Nicholas Ammeter is a 20-year-old Swiss-American goalkeeper playing for FC Aarau in Switzerland’s second division. Despite being born in New York City, Ammeter has been involved with the Swiss youth national teams at essentially every level from U16 to U21. Last year Ammeter, in the 2019-20 season, Ammeter was the starter for the club at just 19 years old but this year he’s been the number two goalkeeper for FC Aarau. Ammeter opens up about his journey to FC Aarau, the challenges of regaining the number one spot, and how he views his dual citizenship.
You joined FC Aarau at a young age. What about the club sold you on the idea of joining them?
I joined FC Aarau when I was 5 years old and it is the club of the city where we lived and still live in today. It's the biggest club in the region and all of my friends were playing at the club. So it wasn't competitive, obviously, at that young age but just because of joy and it was an opportunity to play soccer and to spend time with my friends all at once made it a no-brainer for me to play here as well. Because I joined at such a young age there weren't any expectations of how it could be. I just went to practice, spent 90 minutes full of joy, and then went home and that's kind of how it started.
You’re just turned 20 years old this month, so how do you view yourself when establishing a goalkeeping style? For those that haven’t seen you play yet, which modern goalkeeper are you most similar to?
Because I came up in Switzerland I'd describe my style most similar to Roman Bürki from Borussia Dortmund. In Switzerland, the philosophy of goalkeeper training is structured from the national football association and therefore is in every club more or less the same. That's why all the goalkeepers in the competitive youth teams of bigger clubs and in the youth national teams have more or less the same basics, because the focus in practice at a young age everywhere is kind of the same. There's a lot of focus on being comfortable playing out from the back with your feet and pretty much every club, especially at youth team levels, plays out from the back. That’s why, like Roman Bürki, I'd say that's one of my strengths. Another big focus is on reaction saves and 1v1s, another part of the game I'd say is a strength of mine.
From other countries, I love to see Jan Oblak (reactions and long-range shots), Marc-Andre Ter Stegen (playing with his feet), and Dean Henderson (overall body language and how he commands the area at his fairly young age) play. I idolize them and try to replicate their movements and apply it to my game.
In the 2019-20 season, you played every league match as the club finished 10-11-15 (W-T-L) but this season you’ve started off on the bench. What keeps you motivated to keep developing, knowing you’re at a young point in your career?
Obviously, there are some rough days but to work hard, that's all I do. When I was 15 years old the youth coaches laughed at me when I said I want to be in the youth national team and become a professional because I wasn't a starter in my youth team and every summer I was afraid of whether I would make the cut for the next team or not. So when I told them of my dreams I started to do extra work every day. It paid off really quick and I've never stopped with it since. It's just the belief in myself and in my abilities because even though I had kind of an up and down season last year, I proved that I can play at this level at a young age. I know that even though it's a cliche, hard work eventually pays off and I know it because I've experienced it first hand.
My family is extremely supportive of me but we don't talk soccer a lot at home. My dad was a professional handball player and my siblings also play competitive sports. So when we talk sports, for the longest time it's usually about the mental aspect of the game and that's why I know what I have to do to achieve my goals. I know I have to work extremely hard to reach those goals.
What’s the feedback from the coaching staff at Aarau about where you need to continue to develop? What are your strengths and weaknesses as a young goalkeeper?
They told me I have to develop the physical part of the game, get stronger and work on my explosiveness to have better demand of the 18 yard box, and improve on long-range shot-stopping ability. My strengths are short-range saves (reaction on the line and 1v1) and my ability to play out from the back with my feet (understanding of the situation, when to quickly start a counter-attack, etc).
You’re no stranger to the Swiss youth national teams, playing with them at nearly every level. However, American fans can’t help but notice you were born in New York City. Knowing there’s still a lot of time ahead of you, how are you viewing international play since you have dual citizenship with Switzerland and the US?
Those kinds of questions are not in my head at the time. I believe in taking small steps and then they will lead to wherever you want to go. So that's a discussion for down the road and is obviously depending on my options. I am a proud Swiss and a proud American. So I'd be extremely proud whatever team I'd have the chance to play for but, like I said, that's a discussion for a later date and time.
Are you getting any encouragement to play for one more than the other from family and friends?
No, none whatsoever. My friends and my family never encouraged me to play for one or the other. But like I said, at home and even with my friends, soccer isn't that big of a topic. Obviously, I love the game and watch a lot of games, but they know I like it when I can spend time with them not talking about soccer but a lot of other stuff as well. Soccer is my biggest passion since I was a little kid but I love all kinds of sports and I'm interested in a lot of different things, so I can't talk about soccer 24/7 and maybe that's the reason why nobody has ever encouraged me one or the other way.
