There's no one correct pathway to a successful professional soccer career, especially for an American player. Part of what makes the career path many American's have followed so exciting is the unorthodox nature of it all. Recently, top-level talents have gone straight from the Development Academy to European club's youth programs, and that's about as straightforward as it gets. In the past, it was common for even the best players to come out of America's college system and turn professional after that, whether in the MLS or abroad.

However, the number of players that enter their playing careers from either the Superdraft or Development Academy is relatively small compared to the number of American players coming through the system, and often, these players are left to forge their path somewhere between the two opposite ends of the spectrum.

The somewhere-in-between is where Mael Corboz, a 25-year-old midfielder for the Go Ahead Eagles in the Dutch second division found his path. This season alone, Corboz has five goals and five assists through 23 appearances. Corboz and the Go Ahead Eagles recently advanced through the round-of-16 of the KNVB Beker, Holland's FA Cup-style tournament that features teams from the top three leagues, and will face FC Utrecht in the quarter-finals on Thursday, Feb. 13th at 12:30 PM (ET).

Corboz began his college playing days at Rutgers University. After two successful seasons, he transferred to the University of Maryland (where he played in front of current USMNT goalkeeper, Zack Steffen). But Corboz didn't end up in the Superdraft as many collegiate players do. He instead signed a MLS homegrown contract with the New York Red Bulls after joining and playing for their academy program at the U-18 level.

But even before that, where Corboz set the foundation for his soccer skills was for his youth program, NJSA 04, who were coached at the time by current Houston Dynamo head coach, and former US U-20 head coach, Tab Ramos.

"Yeah, he was my coach for like seven years," Corboz said in an interview. "Basically, he was my first really influential soccer coach, and I still remember his training sessions."

Spoiler alert: They weren't easy, physically, or mentally.

"First of all, they were absurdly long (training sessions). We would start every training with an hour of technical work like just passing the ball with a partner or doing some juggling. Every training started like that."

Accountability was even something Ramos worked into his youth's training sessions.

"We used to do like one-on-ones protecting the ball, and you had to count how many times the other person got the ball from you, and then he would make you say your count in front of everyone," Corboz said.