from Hertha BSC to VfL Wolfsburg". VfL Wolfsburg. vfl-wolfsburg.de/en. May 31, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  15. Rosenblatt, Ryan (May 31, 2017). "John Brooks sets American record with transfer to Wolfsburg". Fox Sports. foxsports.com. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  16. Gonzalez, Roger (January 2, 2019). "Pulisic to Chelsea: The numbers behind the transfer from Borussia Dortmund to the Premier League". CBS Sports. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  17. "Wolfsburg's John Brooks ruled out for at least three months". Bundesliga. August 17, 2017. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  18. Valentine, Ben (October 30, 2017). "Americans Abroad: Brooks makes Wolfsburg return". Goal.com. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  19. Henry, Larry Jr. (May 22, 2018). "John Brooks, Wolfsburg remain in Bundesliga after playoff victory". SBI. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  20. Mendola, Nicholas (March 2, 2022). "USMNT defender John Brooks will leave Wolfsburg this summer". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 3, 2022.
  21. "USMNT hopeful Brooks signs with Benfica". September 2022.
  22. "CNN em jogo - Draxler estreia-se a marcar pelo Benfica" (in Portuguese). CNN Portugal. September 18, 2022. Retrieved September 20, 2022.
  23. "Oficial: Brooks confirmado na Alemanha" [Official: Brooks confirmed in Germany]. Abola (in Portuguese). January 26, 2023. Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  24. "Brooks, John Anthony" (in German). bz-berlin.de. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2011.
  25. "U.S. U-20 MNT Drops Opening Match to Paraguay". ussoccer.com. September 6, 2010. Archived from the original on August 19, 2012. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  26. "Hertha einigt sich mit Schulz" (in German). kicker.de. July 26, 2013. Retrieved July 26, 2013.
  27. "Klinsmann Names 30-Player Preliminary Roster for 2014 FIFA World Cup". U.S. Soccer. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  28. Fanning, Evan (June 17, 2014). "USA vs Ghana, World Cup 2014: live". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on June 16, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  29. "USA vs. Ghana – Brooks Stunner Hands USA 2–1 Win". U.S. Soccer. June 18, 2014. Retrieved June 28, 2014.
  30. "U.S. rallies from two down to stun Netherlands in friendly". ESPN. June 5, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  31. "Klinsmann Calls 23 Players to Defend Gold Cup Title". U.S. Soccer. June 23, 2015. Retrieved December 5, 2015.
  32. "Klinsmann names 23 player roster for historic Copa America Centenario". U.S. Soccer. May 28, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2018.
  33. "John Anthony Brooks". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  34. "John Anthony Brooks". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  35. "John Anthony Brooks » Club matches". World Football. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  36. "John Anthony Brooks". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved November 20, 2015.
  37. "John Anthony Brooks". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  38. "John Anthony Brooks". kicker.de (in German). kicker. Retrieved May 18, 2018.
  39. John Brooks at Soccerway
  40. Kundert, Tom (May 27, 2023). "Benfica crowned champions of Portugal". PortuGOAL. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  41. "Christian Pulisic, Ethan Horvath lead U.S. over Mexico in Nations League final". ESPN. June 6, 2021. Retrieved April 25, 2023.
  42. "IFFHS MAN TEAM - CONCACAF - OF THE DECADE 2011-2020". IFFHS. January 29, 2021. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
  43. CONCACAF [@CNationsLeague] (June 7, 2021). "Here is the Best XI of the Concacaf Nations League Finals" (Tweet). Retrieved June 7, 2021 – via Twitter.
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