“ When I first got there in Germany it was really hard. “When I was there just training, I felt like I wasn’t good enough and I wasn’t playing, but once preseason started I just felt like this is for me,” Llanez said. Llanez, who turned 18 last April, was unable to officially register with Wolfsburg until last summer, meaning he spent his first months in Germany ineligible to play, a period that tested his patience and shook his confidence. Men’s National Team’s January camp, and his first USMNT cap, after having dazzled during the first half-season with Wolfsburg’s U-19 team, a stint that saw him register 10 goals and three assists in 11 matches. Less than a year after that rough beginning in Germany, Llanez is reaping the rewards of being able to persevere. “I think it’s a big sacrifice that is going change my life hopefully in the future, but I feel like it’s the best decision I ever made in my life.” This is the least I could do for them to show what I could do here in Europe. The thing that always plays in my head was my parents have risked a lot for me, have sacrificed so much for me. At the same time, I told myself it’s a risk for me to become a better player. ” I just felt like I wasn’t home, I felt like I made the wrong decision. “It was terrible,” Llanez told SBI of his early days in Germany. Llanez was in danger of being the next such American to leave Germany prematurely after a rough start to his time at Bundesliga club Wolfsburg following his decision to turn down a chance to sign a homegrown player deal with the LA Galaxy. The tale of the homesick young American player struggling to adapt in Germany is a well-chronicled one, from American legend Landon Donovan’s teenage years at Bayer Leverkusen to Zack Steffen’s fledgling pro stint at Freiburg. LONGBOAT KEY, Florida -There are 5,700 miles between Los Angeles and Wolfsburg, Germany, and for Ulysses Llanez, that distance felt even longer when he arrived as a 17-year-old dreaming of soccer stardom.
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