Preston Mark Zimmerman (born November 21, 1988) is a retired American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Personal life

Zimmerman was born in

Auburn, Washington Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 Census. Auburn is a suburb in the Seattle metropolitan area, and is currently rank ...

. He attended McLoughlin Middle School in

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. It had a population of 59,781 at the 2010 census, and 75,432 as of the July 1, 2019 Census Bureau estimate. Pasco is one of three cities (the others b ...

Club career

Hamburger SV

As an 18-year-old, Zimmerman joined the German team

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its football section. Though the current HSV was founded in June 1919 from a merger of three ...

, where he spent most of his time with Hamburg's reserve team. As a striker, Zimmerman played 14 games and scored three goals for the reserves during the 2006–2007 season. Zimmerman was originally signed while he was only 17 but the contract didn't become official until he turned 18, skirting

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

's rules on foreign transfers by minors.

Kapfenberger SV

After a trial stint at Belgian club

Cercle Brugge Cercle Brugge Koninklijke Sportvereniging () is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges. Cercle have played in the Belgian Pro League since the 2003–04 season, having previously spent several years in the Belgian Second Divisio ...

, it was announced on August 29, 2008, that Zimmerman was sold to the newly promoted

Austrian Bundesliga The Austrian Football Bundesliga (german: Österreichische Fußball-Bundesliga, italic=no , "Austrian Football Federal League"), also known as Admiral Bundesliga for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Austrian football league system. Th ...

club

Kapfenberger SV Kapfenberger SV is an Austrian association football club from Kapfenberg. They won the 2007–08 Austrian Football First League and advanced to the Austrian Bundesliga. The club was founded in 1919 as ''Kapfenberger SC''. The club was renamed ...

, where he signed a two-year deal. Zimmerman made his Austrian Bundesliga debut as a second-half substitute in a losing effort to

SK Austria Kärnten SK Austria Kärnten was an Austrian association football club, from Klagenfurt, Carinthia. History The club was formed on 1 June 2007 and took over the license of ASKÖ Pasching to play in the Austrian Football Bundesliga. SK Austria took o ...

, and scored his first goal for KSV on November 22 against Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg.

Mainz 05

On January 21, 2010, he returned to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, signing an amateur contract for

FSV Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sportverein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05, Mainz 05 () or simply Mainz (), is a German sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. 1. FSV Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top ...

, where he played for the reserve team.

SV Darmstadt 98

On June 2, 2011, it was announced that Zimmerman would be joining recently promoted 3. Liga side SV Darmstadt. After two seasons with the club, Zimmerman left the club on June 17, 2013, with the plan to retire and return to school.

TSV Schott Mainz

In July 2013, he joined six-tier club

TSV Schott Mainz The TSV Schott Mainz is a Football in Germany, German Association football, association football club from the town of Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Apart from football the club also offers more than 30 other sports like ice hockey, field hockey a ...

. In his first season there, he achieved promotion to the fifth-tier

Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar The Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, formerly the ''Oberliga Südwest'', is the highest regional football league for the Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland states of Germany, organized by the Southwestern Regional Football Association. It is the fifth ...

with the club.

International career

Zimmerman was a last-minute addition to the U.S. team at the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

in Canada following an injury to

Johann Smith Johann Smith (born April 25, 1987, in Hartford, Connecticut) is an American former soccer player who played as a forward, winger, and left back. Career Youth Smith grew up in Bloomfield, Connecticut and attended the Watkinson School, where he ...

, but he did not see any playing time. He has since been called up to U-23 camps.

USMNT Controversy

Zimmerman made news with his comments regarding the selection of certain players by

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

whom Zimmerman considered to be "fake Americans". However it has been pointed out that many of the players active on the USMNT prior to Klinsmann's takeover hold dual nationality as well.

References

External links

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Preston Zimmerman
at kicker.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Zimmerman, Preston 1988 births Living people Jewish American sportspeople People from Auburn, Washington People from Pasco, Washington American men's soccer players American expatriate men's soccer players Men's association football midfielders Austrian Football Bundesliga players 3. Liga players Hamburger SV II players Kapfenberger SV players 1. FSV Mainz 05 II players SV Darmstadt 98 players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Soccer players from King County, Washington American expatriate soccer players in Germany 21st-century American Jews