Victor Krogmann is the tallest player on the Eastern men’s soccer team at 6-foot-8.

“I get a lot of comments about it, 6-foot-8 is not usual in soccer,” Krogmann said.

It’s not typical for soccer players to be that tall, but Krogmann isn’t a typical Eastern soccer player either.

Krogmann is from Hamburg, Germany and played club soccer with SC Nienstedten, but always wanted to go to the United States to go to college.

His aspirations heightened after his best friend in Germany came to Eastern in an exchange program and ran track.

Krogmann said his friend was excited about what Eastern offered, a good track team that won a lot of championships.

When his friend returned, the two decided to go back to Eastern together. Krogmann got in contact with Eastern head coach Adam Howarth, sent him a game tape and visited in March.

Coming from Germany to the United States, Krogmann said he’s noticed a lot of differences, especially in the people he meets.

“People are more open-minded,” Krogmann said. “They come at you and want to know about you – excited you’re from a different country. You have to explain yourself a lot.”

The kind of soccer at the college level is different than at the club level in Germany, he said.

He said American college soccer is much more about speed and strength than German soccer.

“In Germany, it’s about going through tactics and playing their game,” Krogmann said.

Krogmann hasn’t played a game this season, but said he’s learning a lot about the team from watching the games from the bench.

He said he tries to help the team by pushing the other forwards in practice to work harder so they’ll be more prepared for the game.

“We’re a great team,” Krogmann said.

Krogmann is one of two European players on the team this season. Junior defender Jake Plant is from Birmingham, United Kingdom.

Last season, Eastern had players from England, Ireland and British Columbia.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.