NOT LONG AGO in 2022, Santiago Castaneda was just another young American trying to set a path for his future in both soccer and in education. A native of Tampa, Castaneda came through many of the area’s development channels – from MLS Next, to high school, ECNL, and then to USL. With his success at every step and with his willingness to take risks, Castaneda now finds himself as a starting central midfielder for SC Paderborn, one of the top teams in the 2.Bundesliga this season.

Castaneda, 19, grew up in Florida and 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 big supporter of America de Cali. Naturally, both Santiago and his older brother took to soccer from an early age.

“I started playing when I was three years old and, from my father, I looked up to that,” Castaneda told American Soccer Now. “Also, I have an older brother who's seven years older than me. He went through everything before me, and I got to see it all. I had him and my father just supporting me and coaching me my whole life.”

As the younger Castaneda brother developed into a promising player during his early teenage years, he had to make choices. He was playing for Tampa Bay United in MLS Next during his freshman and sophomore seasons of high school but felt the need to step away. At the time, education was becoming 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 in high school.

Facing a decision, Castaneda opted to leave Tampa Bay United and enroll and play for Tampa Prep. He also joined Florida Premier FC in the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL). In his junior year, Tampa Prep won the state title with a 21-0 record and Castanada as a top player.

“It was a very tough pathway for me,” Castaneda said. “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 decision 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.”

It was at Florida Premier where he also saw his game continue to develop. He was invited to play in ECNL’s Florida National Selection game where he won the Man of the Match and drew attention from the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the USL Championship. 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.

Soon, however, another turning point came for Castaneda in late 2022. As college soccer was becoming a goal, he verbally accepted an offer to attend the University of Michigan and was now taking more high school classes online so he could focus on practicing with the Rowdies. But 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 when he caught the attention of MSV Duisburg, a club playing in Germany’s third tier. He was offered a trial.

The trial proved to be successful, and he was offered a contract. But with an opportunity to play for Michigan also on the table, he to make a choice

“It was a tough week,” Castaneda said of his Duisburg trial. “It's still third division, but the level and the pace was 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 that 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. It gave him an opportunity to play regularly and adjust to the professional level. In total, Castaneda played 2339 minutes in league play while making 27 starts and scoring two goals. On the negative side, however, 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. Within the first third of the season, SC Paderborn in the 2.Bundesliga was already scouting him. By midseason, the interest became serious. Shortly after Duisburg’s season ended, Castaneda was able to make the move.

A decade ago, during the 2014/15 season, Paderborn earned an unlikely promotion to the Bundesliga but were eventually relegated after a strong start. Having fallen to the third tier in and nearly relegated into the Regionalliga, Paderborn earned consecutive promotions and was back in the Bundesliga during the 2019/20 season - again for just one season.

Now the club is off to a strong start and is looking to return to the Bundesliga for the third time. On this team, Castaneda is part of a very youthful roster that is playing with excitement and energy. He plays as a holding No. 6, deep-lying central midfielder, a slightly different role than the box-to-box role at had at Duisburg. But Castaneda can also still get involved offensively and this was shown when Paderborn recently won its first round of the DFB Cup, a 4-0 win over Bremer SV where Castaneda scored the team’s second goal.

For Castaneda, he is in an excellent place in his career. He’s now in his second season as a professional and is currently earning meaningful minutes for a promising 2.Bundesliga club  – all this while still a teenager.

“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 type 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 in the blink of an eye and just two years ago, his goal was in the NCAA. But now his current success has let him dream bigger. His recent rise was too late to make a push for the U.S. Olympic team (and he’s six weeks too old for the current U.S. U-20 team) but he is aware of the reports that Argentina’s Mauricio Pochettino is close to taking the U.S. national team job, and that makes him even more motivated.

“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 third division with 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.”