Forward Madison 1-2 SC Paderborn 07

Photo Essay: International friendly at Breese Stevens Field, Madison, Wisconsin

Local group the Gary Beal Band welcomes players and fans alike.

Paderborn and Madison players shake hands before kickoff.

Paderborn, playing in blue, were visiting as part of a pre-season tour of the USA. They play in the second tier in Germany, the 2. Bundesliga, and finished 7th out of 18 teams in the 2021-22 season.

Paderborn DF #24 Jannis Heuer brings the ball out from the back.

Paderborn’s Julius Justvan battles with Madison’s Mikey Maldonado.

Paderborn DF #32 Robin Bormuth is illuminated by a ray of light at Breese Stevens Field. Bormuth is due to transfer from Paderborn on 1 July according to Transfermarkt.us, but was evidently released early by Karlsruher SC in order to play in this game.

Madison goalkeeper Philip Breno is fouled as he jumps to catch a cross.

Paderborn’s goalkeeper Moritz Schulze looks for a pass. Much of the early game was characterized by Paderborn possession and pressure.

Paderborn’s #13 Robert Leipertz (not Robin Yalcin, who was Paderborn’s #13 last year), and Madison’s #8 Drew Conner, who transferred from Chicago House.

Paderborn’s captain, Ron Schallenberg. Still only 23, Schallenberg was reported to be the youngest captain of any team in Germany’s top two divisions in 2021.

Maldonado and Justvan again clash on Paderborn’s right flank as the visitors press their attacks.

Madison’s Abdou Thiam, from Senegal, controls the ball in midfield as Heuer pressures him from behind.

Madison’s #28 Andrew Wheeler-Omiunu skips away from Paderborn’s #14 Kelvin Ofori as Madison attempt to regain some control of the match.

This time, Paderborn's Ofori gets ahead of Madison's Maldonado.

The match referee gives Wheeler-Omiunu a talking-to.

Madison #11 Rojay Smith of Jamaica dribbles the ball ahead of Paderborn’s Bormuth.

Madison's German-born Canadian CB, Mélé Temguia, goes to ground in his own penalty area under contact from Paderborn's Richmond Tachie, another incoming summer transfer.

Battle of the Aussies: Madison’s Mitch Osmond (right) gets up ahead of Paderborn’s John Iredale, who would go on to score Paderborn’s first goal a quarter of an hour later. Coincidentally, both players were born in Sydney.

Wheeler-Omiunu attempts to escape from Schallenberg.

Wheeler-Ominu executes a perfect sliding tackle against Ofori.

Chaos as Madison #10 Matheus Cassini jumps for the ball with Ofori, as Temguia gestures in the foreground.

Breno is illuminated by sunshine as he surveys the state of play just before half time.

Madison's #48, a trialist, brings the ball forward after half time.

Madison’s Jeremiah Streng, center, looks for a gap after coming on in the 33rd minute.

Madison's #13 CM Christian Enriquez, who was capped twice for the USA U19 team.

Paderborn score through Iredale to make it 0-1 in the 64th minute, ten minutes before Madison even had their first shot on target, which demonstrates Paderborn’s dominance. Given the long spells of possession Paderborn enjoyed, Madison could count themselves lucky to only be 0-1 down, though the home side seemed to get more comfortable as the match went on.

Schuster, who wears the captain’s armband after Schallenberg was substituted, tries to escape from Madison’s #48, who is not credited by name and is listed as a “trialist.”

Paderborn’s #6 DM Marco Schuster is pursued by Madison’s #18 AM Alann Torres, who is on loan from Indy Eleven.

Paderborn’s Iredale, center, is pursued by Madison’s Smith (left) and Enriquez (right).

Torres brings the ball forward. Indy Eleven announced in January that he was the first academy player to go from a USL academy contract to a professional deal.

Enriquez (left) attempts to hurry Ofori (right) as Madison push hard for an equalizer.

Paderborn #26 Sebastian Klaas, another recent transfer (in from Osnabrück) with one cap for Germany U19 unsuccessfully attempts to prevent Torres from dribbling past him.

Madison fans look on in disbelief as Paderborn score their second goal on the 82nd minute to make it 0-2.

Klaas is again put under pressure, this time by Madison #9 Streng.

Streng became increasingly influential as the game went on, using his physical strength as a classic number 9 to carry the ball into dangerous areas as the Paderborn defenders began to tire.

Paderborn’s goalkeeper watches as his side attack the Madison goal again.

Finding himself on the ball more and more as the match went on, Streng gets in ahead of Paderborn #20 Adrian Gryszkiewicz, another recent addition to Paderborn who moved from Polish club Górnik Zabrze for a reported fee of $220k.

Finally, deep into additional time, Streng gets on the end of a ball and finishes with his right foot (not his head, as the Madison website says) to make the game 1-2, to the relief of the home fans and players, who really wanted at least one goal.

Streng and the mysterious “trialist.” Streng scored a goal in his single appearance (so far) for Finland U20, in a 2-1 victory over Sweden U20 on 14 November 2021, and is clearly a very good player at this level.

1-2 is the final score.

For more photos from this game, visit shbp.us.

-ShOT