UnderdogSP
Christian Cappis Interview
Christian Cappis Interview on Underdog Soccer Podcast
Age: 20 (born August 13, 1999)
Height: 6’1”
Club: Hobro
League: Danish Superliga
Club Number: 18
National Number: 18 (Jan Camp)
Position: Central Midfield – 6, 8*
Born: Katy, TX USA
Nationality: American
Youth Career: Texans SC Academy
US History: U18, U20, U23
Christian “Cappy” Cappis is a battle tested athlete. He struggled some in the early days even to win a spot at the Texas SC academy. He credits one of his coaches, Eric Quill, on the U15s who was a game changer for him according to both Cappy and Jay his father. Quill also coached USMNT youngster Chris Richards of Bayern Munich and some other young talented Houston youth. He earns his spot on his youth club and captained the first ever Houston US USSDA Academy champion team in 2017. He spent a year with Dallas before determining that he wanted to push himself to the top levels.
There were multiple MLS teams including Houston Dynamo who pursued Cappy and hoped to get them to join. However, he had bigger aspirations and was rewarded for his efforts when Bayern Munich called him in and had interest.After a trial in Europe for Bayern Munich, they’re unable to offload a player to make a roster spot for Cappy and he ultimately has to move on.
Cappy’s hero Stu Holden from Houston was a motivating factor for him. He had a desire to follow Holden’s example of going to Europe and going against the best.
At every level and everything you read about Cappy you hear and see that character and self-belief is a core of who he is. His father Jay has spoken with Chasingacup.com and how much Jay believes in character showing in the way his son plays. Christian gave us this inspiration message he got from his father:
“Always play your team before yourself. It’s very easy to try to do everything, but focus on team’s needs first and your job will stand out much more than if you try to do a little of everything.”
– Jay Cappis
Cappy performs well for the U20 youth national team levels, scoring in each of the games he’s a part of. Ultimately though, he was left off of the U20 World Cup squad. He goes back to Hobro earns his spot back under a new coach and hasn’t given his spot up since.
Cappy played well again for the U23s at the end of 2019 and then Gregg Berhalter and staff were interested enough to invite him to the senior team’s January camp where we’re told by some pundits including Ives Galarcep of SBI that he is one of the standouts in camp.
“Christian is a guy that we like his understanding of the game,” USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter. “He’s a good technical player, and it’s good to able to work with him up close.”
Cappis can play the defensive midfielder role, but sees his best role as a box-to-box central midfielder and desires to liken his game after Georginio Wijnaldum of Liverpool.
https://twitter.com/FutureUsmnt/status/1236664132834918400?s=20
On March 8, 2020 Cappy scored his first goal for Hobro in the league and has been playing well in key games down the stretch. Hobro will be in the Denmark relegation playoff (depending on what happens with Cornovirus) and will certainly have Cappy with them battling to the end. He hopes to help Hobro avoid relegation and continue to challenge himself moving forward. Hobro needing Christian, would not release him for the Olympic Qualifying in Mexico. Cappy wants to help Hobro return to the Danish Superliga, but also hopes to draw attention from other European clubs in the summer.
Underdog Soccer Podcast Interview
Underdog Soccer Podcast and Chasing a Cup partnered to interview Cappy in early March, listen below:
https://soundcloud.com/user-667518021/usp53-interview-with-usmnt-hobro-ik-player-christian-cappy-cappis