As much as the US men’s national team fan base is focused on burgeoning talents in the Bundesliga, an old face continues to find the back of the net in Germany’s top division.
Timothy Chandler, who’s playing more right wing nowadays than right back, scored a brace for Eintracht Frankfurt within an 11-minute span during Friday’s matchup with Augsburg. He found net for Die Adler in the 37th and 48th minutes for a 2-0 lead (Frankfurt would run out 5-0 winners), giving him four goals across the club's last four games. All came after the winter break, starting with a Jan. 18 game-winner against Hoffenheim.
Chandler's now even approaching the goalscoring pace of Erling Haaland, the star winter signing for Borussia Dortmund.
Chandler's first goal was a true striker's finish, as he peeled inside a defender's shoulder and rifled a ball into the top corner. The second was a neatly-worked header at the near post, with both suggesting Chandler has more final-third instincts than he's traditionally given credit for.
Chandler, before this recent run of form, hadn’t scored for Frankfurt since a Feb. 19, 2018 match against RB Leipzig. Over the last several seasons, Chandler has suffered two long-term knee injuries, hurting his first-team opportunities.
As far as his USMNT career, Chandler hasn’t featured since a pair of November 2016 Concacaf losses in FIFA World Cup qualifying that prompted the dismissal of Jurgen Klinsmann as head coach. Since making his USMNT debut in a March 2011 friendly against Argentina, Chandler has earned 29 caps at the international level, with his sole goal arriving in a July 2015 friendly win over Guatemala.
Chandler, 29, was originally born in Frankfurt to a German mother and American father, hence his dual-national eligibility. He developed in Frankfurt’s youth system, with 1. FC Nürnberg providing his only other professional stop.
