Winston-Salem is not only the site of Germany's World Cup base camp, it is also the temporary home of three aspiring German footballers who are seeking a professional career.
Linus Musielak (22 years), Fynn Mewes (23) and Noah Vasilev (23) are collegial footballers who are keeping fit at local fourth-division club Salem City FC.
“It has always been my dream to play professionally, and I have discovered it for myself as a second chance to achieve that here in the US through a different path,” winger Musielak told dpa.
College sports in the US is fundamentally different from the German system. Anyone who excels in a sport such as basketball or American football is supported by their university and has a good chance of being discovered during games and signed by a professional club.
In the summer, however, college sports rest. The solution, also for many footballers, is a short stint with lower-division clubs.
Musielak, Mewes and Vasilev, who normally study in Boston and Chicago, chose Winston-Salem in North Carolina, with Mewes saying one of the reasons was “so that we can meet the German national team.”
It has worked out as on the way to training and to a news conference at the World Cup camp the trio was already able to chat with Nico Schlotterbeck, Felix Nmecha and Deniz Undav.
In a café in town, they also happened to meet captain Joshua Kimmich and Oliver Baumann.
“They also asked us a few questions and actually asked us more than we asked them, which was really quite funny and cool for us,” Vasilev recalled.
The three students live in a house with five other players. Accommodation and food are provided by the club, but the young players are not paid.
In August, they will return to universities where the dream of a professional career continues. If that does not work out, the players at least have a degree from a renowned American university in their pocket.
“I would have also found that very interesting myself if it had not worked out with the professional career,” Kimmich told a news conference.
“It is very exciting to take in certain things in a foreign country and a different culture.”
