Mats Leonard Brune led the Rot-Weiss Essen U19s to the fall championship in the U19 Lower Rhine League as team captain. The 18-year-old has big plans for the future.

Rot-Weiss Essen’s U19s spent the winter as league leaders in the U19 Lower Rhine League following their recent 4-0 win over DJK Arminia Klosterhardt.

Team captain Mats Leon Brune played a major part in his team’s successful first half of the season with his strong performances.

At the beginning of November, Brune told Forecasting that first place at the end of the first half of the season was the goal of the young team from Essen. Thanks to the strong performances and resounding victories in the following weeks, RWE did indeed clinch the fall championship.

“We were a bit shaky at the start of the season and didn’t get off to the perfect start, but we improved week by week and got better and better. We’ve come a long way football-wise and have confidence in ourselves. Even if it’s 0-0 at half-time, like against Klosterhardt, we don’t get nervous and just keep going. The goals will come all by themselves,” explained Brune.

The captain also praised his teammates: “I’m very proud of the team because of the strong first half of the season and, in my opinion, we deserve to be the autumn champions.”

After 13 match days, the team from Essen are in first place in the table with 32 points and a goal difference of 49:10. TSV Meerbusch are level on points in second place with a goal difference of 33:9. The battle for the championship should therefore be very exciting in the coming year.

It’s not an easy step, but I’m giving my all every day to achieve my goal.

Mats Leonard Brune

As an 18-year-old player and captain of the U19 team of an up-and-coming third division club, Brune naturally has ambitious plans for the future in his still young career. Despite his strong performances in the first half of the season, the defensive midfielder is not letting the success go to his head.

“My goal is, of course, to get a contract with the professionals at RWE next year. It’s not an easy step, but I’m doing everything I can every day to achieve my goal. I try to perform at my best in every game and always be in top shape. The team helps me enormously with everything. Of course, there’s always a little bit of luck involved, but that’s definitely my goal,” revealed Brune, looking to the future. “That’s what I live for. I’ve been playing soccer at a high level for nine years to achieve exactly that. “