John Brooks (soccer, born 1993)

John Anthony Brooks, Jr. (born January 28, 1993), referred to as John Brooks, is a German-American soccer player who plays for Hertha BSC in the Bundesliga as a defender and has represented the United States national soccer team internationally.

Brooks, the son of an American serviceman from Chicago, was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. He 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 a towering 6'4". Hertha suffered relegation from the Bundesliga in 2012. After the departure of some players and a very strong preseason, Brooks made his professional debut as a starter in Hertha's 2. Bundesliga opener in August 2012. Brooks scored in his Bundesliga debut on August 10, 2013 in Hertha BSC's 6–1 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt.

On December 17, 2014, Brooks opened the scoring for Hertha in a dramatic 4–4 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt that saw Berlin throw away a two-goal lead in the final minute. 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. Brooks also had a pass accuracy of 75% while finishing top 12 in the Bundesliga in clearances per match.

Brooks, who holds both German and American citizenship, participated in several camps for both the US U-20 and U-23 team and in one for the Germany U20 team. He made his international debut for the US Under-20 team in a 5–0 loss against Paraguay in September 2010. In July 2013, German magazine kicker indicated that he had received a call-up from the U.S. senior national team to feature in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina. 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. 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. He became the first American to score as a substitute at the World Cup.

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. Later that month, he was named in coach Jürgen Klinsmann's squad for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, playing four matches as the team finished fourth.

Club statistics

As of December 3, 2016

• 1.^ Includes German Cup.
• 2.^ Includes UEFA Europa League.

International goals

As of match played May 28, 2016. USA score listed first, score column indicates score after each Brooks goal

International goals by date, venue, cap, opponent, score, result and competition

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	June 16, 2014	Arena das Dunas, Natal, Brazil	5	Ghana	2–1	2–1	2014 FIFA World Cup
2	June 5, 2015	Amsterdam Arena, Amsterdam-Zuidoost, Netherlands	11	Netherlands	2–3	4–3	Friendly
3	May 28, 2016	Children's Mercy Park, Kansas City, United States	21	Bolivia	2–0	4–0	Friendly