U.S. International Terrence Boyd Stars in Austrian Debut

Terrence Boyd scored a brace for SK Rapid Wien on Saturday.

Terrence Boyd, the 21-year-old U.S. international, made his Austrian Bundesliga debut Saturday in fine fashion, scoring two goals and adding an assist in SK Rapid Wien’s 4-0 win over FC Wacker Innsbruck. Boyd joined the historic Vienna club on a three-year contract this summer.

Boyd got the nod to be a starter for the green-clad Rapid Wien side in their season opener from coach Peter Schöttel, a long-time Rapid player. Wearing #9, Boyd immediately made his presence felt in Austrian soccer by scoring Rapid’s first goal of the new season in the fourth minute of play. In the 56th minute, Boyd charged through a defender into the Innsbruck box, and then selflessly laid off a short pass to teammate Christopher Drazan for an easy score. Boyd scored his second goal of the match in the 71st minute. The striker had given Rapid fans much reason for hope in an earlier friendly against AS Roma in which he scored on a bicycle kick against the Italian side.

Boyd, born in Bremen, Germany of a German mother and American serviceman father, was a surprise pick by USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann for the senior American side earlier this year, given that he had never played a minute of first team club soccer. The 6’2″ striker had played with the reserve teams of Hertha Berlin from 2009-2011 and starred on German champion’s Borussia Dortmund’s reserve team most recently, scoring  20 goals in 32 matches. Boyd’s performance helped the Dortmund reserve side gain promotion, but he had never received a chance to play for the talent-rich Dortmund senior side, which did the German double last season and won the league title the year before.

Boyd only recently began play for the U.S. Beginning in 2011, he became part of the American U-20 and U-23 youth sides, where he scored three goals in four matches. Despite his success with Dortmund’s reserve side and the American youth sides, Boyd was still something of a surprise pick for the senior American team earlier this year. Boyd made his debut as a substitute in the Americans’ February friendly win over Italy. Klinsmann chose him to start the USMNT’s June  2014 World Cup qualifier against Antigua and Barbuda, which means that Boyd is committed to playing internationally for the U.S. despite his dual German-American citizenship.

Although the Austrian Bundesliga no longer has the reputation it once held as one of Europe’s top leagues, Boyd will nevertheless have the opportunity for Europa League football this season for the popular side that has won 32 Austrian league titles.  Boyd will also be able to look forward to playing in Austria’s biggest derby on August 5th, when Rapid play neighboring club Austria Wien.