Santiago Castaneda’s Unique Path To German Pro Ball Included Florida High School Soccer
by Brian Sciaretta
Floridian Santiago Castaneda’s 2023-24 play with third-tier MSV Duisburg led to a move to 2.Bundesliga club SC Paderborn 07. (Imago via ZUMA Press/ISI Photos)
Even since the proliferation of pro club youth academies in the USA, American players continue to take different pathways to the professional ranks.
The common route involves progression through MLS Academies, advancing to MLS Next, signing homegrown deals, and eventually securing first-team contracts. But some college players continue to climb the ladder. The MLS-drafted players who have earned caps for the U.S. or Canadian
national teams include Daryl Dike, Duncan McGuire, Tajon Buchanan, Alistair Johnston, Cyle Larin and Moïse Bombito.
There are also other ways.
Santiago Castaneda, 19, is now the starting defensive midfielder for SC Paderborn 07 in the 2.Bundesliga, and the club holds ambitions to be in a promotion race this year. For many who follow the development paths for American professionals, his rise has come as a surprise because
it involved making choices that went against what many top young players choose, namely MLS Next and then eventually college. When he reached high school, Castaneda was playing with Tampa Bay United in MLS Next, but he felt he needed to step away. At the time, education was becoming more and more important to Castaneda and his family. And he received a scholarship opportunity to attend Tampa Preparatory School, a top private school in the area. But MLS Next had a rule that players were not allowed to play high school ball.
“It was a very tough pathway for me,” Castaneda told Soccer America. “Growing up, all I thought about was a professional career. But when I was 15, I transferred to Florida Premier. It was sad because I’m leaving MLS Next, which they say is the best league in the American system. For my parents, education was a huge thing. It was a big decision that started my whole process of thinking differently about school and playing professionally. But honestly, that was one of the best decisions I’ve made in my life. If I didn’t attend that school, I don’t think I would be where I am today.”
“It was a private, top-tier school,” he continued. “With MLS Next or when it was called the DA Development Academy — at the time it was getting very serious, and I was starting to get a little bit — like the love for the game wasn’t as strong. Once I was playing high school soccer, I tell everyone
it was just fun. There’s no pressure. You’re just playing for fun and you’re playing with the guys that you have classes with. It is not the best level of soccer, but it brought joy back to the game for me.”
The results could be seen on the field. In his junior year, Tampa Prep won the state championship with a 21-0 record and Castaneda was a top player.
In 2022, he joined the Rowdies academy and kept his eligibility for college. That fall, he participated in a U.S. Open Cup game for the Rowdies and later made his USL Championship debut in a win over Pittsburgh.
From an early age, Castaneda and his older brother were involved in the sport. He is the son of two parents from Colombia. His father, Carlos Castaneda, is from Medellin and was a former professional player in the Colombian leagues. His mother is from Cali and is a big supporter of
America de Cali.
While he dreamed of following in his father’s footsteps as a professional player, by late 2022 the opportunity to get a college education was becoming a priority. His success for his club and high school saw him earn an offer to play for the University of Michigan.
Shortly after verbally accepting that offer from Michigan, he was also given the opportunity through Capelli Sport to be part of a Talent ID squad to play games in Denmark. It was there where he caught the attention of MSV Duisburg, a 1. Bundesliga regular in a bygone era that had been in
Germany’s third tier since 2019.
He was offered a week-long trial at Duisburg that led to a contract offer. With an opportunity to play for Michigan also on the table, he had to make a choice.
“It was a tough week,” Castaneda said of his Duisburg trial. “It’s the third division, but the level and the pace were completely different. But I was able to integrate myself well. The fourth day in, they brought me into the office and told me that they wanted to offer me a contract. It was something
incredible. Obviously, I had already planned for my future with Michigan, but then I get this offer. I told them I needed time to think about what I really want to do.”
Ultimately, Castaneda accepted the offer after long discussions with his family. His first professional season in the third tier was a positive experience for him on a personal level. He played 2,339 minutes in league play while making 27 starts in 31 appearances, and scoring two goals. On the negative side, the team struggled and was relegated to the Regionalliga.
But given his youth and quick adaptation to the professional game in Germany, clubs were monitoring his progress. During the first third of the season, SC Paderborn was already scouting him. By midseason, the interest became serious. Shortly after Duisburg’s season ended, Castaneda was able to make the move.
Paderborn is a smaller club in Germany’s most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Despite its size, the club has enjoyed some success over the past decade.
During the 2014-15 season, Paderborn earned an unlikely promotion to the Bundesliga but was eventually relegated. Having fallen to the third tier in and nearly relegated into the Regionalliga, Paderborn earned consecutive promotions and was back in the Bundesliga during 2019-20 again
for just one season.
The club is back on the front foot with a very young roster. A strong start to the 2024-25 campaign has seen Paderborn earn two wins and two draws from four games. Castaneda has started all four games of league play along with the first round of the DFB Cup where Paderborn defeated Bremen
SV and Castaneda scored the team’s second goal.
German Second Division: Top 5 Attendance Avg. Leaders
- FC Schalke 04 61,079
- Hamburger SV 57,000
- FC Köln 50,000
- Hertha BSC 45,473
- FC Kaiserslautern 45,120
- Leaguewide: 31,000
- Paderborn: 15th (12,479) in 18-team league.
Paderborn: 15th (12,479) in 18-team league.
Castaneda is in an excellent place in his career while still shy of his 20th birthday.
“I don’t think it’s a very huge club,” Castaneda said of his first games at Paderborn. “If you look at Schalke, or Hertha Berlin or Cologne, that pulls off a little pressure on us. Those types of clubs have a little bit more pressure than us to get promoted. For us, half the team is new and we’re a very young team. The ambition to win each weekend is there -— not just the players but from the coaching staff and the club in general. Everyone is close. Every time we go out to play, we realize we’re playing for a family. We’ve grown to see each other as family and brothers. As the season goes on, things will get better, and things will start to click even more so.”
The life of a young professional player can change very quickly. Just two years ago, Castaneda was set to play college soccer in Michigan, with no set path after that.
These days he is dreaming bigger. His recent success came too late for him to get the attention of the U.S. Olympic team (and he’s six weeks too old for the current U.S. U-20 team). But he now holds out dreams of a national team call-up and hopes that the U.S. team under a South American coach
in Mauricio Pochettino could become a possibility if he continues to play well.
“My whole life I’ve also wanted to be called up for the national team and be able to represent either the USA or Colombia,” Castaneda said. “When I was in the third division my goal was to get into a better team and I was able to accomplish that.
“The next goal right now is to get called up for the national team. Obviously, we have players already playing in the MLS and some are already playing in Europe. So, that’s something I need to compete for. It’s a motivation for me.”
Written by Brian Sciaretta