Latest news with #PaxtenAaronson
Yahoo
02-08-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Paxten Aaronson prepares for starting role at Eintracht Frankfurt
Eintracht Frankfurt's decision to retain the services of USMNT International Paxten Aaronson this season looks to work out for both parties. After two seasons on loan in Holland, the 21-year-old is preparing to once again feature for his Bundesliga side in the forthcoming season. Aaronson is naturally feeling quite at home during Eintracht's pre-season training camp in the USA. Frankfurt prepare to kickoff against the academy side of both Paxten and his elder brother Aaron, Philadelphia Union, in a pre-season friendly today. Aaronson already impressed in a recent friendliest against Louisville and Aston Villa. Aaronson has mostly worked as a ten in preseason, but has also returned from Holland with some additional experience as a holding six and even a makeshift left-back. 'It was a very good decision to give him more playing time,' Eintracht head coach Dino Toppmöller noted in a recent interview with Kicker. 'What he demonstrated [during loan stints with Vitesse and Utrecht] in the Netherlands was impressive. Now we're happy to have him back.' Aaronson's second loan stint constituted quite the breakthrough. The New Jersey native scored nine goals and contributed six assists in 37 competitive appearances for the Domstedelingen. The youngster's estimated market value has increased to a career-high €8m. He's earned three of his four USMNT caps in the current 2025 calendar year. Like any other American footballer, Aaronson dreams of representing his home country in next summer's partially US-hosted FIFA World Cup. Still used exclusively as a sub by USMNT head-coach Mauricio Pochettino this year, however, the younger Aaronson brother still has much to prove. As a potential starting candidate to start at as Bundesliga club, Paxten possesses a wonderful opportunity to raise his profile. Paxten isn't necessarily inexperienced in the Bundesliga. Former SGE head coach Oliver Glasner handed him seven relief appearances during the latter stages of the 2023/24 campaign. Toppmöller himself gave Paxten seven appearances during the first half of the 2023/24 season. Paxten registered Bundesliga assists under both coaches. Toppmöller used Paxten as a wide buttressing support attacker in a 3-4-2-1 in the player's lone Bundesliga start. Paxten's performance in the 2-1 away loss at Augsburg left much to be desired. The matchday 13 start in December of 2023 happened to serve as Paxten's last appearance for the SGE. Eintracht opted to loan him out to Vitesse the following month. This year already appears to shape up quite differently. Toppmöller has been testing out a 4-2-3-1 in the two recent friendlies. Paxten anchors the attack from the ten slot. The American might end up mimicking the role of German footballing legend Mario Götze whenever Toppmöller employed similar tactics in the past. Paxten's recent enthusiastic comments seemed to suggest he's ready. 'I got used to the rhythm and learned how to treat my body,' Aaronson told Kicker when commenting on his time in Utrecht. 'I've improved many aspects [of my game] and learned to play different positions. 'I don't think there's a better club than Eintracht for my chance to play in the World Cup,' Aaronson also noted confidently. 'They invest a lot of time in developing young players here. 'I have no doubt that the coach and the entire staff are fully committed to helping me develop and improve so that I can reach the necessary level,' Aaronson concluded. GGFN |
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Years after learning soccer in their basement, brothers Brenden and Paxten Aaronson both play for US
United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, walks of the field with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) CORRECTS ID AT RIGHT, TO MAX ARFSTEN, NOT PAXTEN AARONSON - United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, is congratulated by Max Arfsten after scoring against Trinidad and Tobago during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) United States defender John Tolkin, left, talks with teammates Brenden Aaronson, center, and forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, stands with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before an international friendly soccer match against Switzerland, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, poses for a photo with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, poses for a photo with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, walks of the field with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) CORRECTS ID AT RIGHT, TO MAX ARFSTEN, NOT PAXTEN AARONSON - United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, is congratulated by Max Arfsten after scoring against Trinidad and Tobago during the second half of a CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer match in San Jose, Calif., Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu) United States defender John Tolkin, left, talks with teammates Brenden Aaronson, center, and forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, stands with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before an international friendly soccer match against Switzerland, Tuesday, June 10, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV) United States midfielder Brenden Aaronson, left, poses for a photo with his brother forward Paxten Aaronson before the start of an international friendly soccer game against Turkey, Saturday, June 7, 2025, in East Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm) Brenden and Paxten Aaronson play on better soccer fields these days than the New Jersey basement known as 'The Dungeon' where they used to practice penalties and free kicks. 