Bundesligist Union Berlin is currently in a sporting crisis, but provides a new national player. The talk is of Kevin Behrens.
Last Friday, a dream came true for Kevin Behrens. The brawny center forward of Union Berlin was nominated by the new national coach Julian Nagelsmann for the USA international trip of the German national team.
In the first match after the nomination, Behrens played with the “Eisernen” at Borussia Dortmund and conceded a 2:4 defeat. It was the seventh defeat in a row for the Champions League team.
Even after the final whistle, Behrens – despite the defeat – was the focus of public attention. Clearly: still the first-time nomination for the DFB eleven was a defining issue. “That I, who just six years ago played in the regional league, am now standardized for the national team, that is indescribable. I’m overjoyed about it, of course. It’s madness. A dream, unbelievable”, the center forward emphasized afterwards.
Behrens had not expected the call and was quite surprised: “I was sitting in the car and had two missed calls. Then I called back. Of course, you have doubts about whether you’re being made fun of. One or two of my teammates couldn’t believe it either. But they’re all happy for me because they see how hard I work, how much gas I give, how much passion I always have for soccer.”
The Bremen native had enjoyed a fairytale rise in recent years. He didn’t make his Bundesliga debut until the age of 30 with Union Berlin, and before that he played for SV Sandhausen in the 2nd division. In his first years as a senior player, Behrens never went above the regional league and also played for Rot-Weiss Essen in this division.
However, it came to an unpleasant end: before a home game against RW Ahlen, the goal scorer was kicked out of the squad by then coach Jan Siewert due to disciplinary problems. For Behrens, the RWE chapter was over. The contract was terminated by mutual agreement on January 1, 2016.
Kevin Behrens is a bit older, of course, but we wanted to have another striker who is strong with his head. He’s a very, very good guy, he always wants to win, marches an awful lot defensively and is very strong in the run-up.
Julian Nagelsmann on Kevin Behrens.
He was suspended at RWE, now he is an international player. National coach Julian Nagelsmann had nothing but praise for the striker, who has scored four Bundesliga goals so far this season, saying, “Kevin Behrens is a bit older, of course, but we wanted to have another striker who is strong with his head. He’s a very, very good guy, he always wants to win, he marches a lot defensively and is very strong in the run-up. He is present in the box and ties up a lot of opponents. So we can react to different situations. “