American Hoppe’s 3 goals a milestone in Bundesliga
Just when it seemed Schalke’s winless run in the Bundesliga might never end, along came Matthew Hoppe.
The 19-year-old forward scored a hat trick — the first by an American in Germany’s top division — in only his fifth league game to lead Schalke to a 4-0 victory over Hoffenheim and its first league win in nearly a year.
Another draw or defeat would have matched the league record of 31 consecutive winless games set more than 50 years ago.
“I don’t know how to feel. I’m excited, I’m happy that the team got the win and that I was able to contribute to it,” Hoppe said. “It gives some confidence, it gives some momentum. We have 19 games left and hopefully we can keep the wins coming.”
Given back-to-back starts for the first time by new coach Christian Gross, Hoppe appeared to struggle with nerves early on, cutting the ball back to a teammate instead of taking a chance to score.
That all changed in the 42nd minute when Hoppe was played in on the left flank by Amine Harit and coolly waited before lobbing the ball over goalkeeper Oliver Baumann. He jumped and punched the air in celebration before being surrounded by jubilant teammates.
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