MEDFORD, N.J. — A professional soccer player from Southern New Jersey will be playing for the United States in the Olympics.
Paxten Aaronson will compete in Paris as part of the U.S. men's soccer team, which announced its Olympic roster on Monday. The Medford native is part of the U.S. men's soccer team that qualified for the Olympics for the first time since 2008.
Aaronson, 20, spent five years in the Philadelphia Union's youth development program and made his professional debut with the franchise's reserve team in 2020. A year later, he was promoted to the Union's first team, which competes in Major League Soccer.
The Union transferred Aaronsson to Eintracht Frankfurt, which plays in Germany's top Bundesliga, in 2022. Aaronsson has been on loan to two Dutch clubs this year – a loan deal where a player plays for a club temporarily while under contract to another team.
Aaronson last month extended his contract with Eintracht until 2028, after the club announced he would move to Dutch side FC Utrecht in the 2024-25 season.
Aaronson scored the opening goal in a 3-0 win over Honduras in the semifinals of the CONCACAF U-20 Championship that clinched qualification for the U.S. men's 2022 Olympics.
His older brother, Brendan, played for the United States in the 2022 World Cup.
The 2024 Summer Olympics will begin in Paris on July 26th.
See the full U.S. men's team roster announced on NBC's “TODAY.”
