Text size Matthew Hoppe earned instant hero status at Schalke with his hat-trick in the 4-0 win over Hoffenheim on Saturday that saved his club from matching the Bundesliga record for the most consecutive games without a win. So who exactly is this latest young American to break through in Germany? At Schalke the 19-year-old is following in the footsteps of Texas-born Weston McKennie, who left the Gelsenkirchen club to join Juventus on loan at the start of this season. There was also Christian Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund before he signed for Chelsea, while Hoppe's peers this season include Gio Reyna at Dortmund, Josh Sargent at Werder Bremen, RB Leipzig's Tyler Adams and Chris Richards at Bayern Munich. And then there is Pellegrino Matarazzo, the New Jersey-born coach of VfB Stuttgart.