Paxten Aaronson earns his senior USMNT debut in scoreless tie vs. Colombia

Medford-born Union alumnus Paxten Aaronson made his senior U.S. national team debut on Saturday, starting and playing all of a scoreless tie with Colombia in suburban Los Angeles.

Aaronson, now of Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt, was handed the start by interim U.S. manager Anthony Hudson as part of a three-man U.S. midfield. The 19-year-old midfielder moved from the Union to Eintracht in January for $4 million, and potentially much more based on performance incentives and any future transfer fee.

Wearing the No. 6 (a rare sight for attacking midfielders), Aaronson got his first shot on goal in just the sixth minute, set up well by left winger Matthew Hoppe. Alas, Aaronson shot low, and Colombia goalkeeper Alvaro Montero saved it.

Aaronson had a better shot in the 14th, but a sliding block by Andrés Llinás sent the ball away from an open net.

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Hoppe had the next good chance, sprung free by Jesús Ferreira in the 32nd minute, but he shot weakly and Montero had an easy stop.

Alas for the U.S., those were all three of the team’s shots in the half. Colombia had nine. But the action was open in both directions, and Aaronson’s start drew praise from analysts on TNT’s broadcast.

“A lot of excitement around this young kid,” said Julie Foudy, a former U.S. women’s team star.

“I just love when a U.S. player looks a bit different,” said Kyle Martino, who was the Union’s original local TV analyst in 2010. “What I’ve seen: two-footed, skillful, can dribble out of tight spaces, can score with either foot.”

Martino revealed he called Union manager Jim Curtin on Saturday morning to get a more detailed scouting report. Curtin said that because of Aaronson’s lack of playing time for the Union, Frankfurt’s top scouts spent this week at the U.S. team’s training camp.

They surely got a nicer week of weather than the winter back home in Germany. But they also got what they came for.

“They’ve just watched him train for a week, and off of that, they were like, ‘All right, we want this guy,’” Martino said Curtin told him.

Aaronson finished Saturday’s game with 57 touches, two shots, 23-of-28 passing, 11 defensive recoveries, two clearances, and nine duels won.

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Paxten and his older brother Brenden Aaronson, also a Union alumnus, became the eighth set of brothers to play for the senior U.S. men’s squad. The lineage dates back a century to Archie and Tom Stark, who played for the famed Bethlehem Steel dynasty of the 1920s and ‘30s.

As for the rest of the game, the second half started with Alan Soñora replacing for Eryk Williamson in central midfield. In the 63rd minute, Brandon Vázquez replaced Ferreira at striker — not long after Ferreira was set up for a good look but couldn’t get a shot off under pressure.

That was Ferreira’s best chance of the night, playing against the country where he was born. His Colombian father David played in MLS for FC Dallas from 2009-13, and Jesús grew up in Dallas’ youth academy.

In the 65th, there was another senior U.S. debut when Emmanuel Sabbi replaced Paul Arriola on the right wing. Sabbi, 25, was born in Italy to Ghanaian parents and grew up in Ohio. He has played his whole pro career in Europe, mainly in Denmark after a short spell in Spain, and has played for multiple U.S. youth teams.

In the 68th, 19-year-old centerback Jalen Neal earned his second senior cap, coming in for Walker Zimmerman. Neal is on the roster of MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy but has yet to play in a league game. On this night, he played for his country on the Galaxy’s home field.

In the 72nd, there was a second young-for-old centerback sub: Sam Rogers, a Seattle native with Norway’s Rosenborg, replaced Aaron Long.

The last sub came in the 81st, and brought more veteran savvy as Julian Gressel replaced 20-year-old left back John Tolkin.

The newcomers were able to see out the zero defensively, even if there was also a zero at the attacking end.

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