'We had to put in special lights so they wouldn't kick the light bulbs and break them,' mom Janell Aaronson recalled. 'We had to do some padding on some of the poles that are in the basement so they didn't get hurt. We made it as safe as we could." Advertisement On June 10, she was in the stands at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, watching them become just the fourth pair of brothers to start the same match together for the U.S. national team, the first since George and Louis Nanchoff against the Soviet Union in 1979. 'I played with this guy since, I don't know, 5 — he was probably actually 2 at that time,' Brenden said. 'Maybe 7, I was, and he was probably 4.' Brenden, 24, already is a World Cup veteran, appearing as a substitute in all four U.S. matches at Qatar three years ago, Paxten, who turns 22 in August, hopes to make the World Cup roster for the first time when the U.S. co-hosts next year's tournament. 'Completely different players. Both in different ways can perform,' U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. Advertisement Both are on the roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where the Americans play Guatemala on Wednesday night and hope to advance to a final against Mexico or Honduras on Sunday. Both are midfielders and wingers who made their way up through the Philadelphia Union academy system and moved to Europe after two seasons in Major League Soccer, Paxten at age 19 and Brenden at 20. At the start of their national team camp together, they reflected on learning the sport in their backyard and the downstairs room given its nickname by their dad, Rusty. 'We always played in the basement, right before or after dinner,' Paxten said. 'We had a basement with kind of like a mini-pitch that we built off of carpet and goals that we taped on the wall and stuff like that. So we would always just play down there and then come up for dinner, then after dinner go down and play, We broke a lot of lights.' And learned competition. Advertisement 'Toes have been stepped on," Paxten said. Their dad, Rusty, played college soccer at Monmouth, ran a risk management firm and is sporting director of Real Futbol Academy in Medford, New Jersey. In addition to the brothers, 18-year-old sister Jaden will be a freshman on Villanova's soccer team this fall. 'I don't know how these guys do it without having a younger brother or someone to train with,' Brenden said. 'When you're in a shooting drill, sometimes you can take times off. But you know he's going to want to beat me and I'm going to want to be him, so you go that extra mile to keep even getting better at it.' Brenden scored in his MLS debut with Philadelphia in March 2019 and has played for Salzburg (2021-22), Leeds (2022-25) and Union Berlin (2023-24). He made his U.S. debut in 2020 and has nine goals in 51 international appearances. Advertisement Paxten debuted in MLS with the Union in May 2021 and has played for Eintracht Frankfurt (2023-24), Vitesse (2024) and Utrecht (2024-25). He made his first U.S. appearance in 2023 and scored against New Zealand at last year's Olympics. Before the match against Switzerland, they hadn't played on the same team together since the youth academy. They faced each other briefly on Nov. 4, 2023, when Brenden entered in the 83rd minute for Eintracht Frankfurt and Paxten in the 85th for host Union Berlin. 'There's been some fights throughout the years,' Brenden said, with Paxten sitting adjacent and laughing. 'It's more in the one v. ones when I would get beat by him. Because you're the older, you feel like you have to win. But he's beat me a handful of times where I had a temper tantrum. I was kicking the ball against the wall. I literally — I can't take it sometimes.' But afterward, they resumed playing the FIFA video game. Advertisement Having the common 'E' in the names of the siblings was mom's idea. 'We spelled Brenden `E-N. I just liked the spelling of that vs. 'A-N. Just visually. It looked better to me,'' Janell said. 'When we ended up having our other kids, I just made sure that they all ended in `E-N.' I don't know why. I just did that.' After the Gold Cup and brief time off, Brenden will return to England to prepare for the Premier League season with newly promoted Leeds. Paxten will report to Eintracht Frankfurt unless he's loaned again. Trying to watch all their matches is daunting for their parents, who also will be at Villanova for Jaden. Advertisement 'Sometimes when the games are on, I don't like to get the updates because I do like to go back and watch,' Rusty said. 'Sometimes I've looked at my phone, something good has happened and then the cat's out of the bag and there's no need to watch the game.' Streamed replays are not for mom. 'I don't even know how to work any of that,' she said. ___ AP soccer:
