Jones' Best Season at Schalke

On This Day in 2012, the Midfielder Scored His Only Goal of the Season in a Europa League Victory Over Twente

When Jermaine Jones returned to Schalke 04 in July 2011 after a loan spell at Blackburn Rovers, few could have predicted the midfielder's remarkable resurrection in Gelsenkirchen. Under new manager Ralf Rangnick and later Huub Stevens, Jones transformed from outcast to essential figure, anchoring the midfield as Schalke pushed for Champions League qualification and a deep Europa League run.

The stakes were exceptionally high that March 15th evening at the Veltins-Arena. Schalke's contract with Jones, worth a reported €12 million through 2014, had once seemed an albatross around the club's neck. Now, against a talented Twente side managed by former England boss Steve McClaren, Jones would prove his worth on the European stage.

Jones delivered one of his finest performances of the season, helping orchestrate a stunning comeback in Schalke's Europa League Round of 16 second leg against FC Twente. However, he would be outshined by a teammate on the evening. The Germans entered the match trailing 1-0 from the first leg, and their task grew even more daunting when Willem Janssen extended Twente's aggregate lead in the 14th minute at the Veltins Arena.

But Jones had already served notice of his intent, seeing a 25-yard effort blocked and his follow-up saved by Nikolay Mihailov in the seventh minute. After Klaas-Jan Huntelaar equalized with a 29th-minute header, the striker tied the match on aggregate when he converted a penalty in the 57th minute. Jones's moment would come in the 71st minute, when he latched onto a clever backheel from Raúl González and finished neatly on the turn from 12 yards to give Schalke their crucial third goal.

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The strike was Jones' first in European competition, and he wasn't done contributing. Ten minutes later, he turned provider, setting up Huntelaar's hat-trick goal as Schalke completed an emphatic 4-1 victory to advance to the quarter-finals.

"That was perhaps the best Schalke performance all season," Jones said afterward, deflecting credit to his teammates despite his goal and assist. The performance exemplified Jones' evolution into a leader under Stevens, who had identified the midfielder as a potential mentor for Schalke's young squad upon taking charge in September.

The rest of the season would continue to vindicate Jones' renaissance. Despite a training ground scuffle with Huntelaar in April that saw both players punished with extra running, Jones remained steady as Schalke secured third place and automatic Champions League qualification with a 4-0 win over Hertha Berlin. He captained the side on the season's final day in May — a 3-2 victory over Werder Bremen. He would finish the 2011-12 campaign with 20 Bundesliga appearances, helping transform a team into one of Germany's most formidable sides.

For Jones, who had been appointed captain of the U.S. national team by Jürgen Klinsmann for the January friendlies earlier in the year, the performance against Twente represented more than just a memorable European night – it marked his complete redemption at a club where, just 16 months earlier, he had been told to "empty your locker" and join the reserves. His journey from outcast to leader mirrored Schalke's rise to prominence in German and European football.