Joe Scally talks USMNT, Gladbach nurturing his growth, his World Cup hopes and his trial by fire vs. Bayern

In this edition of his weekly column, ESPN’s lead Bundesliga commentator Derek Rae sits down for a special one-one-one conversation with Borussia Monchengladbach defender and United States men’s national team prospect Joe Scally.

It’s a rare treat for a commentator to be able to get to know the players we cover regularly that bit better. I wanted to share what I found out about the 19-year-old from Lake Grove, New York, and there’s no better way to do that than to publish a written transcription of our enjoyable conversation last week. This was of course before the 6-0 defeat Gladbach suffered at the hands of Borussia Dortmund at the weekend.

We covered everything from his arrival in Monchengladbach, to a high-profile Bundesliga debut against the very best, to what Joe has learned working with pros like Stefan Lainer and Ramy Bensebaini, as well as the turmoil in Gladbach when a club legend walked away recently. We also spoke about the USMNT and his hunger to be a regular part of the setup, with a place at the World Cup beckoning for the USA.

I hope you enjoy this chat.

(Editor’s Note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.)

Rae: Joe, let’s go back in time two years. At that point, what did you know about Gladbach?

Scally: A couple of years ago, I didn’t really know much about Monchengladbach. They were in the Champions League, which I always watched when I was younger, so I knew the name, but not much about the club and basically how great it is as I know now.

Rae: Max Eberl, the highly respected former Gladbach sporting director who recently left the club, told the story of your discovery by scouting director Steffen Korell, and how they then had, in his words, a “fantasy” of bringing you over from the USA as soon as they could. Were you aware?

Scally: I know they first contacted me maybe three or four years ago, when I was 16 — still a long time before I was 18 and could eventually move over to Germany and to Europe. It’s crazy that he said it’s a…