Fabian Marco Johnson (born December 11, 1987) is a former professional soccer player who played as a full-back and

wide midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in Germany, he represented the United States national team, having also represented

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 ...

in youth competitions.

Early life

Johnson was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, Germany. He is the son of an African-American serviceman and former basketball player who played in Germany, and a German-American mother. In 1991, he started playing soccer at the Sportfreunde München.

Club career

In mid-1996, Johnson moved to the renowned youth ranks of

1860 Munich , commonly known as TSV 1860 München (; lettered as ) or 1860 Munich, is a sports club based in Munich. The club's football team currently plays in the 3. Liga, the third tier of German football. 1860 Munich was one of the founding members of ...

. Johnson was promoted to the first team of 1860 München in July 2006. He amassed 89 league appearances scoring four goals before transferring to

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

on July 14, 2009. He scored his first goal for VfL Wolfsburg in a 2–2 draw at home to

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

. In July 2011, Johnson transferred to 1899 Hoffenheim. On September 26, 2012, Johnson scored in Hoffenheim's 3–0 victory over

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

, their first win of the new campaign. On February 24, 2014, it was confirmed that Johnson would join Borussia Mönchengladbach on a free transfer following the conclusion of the 2013–14 season. On August 23, 2014, Johnson made his first league appearance for Borussia Mönchengladbach, coming on in the 72nd minute of the home match against

. On September 13, he made his first league start in a home 4–1 win over FC Schalke 04. He scored his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

goal on November 3, 2015, against Juventus. He scored his first Bundesliga goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach on March 1 against

SC Paderborn Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest successes since the turn of the mille ...

International career

On August 25, 2011, Johnson was called up to the United States national team by head coach

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 ...

for friendly matches with Costa Rica (September 2) and Belgium (September 6). Johnson had represented Germany at youth level, but was eligible for a one-time switch to represent the United States at senior level due to new

FIFA eligibility rules As the governing body of association football, FIFA is responsible for maintaining and implementing the rules that determine whether an association football player is eligible to represent a particular country in officially recognised internatio ...

; however, he wound up not being able to play as the required paperwork was still pending. On November 11, 2011, Johnson made his international debut for the U.S. as a substitute in a 1–0 loss to France. On November 15, 2011, Johnson made his first full international start against Slovenia and drew a penalty in a 3–2 win. He played in the FIFA World Cup qualifier on June 12, 2012, against Guatemala. Johnson earned his first mark for the USMNT notching the assist in the United States' only goal in their 4–1 loss to Brazil on June 23, 2012. He scored his first national team goal on June 1, 2014, in a pre World Cup friendly against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

. Johnson started each of the United States national team's three group stage matches in the 2014 FIFA World Cup as well as the Round of 16 matchup with

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He secured his second national team goal on November 13, 2015, in a World Cup qualifying match against Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. On March 12, 2019, Johnson spoke with United States national team head coach

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is also the current head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Berhalter previously coached Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soc ...

about the possibility of returning to the national team. Johnson has not played for the United States national team since he started in a World Cup qualifying loss to Costa Rica in September 2017.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Johnson goal''.

Honors

International

Germany U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

: 2009

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Johnson, Fabian 1987 births Living people American people of German descent German people of African-American descent Sportspeople of American descent Footballers from Munich German men's footballers American men's soccer players African-American soccer players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Men's association football utility players TSV 1860 Munich II players TSV 1860 Munich players VfL Wolfsburg players TSG 1899 Hoffenheim players Borussia Mönchengladbach players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Germany men's youth international footballers Germany men's under-21 international footballers United States men's international soccer players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people American expatriate soccer players in Germany