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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Sport
Leander Schaerlaeckens

16-year-old Mathis Albert just broke a Bundesliga record. Beware the US soccer hype machine

Mathis Albert of Borussia Dortmund controls the ball during a Bundesliga match
Mathis Albert follows in a long line of US players coming of age at Borussia Dortmund. Photograph: Ralf Ibing/firo sportphoto/Getty Images

There’s something about a 16-year-old making his debut among fully grown senior professionals that makes him look like a fawn. A scrawny, wobbly baby deer, the function of his arms and legs not yet figured out, jogging on to the pitch in a kit and shin guards that always seem a few sizes too big, like a boy wearing his dad’s suit.

So, too, appeared Mathis Albert when coming on in the 89th minute of Borussia Dortmund’s 4-0 romp over Freiburg on Sunday, which secured the team a place in next year’s Champions League.

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