USMNT or Colombia? Santiago Castaneda thriving after Bundesliga breakthrough

Santiago Castañeda's rise in Germany has been as rapid as it was improbable.

The Tampa, Florida native took the long road toward the game's upper echelons, but he has arrived this season as a starter with Bundesliga newcomer SC Paderborn at just 21 years old.

It would have been hard to see this coming just three years ago when Castañeda turned down the chance to play at the University of Michigan in favor of starting his career with MSV Duisburg in Germany’s third tier.

It would have been harder still to envision Castañeda in the Bundesliga a few years before that, when he left Tampa Bay United, which is now in MLS Next, in favor of playing high school soccer.

"It's definitely not a journey you see often," Castañeda tells USA TODAY Sports.

After arriving in Germany in 2023, Castañeda immediately earned a starting role with Duisburg as an 18-year-old. For a player his age, living abroad for the first time in a country he didn't speak the language, Castañeda's adaptation was unnaturally quick. Especially because, as he says, the 3. Liga is not your average third-tier division.

"You don't think much of [the 3. Liga], especially if you're from…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/sports/