Kenneth Kronholm: Holstein Kiel's Real American Hero
When Holstein Kiel goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm was released by Wolfsburg as teenager, the American-German probably thought his shot at the big time had passed him by. He was wrong.
Ahead of Kiel's must-win showdown with Wolfsburg in Monday's relegation play-off second leg, bundesliga.com chronicles a football odyssey that could quite easily have been penned by Homer himself...
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The tale begins in 2005. Fort Belvoir-born Kronholm is playing for the Wolfsburg reserve team, when he is deemed surplus to requirements; the prospect of rubbing shoulders with the Bundesliga's best slipping through his fingers faster than a rain-soaked ball on a stormy winter's day.
Enter the nomad years...
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Kronholm goes on to represent, among others, Fortuna Düsseldorf, FSV Frankfurt, Hansa Rostock, Eintracht Trier, Waldhof Mannheim and Jahn Regensburg, albeit not one spell lasting longer than a single season.
He even agrees terms with English club Barnsley City at one point, before the Tykes pull the plug in favour of a move for Heinz Müller, latterly of Mainz fame.
Was he jinxed? An unsuccessful two-month trial with the Seattle Sounders does little to shake that theory.
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