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Weston McKennie's soccer dream was born in Germany, and is now set to thrive there

The U.S. national team prospect has emerged as a rising star for Bundesliga side Schalke, a decade after falling in love with the game in Germany

Weston McKennie was born 19 years ago on a summer day in Texas, but Weston McKennie the soccer player was born more than six years later, half a world away.

Unlike the host of young Americans who have made the jump from the United States to Germany in search of soccer stardom — from Landon Donovan to Christian Pulisic — McKennie's journey was a return trip. It was a journey that brought him back to the place where his earliest childhood memories took place, and where he first discovered, and quickly fell in love with, soccer.