Associated Press
30-06-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Years after learning soccer in their basement, brothers Brenden and Paxten Aaronson both play for US
Brenden and Paxten Aaronson play on better soccer fields these days than the New Jersey basement known as 'The Dungeon' where they used to practice penalties and free kicks. 'We had to put in special lights so they wouldn't kick the light bulbs and break them,' mom Janell Aaronson recalled. 'We had to do some padding on some of the poles that are in the basement so they didn't get hurt. We made it as safe as we could.' On June 10, she was in the stands at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, watching them become just the fourth pair of brothers to start the same match together for the U.S. national team, the first since George and Louis Nanchoff against the Soviet Union in 1979. 'I played with this guy since, I don't know, 5 — he was probably actually 2 at that time,' Brenden said. 'Maybe 7, I was, and he was probably 4.' Brenden, 24, already is a World Cup veteran, appearing as a substitute in all four U.S. matches at Qatar three years ago, Paxten, who turns 22 in August, hopes to make the World Cup roster for the first time when the U.S. co-hosts next year's tournament. 'Completely different players. Both in different ways can perform,' U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. Both are on the roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where the Americans play Guatemala on Wednesday night and hope to advance to a final against Mexico or Honduras on Sunday. Both are midfielders and wingers who made their way up through the Philadelphia Union academy system and moved to Europe after two seasons in Major League Soccer, Paxten at age 19 and Brenden at 20. At the start of their national team camp together, they reflected on learning the sport in their backyard and the downstairs room given its nickname by their dad, Rusty. 'We always played in the basement, right before or after dinner,' Paxten said. 'We had a basement with kind of like a mini-pitch that we built off of carpet and goals that we taped on the wall and stuff like that. So we would always just play down there and then come up for dinner, then after dinner go down and play, We broke a lot of lights.' And learned competition. 'Toes have been stepped on,' Paxten said. Their dad, Rusty, played college soccer at Monmouth, ran a risk management firm and is sporting director of Real Futbol Academy in Medford, New Jersey. In addition to the brothers, 18-year-old sister Jaden will be a freshman on Villanova's soccer team this fall. 'I don't know how these guys do it without having a younger brother or someone to train with,' Brenden said. 'When you're in a shooting drill, sometimes you can take times off. But you know he's going to want to beat me and I'm going to want to be him, so you go that extra mile to keep even getting better at it.' Brenden scored in his MLS debut with Philadelphia in March 2019 and has played for Salzburg (2021-22), Leeds (2022-25) and Union Berlin (2023-24). He made his U.S. debut in 2020 and has nine goals in 51 international appearances. Paxten debuted in MLS with the Union in May 2021 and has played for Eintracht Frankfurt (2023-24), Vitesse (2024) and Utrecht (2024-25). He made his first U.S. appearance in 2023 and scored against New Zealand at last year's Olympics. Before the match against Switzerland, they hadn't played on the same team together since the youth academy. They faced each other briefly on Nov. 4, 2023, when Brenden entered in the 83rd minute for Eintracht Frankfurt and Paxten in the 85th for host Union Berlin. 'There's been some fights throughout the years,' Brenden said, with Paxten sitting adjacent and laughing. 'It's more in the one v. ones when I would get beat by him. Because you're the older, you feel like you have to win. But he's beat me a handful of times where I had a temper tantrum. I was kicking the ball against the wall. I literally — I can't take it sometimes.' But afterward, they resumed playing the FIFA video game. Having the common 'E' in the names of the siblings was mom's idea. 'We spelled Brenden `E-N. I just liked the spelling of that vs. 'A-N. Just visually. It looked better to me,'' Janell said. 'When we ended up having our other kids, I just made sure that they all ended in `E-N.' I don't know why. I just did that.' After the Gold Cup and brief time off, Brenden will return to England to prepare for the Premier League season with newly promoted Leeds. Paxten will report to Eintracht Frankfurt unless he's loaned again. Trying to watch all their matches is daunting for their parents, who also will be at Villanova for Jaden. 'Sometimes when the games are on, I don't like to get the updates because I do like to go back and watch,' Rusty said. 'Sometimes I've looked at my phone, something good has happened and then the cat's out of the bag and there's no need to watch the game.' Streamed replays are not for mom. 'I don't even know how to work any of that,' she said. ___ AP soccer:
