Background
Brooks, the son of an American serviceman from Chicago, was born and raised in Berlin, Germany.
Brooks, the son of an American serviceman from Chicago, was born and raised in Berlin, Germany.
He came through the ranks of his hometown club, Hertha Bachelor of Science.
He reached Hertha"s reserve team halfway through the 2010-2011 season, although he still had a year and a half of remaining eligibility for the U-19 team Brooks signed a four-year professional contract with Hertha after the season, turning down interest from Bayern Munich. Brooks spent nearly all of the 2011-2012 season with Hertha II, taking a brief foray back to the U-19 team
Brooks continued to grow during this time, reaching a towering 6"4".
Hertha suffered relegation from the Bundesliga in 2012. After the departure of some players and a very strong preseason, Brooks made his professional debut as a starter in Hertha"s 2.
Bundesliga opener in August 2012. Brooks scored in his Bundesliga debut on August 10, 2013 in Hertha Bachelor of Science"s 6–1 victory against Eintracht Frankfurt.
On December 17, 2014, Brooks opened the scoring for Hertha in a dramatic 4–4 draw with Eintracht Frankfurt that saw Berlin throw away a two-goal lead in the final minute.
Brooks also had a pass accuracy of 75% while finishing top 12 in the Bundesliga in clearances per match. Brooks, who holds both German and American citizenship, participated in several camps for both the United States U-20 and U-23 team and in one for the Germany U20 team He made his international debut for the United States Under-20 team in a 5–0 loss against Paraguay in September 2010.
In July 2013, German magazine kicker indicated that he had received a call-up from the United States. senior national team to feature in a friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Brooks made his senior international debut in the 4–3 victory over Bosnia. In the opening group match against Ghana, he came on as a halftime injury substitute for Matt Besler and scored the winning goal in the 2–1 victory, a header off Graham Zusi"s corner kick.
He became the first American to score as a substitute at the World Cup. Later that month, he was named in coach Jürgen Klinsmann"s squad for the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, playing four matches as the team finished fourth.