Niko Kovac praises BVB youngster – Tönen's super talent makes history

The 17‑year‑old BVB youngster Mathis Albert scored in stoppage time of the 4‑2 win against Chile in St. Louis the fourth goal and thereby became, in only his second international match, the youngest scorer for the US national team.

Historic Goal for the USA

The success came in the United States' second appearance after the World Cup, when Sebastian Berhalter initially put his team ahead. Diego Ulloa and Maximiliano Gutierrez equalised in the meantime, before the 18‑year‑old Julian Hall restored parity and Chris Richards put the hosts back in front again. Albert sealed the win in stoppage time and thereby replaced Christian Pulisic as the youngest US scorer.

Kovac Praises the BVB Talent

Coach Niko Kovac was enthusiastic: “I told him again in person today that I was very, very satisfied with his performance.” He emphasized that Albert is a “one‑on‑one player”, who binds the opponent in the duel and, with further progress, will receive many minutes this season.

Albert made his Bundesliga debut in April against SC Freiburg (4‑0) and has been waiting since then for his next test in league competition, even though he is regularly in the matchday squad. In the 5‑0 DFB‑Cup win over HEBC Hamburg he played the full 90 minutes, but was not involved in any goal.

Internally he is considered, together with Samuele Inacio, the biggest talent at BVB. Despite his performances, he must still be patient, because the club responded to the cruciate ligament rupture of new signing Giannis Konstantelias by loaning Ethan Nwaneri from FC Arsenal.

Kovac also pointed out that Albert can be deployed repeatedly in the Youth League, the Premier League International Cup or the second team in the future, to gather more minutes.

The young attacking player therefore remains a central project of BVB, which generates attention both in the domestic competition and internationally.