The United States men’s national team will soon have another budding star in its ranks. According to ESPN, Bayern Munich’s midfielder Malik Tillman decided to play for the USMNT moving forward and has already started the process of changing his soccer nationality.
Tillman was born in Germany, but his father is an American, meaning that he has dual citizenship. He made his first international appearance with the United States U15 in 2016 but then proceeded to play for various German youth selections. The 19-year-old player most recently made four appearances for Germany U21 and scored three goals in the process.
Tillman’s decision to play for USMNT was confirmed by Germany U21’s head coach Antonio Di Salvo.
“We regret Malik’s decision — it surprised us a lot,” Di Salvo told reputable German outlet Kicker. “We promoted him as a young player in the U21s, we placed a lot of trust in him and gave him match practice. In addition, we were in intensive talks regarding his prospects in the senior national team.”
Malik Tillman started his youth career with Greuther Fürth before joining Bayern’s academy in 2015. He made his debut as a professional in 2020 with Bayern’s reserves and broke into the first team a year later. Tillman made seven appearances with Bundesliga giants this season and has one goal to his name.
