Wolfsburg was staring a home Bundesliga defeat in the face on Saturday afternoon before Kevin Paredes came onto the pitch and led an impressive comeback.
Paredes played the final 30 minutes for Niko Kovac’s squad, assisting on the tying goal in a 2-2 Wolfsburg draw vs. Augsburg. The 19-year-old has continued to earn minutes for the Bundesliga club this season and Saturday’s game-changing substitute outing could lead to a larger role this spring.
Wolfsburg was down 2-0 at halftime following a Maximilian Arnold own goal and a Mergim Berisha finish just after the half hour mark. However, the hosts did not lie down and flipped the script in the final minutes of the match.
Paredes drew a free kick in the 83rd minute, which eventually led to Wolfsburg’s first goal of the match. Luca Waldschmidt’s left-footed finish off an Arnold free kick cut Wolfsburg’s deficit in half and gave the hosts a needed boost for the final moments.
Paredes created room in the 96th minute to deliver a cross into the Augsburg box, watching as Felix Nmecha headed home for a 2-2 draw.
The former D.C. United homegrown now has one goal and three assists for Wolfsburg this season, with just 378 minutes of action under his belt. Paredes recently featured for the U.S. Under-20 men’s national team in its latest string of matches before the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
Wolfsburg’s 2-2 draw keeps them only two points back of the final European qualification spot in the Bundesliga table. Up next is a trip to Borussia Moenchengladbach on April 9.
Kids is going to be a really good player. Surprised he hasn’t garnered more starts this season.
Good players in front of him.
Good players above him coupled with a very pragmatic, measured approach to integrating young players in Germany. Less averse to playing kids simultaneous to being less apt to over-hype and overload with expectations. We seem to have no middle ground- let youth rot on the bench or immediately hype them for National team call-up’s.
Don’t know if there are that many good players ahead of him. He should garner more starts. But I’m
Ok with him being a super sub.
2tone have to remember the German schedule too, unless you are in UEFA competitions you almost never play two matches a week. Kaminski has been starting in front of him, only 20 but played for Poland in WC and has Europa League experience with Lech Poznan. Marmoush often plays CF but also some LW and is a regular starter for Egypt. Wimmer is on the right and has 3g 6a and is the new starter for Austria. Kevin’s 1 start came when Wimmer was injured.
Rico: unusual for Wolfsburg Wimmer and Kaminski are 21 and 20 respectively. Glasner was the manager that wasted Uly Llanez by moving him out of u20s but never using him for full team. Also Kobe Hernandez Foster and Bryang Kayo went through there before Kovach took over. His past at Bayern and Salzburg seems to have given him different ideas on playing youth and has the clout to change the ways at Wolfsburg.
Don’t know if Uly Llanez was wasted. It’s on the player to show he is first team quality. Hard to see Llanez as first team Wolfsburg quality as he continues to struggle for playing time in the Austrian Bundesliga 2. Llanez is another story in a long line of young Americans to struggle in Europe. I don’t even know if he is good enough for MLS at this point.
Konrad de La Fuente should seriously consider coming to MLS. Could be a good fit at Inter Miami. I know it’s not Messi(who I really don’t think will ever come play in MLS), but he has talent and is young and could do really well at Miami.