Yahoo
01-06-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Balogun to miss the CONCACAF Gold Cup, dropped from US roster already without Pulisic, McKennie
FAYETTEVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Forward Folarin Balogun will miss the CONCACAF Gold Cup because of an ankle injury and was among three players dropped Sunday from a roster already without Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Antonee Robinson, Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna. Defender DeJuan Jones (lower body) and midfielder Sean Zawadzki (knee) also were let go by coach Mauricio Pochettino, who added defenders Walker Zimmerman and Nathan Harriel along with forward Paxten Aaronson. Advertisement Four players have been replaced from the 27-man group announced May 22. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte injured an oblique and was replaced on Wednesday by Chris Brady. Aaronson, 21, joined 24-year-old brother Brenden on the roster and could play together with him on the national team for the first time. Paxten's lone U.S appearance was in a friendly against Colombia in January 2023. Harriel is among seven players who could make U.S. debuts, joined by Brady, goalkeeper Matt Freese, right back Alex Freeman, midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, midfielder/winger Quinn Sullivan and forward Damion Downs. The U.S. is coming off poor performances at last year's Copa America and the CONCACAF Nations League in March and this will be the last extended training camp during a FIFA fixture period until players report ahead of next year's World Cup. Advertisement Players started arriving Sunday for training in Chicago. The Americans have friendlies against Turkey on June 7 at East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland three days later at Nashville, Tennessee, then meet Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the first round of the Gold Cup. The revised roster: Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago), Matt Freese (New York City), Zack Steffen (Colorado), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace) Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville) Advertisement Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego), Diego Luna (Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven) Forwards: Paxton Aaronson (Utrecht), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Damion Downs (Cologne), Brian White (Vancouver), Haji Wright (Coventry) ___ AP soccer: The Associated Press
Associated Press
01-06-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Balogun to miss the CONCACAF Gold Cup, dropped from US roster already without Pulisic, McKennie
FAYETTEVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Forward Folarin Balogun will miss the CONCACAF Gold Cup because of an ankle injury and was among three players dropped Sunday from a roster already without Christian Pulisic , Weston McKennie, Tim Weah, Antonee Robinson, Yunus Musah and Gio Reyna. Defender DeJuan Jones (lower body) and midfielder Sean Zawadzki (knee) also were let go by coach Mauricio Pochettino, who added defenders Walker Zimmerman and Nathan Harriel along with forward Paxten Aaronson. Four players have been replaced from the 27-man group announced May 22. Goalkeeper Patrick Schulte injured an oblique and was replaced on Wednesday by Chris Brady. Aaronson, 21, joined 24-year-old brother Brenden on the roster and could play together with him on the national team for the first time. Paxten's lone U.S appearance was in a friendly against Colombia in January 2023. Harriel is among seven players who could make U.S. debuts, joined by Brady, goalkeeper Matt Freese, right back Alex Freeman, midfielder Sebastian Berhalter, midfielder/winger Quinn Sullivan and forward Damion Downs. The U.S. is coming off poor performances at last year's Copa America and the CONCACAF Nations League in March and this will be the last extended training camp during a FIFA fixture period until players report ahead of next year's World Cup. Players started arriving Sunday for training in Chicago. The Americans have friendlies against Turkey on June 7 at East Hartford, Connecticut, and Switzerland three days later at Nashville, Tennessee, then meet Trinidad and Tobago, Saudi Arabia and Haiti in the first round of the Gold Cup. The revised roster: Goalkeepers: Chris Brady (Chicago), Matt Freese (New York City), Zack Steffen (Colorado), Matt Turner (Crystal Palace) Defenders: Max Arfsten (Columbus), Sergiño Dest (PSV Eindhoven), Alex Freeman (Orlando), Mark McKenzie (Toulouse), Tim Ream (Charlotte), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace), Miles Robinson (Cincinnati), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville) Midfielders: Brenden Aaronson (Leeds), Tyler Adams (Bournemouth), Sebastian Berhalter (Vancouver), Johnny Cardoso (Real Betis), Luca de la Torre (San Diego), Diego Luna (Salt Lake), Jack McGlynn (Houston), Quinn Sullivan (Philadelphia), Malik Tillman (PSV Eindhoven) Forwards: Paxton Aaronson (Utrecht), Patrick Agyemang (Charlotte), Folarin Balogun (Monaco), Damion Downs (Cologne), Brian White (Vancouver), Haji Wright (Coventry) ___ AP soccer:
