It was a moment that made it all worthwhile: moving nearly 4,000 miles from home, the gruelling training, the lonely nights when you miss your family, your girlfriend and a home-cooked meal.
Thrust into the action as a 59th-minute substitute, Paxten Aaronson did not have time to stop and pinch himself.
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There was a job to be done. His team, Eintracht Frankfurt, needed to beat Freiburg on the last day of the 2022-23 Bundesliga season to ensure a seventh-place finish.
But nearly three months later, as the 19-year-old describes helping Frankfurt over the line to European qualification, his eyes light up and the excitement in his voice is still palpable.
“We needed a win and we needed two other teams to lose,” he says. “I was lucky enough to be on the pitch and it was just unreal, you know. The stadium, the atmosphere and the passion. Every game kicked off at the same time so, on the scoreboard, you would see the scores every time someone across the league scored.
“The fans would be cheering and you didn’t always know which team had scored, but you just know that you had to get the job done. It was a surreal moment.”
In front of 50,500 supporters, Frankfurt scored an added-time winner to clinch a spot in the Europa Conference League to cap a memorable season that had already seen them compete in the Champions League, reaching the last 16.
It’s why Aaronson feels justified in making the move to Germany, where he made seven appearances (all from the bench) in his debut season, instead of remaining in MLS with Philadelphia Union where he played 23 league games the previous campaign. For the self-confessed football nerd, the threat of relegation or the promise of European qualification, and all the associated drama, gives everything an edge.
“Every game means something (here),” he says. “If you’re past the line, you’re fighting against relegation. If you’re above it, you’re fighting to get a European spot.
“The fans and the players put their hearts on the line to either stay in the league or clinch Europe next year. So I think that’s the biggest difference, in terms of the two competitions and in terms of the league. If you’re ambitious and you don’t want to stay too complacent, then Europe’s definitely the way because the competitions, the atmosphere, all of it is… yeah, it’s different.”
The player, whose brother Brenden will also play in the Bundesliga this season after joining Union Berlin on loan from Leeds United, feels the high of being involved on that triumphant final day fuels his desire to play a more significant part for Frankfurt this term and made the initial homesickness worth it as he adapted to life in Germany.
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Aaronson is from a close family and went from living with parents Janell and Rusty and sister Jaden to following his brother into a move to Europe.
“I live by myself in an apartment,” he explains. “There are perks to it, you know. It’s enjoyable at times because you have your freedom. You can just go at your own pace. And then sometimes it’s not as enjoyable — when you’re sitting there at seven or eight o’clock at night and you don’t know what to cook and there’s nothing on the table, so you have to make some really bad pasta or something like that.
“And, of course, some days it’s more difficult than others. When you have two days off and everybody in Europe wants to fly home because it’s so close here, but you can’t fly back to America because it’s six or seven hours (away). But you keep yourself occupied. And I have.
“I have visitors a lot. My grandparents, my girlfriend flies out a lot.
“So I’m always keeping busy and honestly, with the amount of effort and work you have to put in every day in training, the days go by fast. It’s an adjustment. It’s a part of my character development — not even in football but outside, too. Being able to mature in a new country and learn different things all around the world. It’ll only make me a better person in the long run.”
He’s improving at cooking, too, and becoming a selfless team-mate on and off the pitch as he builds friendships that extend beyond the dressing room.
“My go-to is probably stir fry,” he smiles. “My girlfriend actually taught me how to make it. It’s just vegetable and chicken stir fry. I always love rice with everything and, yeah, it’s broccoli, peppers, chicken, rice and carrots.
“Jesper Lindstrom (Frankfurt’s Danish midfielder) is a good friend. We sometimes go out to dinner. When he hurt his foot, I actually had to go over every morning at like 8am — he lives a 23-minute walk from me — to walk his dog because he was on crutches.
“But I have a strong connection with everybody because they were all just super welcoming and it’s a good group of guys. Especially when you’re a young guy coming in nervous and stuff — it’s just important that you feel welcomed.”
They may be two of the U.S.’s brightest young footballing talents, but the Aaronson brothers had to overcome early rejection back home due to their slight frames and height.
Their parents encouraged resilience, though, and the brothers’ natural ability won through. That is why the younger Aaronson remains keen to embrace his attributes rather than trying to match older and more physical opponents in Europe.
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“I’ve always said the two attributes I like most about my game are my quick acceleration and how fast I can be with the ball,” he says. “And I always explain to the lifting coaches that I never want to lose that.
“I wanted to build healthy muscle. Muscle that wouldn’t get me so bulky that I turn into a player that’s not as explosive as I am.
“And they understood that. We do exercises, of course, in pre-season. But after that, you can’t do these heavy exercises because it just weighs you down.
“So they do a lot of exercises that are built for the player like me, like squatting and jumping, which is for explosiveness. And focus on the core. For every athlete, it’s super important because they always preach that if you have a strong core, it’s injury prevention number one.”
He has had to step up his level of stamina since returning for pre-season training after a trip back to New Jersey with Brenden to spend time with family and friends.
“There’s a difference here in terms of training and demand on the body; a lot of double sessions. Usually in America, when we would have double sessions, it would be maybe one on the field and one in the gym,” he says.
“So I’d say, intensity is definitely the biggest challenge. Here, if you have a double session in pre-season, it’s two on the field and it’s not like in the morning it’s hard in the afternoon it’s easy — it’s like two really hard sessions. That definitely took some adapting to get used to, but I’m enjoying it.”
Opposition midfielders could well have a hard time keeping up this season. The pre-season work is likely to have enhanced the pace and endurance of a player who credits his willingness to run (and run and run) to his early days on his elementary school yard.
“They had something every day at recess called ‘cheetah running’,” he explains. “You would run around the track all recess until they blew the whistle and you would collect popsicle sticks. So every time you ran around the track, you would get one popsicle stick. You’d try to get the most popsicle sticks out of everybody in the class.
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“And then at the end of the year, you would see how many popsicle sticks you had. They had a ceremony and stuff for whoever won. So me and my brother would always gun for number one on the cheetah-running list.
“My dad always jokes, ‘This is what built your endurance’ because every day, right before lunch, I would be itching. I would be telling my teacher, please let me out early so I can get more popsicle sticks.
“It seems silly now. But yeah, that’s kind of where the endurance and running started.”
Like anyone connected with the Bundesliga, Aaronson is excited at the impact of England captain Harry Kane’s move to Bayern Munich and feels it will only make the division stronger.
“It’s massive for the league having someone of his calibre and what he’s done in England,” he says. “It will boost the level and recognition of the league even higher.
“I think the Bundesliga is definitely up there with one of the best.
“Every league has their differences. When you think about Serie A, it’s known for the defending. When it’s La Liga, it’s ball possession and the very good passing. And then the Premier League has its calibre. For me, the Bundesliga is a league that’s very fast-paced and a lot of the games are frantic. It’s man-to-man defending. Nobody really drops off.
“If you get the ball in the middle, someone’s coming from behind and hitting you. Everybody runs forward and it’s all about the pressing. Being an American and having so many Americans in the league, it kind of suits our playing style. We have strong endurance, we’re usually always quick.
“It’s a big transition game and it’s a big transition league. And if you win the ball, most of the time you’re going in on a three versus two. If you can capitalise on the moment, that can win you games.”
He hopes stepping up in this league will also boost his USMNT career. Aaronson has one senior cap and hopes to play for the under-23s in next summer’s Paris Olympics after the U.S. qualified for the first time since 2008.
“It’s a major event,” he says. “When you think about the Olympics, you just kind of get this feeling. It would obviously be very good to represent my country in such a big tournament.
“So getting to be on a team that helped qualify and then hopefully playing in the tournament would be a good honour.”
Before that will come another season of learning his craft at Frankfurt and soaking up more experiences.
He has already tasted the fervour of a game against Borussia Dortmund at Signal Iduna Park. “It was a difficult game for us (Frankfurt lost 4-0 in April). It’s always difficult going there,” he recalls. “But for me, I just remember walking onto the field and seeing the Yellow Wall (Dortmund’s famously imposing single-tiered stand).
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“You speak about watching it on TV, but it’s not the same as when you’re on the pitch.
“All those 80,000 people are just stacked above you and they’re all shouting down at you. When I was warming up to go into the game, I got four beer bottles just launched on me.
“It’s an incredible stadium and getting onto the field, playing against the likes of Marco Reus and guys I’ve watched since I was a youth was an exciting moment.”
There should be plenty of equally exciting moments for both brothers this season and their father has already booked his trip to Berlin in November — Frankfurt travel to the capital raising the prospect of his boys going head to head.
Although it is over four hours by train between the two cities, or an hour’s flight, Aaronson is glad to have his brother relatively near and sought his older sibling’s advice before agreeing the switch to Europe last November.
But this season he is preparing to make his own mark on the league; Aaronson was named as one of the top five youngsters to watch in 2023-24 by the Bundesliga’s website along with Nelson Weiper, Kevin Paredes, Julien Duranville and Mathys Tel.
Can this be his year?
“I think so, definitely. If I take my moments and I take my opportunities, every minute I’m on the pitch, whether it’s training or in a game,” he says.
“I want to show I’m here to stay. If I always keep working and doing what I’m supposed to, for sure I can have a good season.”
Some players may feel pressure at the heightened expectations but Aaronson’s enjoyment of football always supersedes the sense of tension.
“For me, it’s never felt real, you know? It still just feels like I’m just playing for fun. Sometimes it doesn’t even feel like it’s my job. So it’s just enjoyable. I’m like a big nerd with that stuff. If there’s a game on, it doesn’t really matter what it is: I’m putting it on.
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“First weekend of the Premier League with Burnley versus Man City on the Friday, I was on my couch watching it. It’s entertaining for me and that’s always been the same, even when I was a little kid.
“There are the occasional players that you talk to and they’re like, ‘I’ve never watched the game’ and that always amazes me. You play the game, you love the game. Like, isn’t it interesting for you to watch other players and other teams?”
The adventures continue for Aaronson and European football is another prospect that has the wide-eyed football fanatic excited for the new season.
On Thursday, he was an unused substitute as Frankfurt drew 1-1 with Bulgarian side Levski Sofia in the first leg of their Europa Conference League qualifying play-off.
“Getting to play against teams from different countries like France, or even occasionally the teams you might not have heard of — that’s amazing,” he says. “They’re always gonna come in and fight, so embracing this competition and getting to play against these different styles and these different tactics is exciting.
“The fans always get behind it because when you play in Europe and you have a trophy that you can win, it always puts a pump on your chest.”
In May, Frankfurt parted company with Oliver Glasner, the manager who signed Aaronson, but his replacement Dino Toppmoller was quick to reassure the youngster he values him as highly as his predecessor.
“He told me about the importance of staying hungry,” he says. “He thinks that this season can be as good as I make it.
“And I think that, too — if I never get complacent. It is a big thing for me because, at a young age, you can kind of see some players who get a lot of spotlight or a lot of success too early and then, later on, it kind of affects them.
“I always try to tell myself not to ever get too high or too low. Just always be hungry.
“And I think that sets a tone. It sets the mood for always wanting to accomplish more.”
He might be running for more valuable prizes than popsicle sticks this season, but Aaronson’s enthusiasm remains just as unbridled as it was as a young boy tearing around the playground in Medford. And as back then, rewards are sure to follow.
(Top photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images)
