MINNESOTA UNITED FC vs. SC PADERBORN 07
Allianz Field | St. Paul, Minnesota
06.11.2022 | International Friendly
7:00 p.m. CT (Bally Sports North and The CW - Twin Cities)

In their last MLS regular season game before the international break, the Loons suffered a tough 0-1 loss to the leaders of the Eastern Conference, NYCFC. May was a tiring month for MNUFC, but after getting a little period of rest and recuperation, the Loons return to field this Saturday for an international friendly against 2. Bundesliga side, SC Paderborn 07. Saturday's game will mark the first meeting between the two teams and promises to bring all of the action. While a handful of our boys in Black and Blue will be away on international duty, there's no doubt that the squad will be focused on getting a win to boost the overall morale as they go into the second half of the season. MORE

ADRIAN HEATH ON THE FEELING OF BEING BACK AFTER A COUPLE OF DAYS AWAY...

“It’s amazing. Two or three days away and you just feel a little bit different. The mood in the group has been really, really good. The training has been excellent. We’ve worked quite hard today and then we’re up here again tomorrow. Game at the weekend and then we’re back in the normal routine before the Revs [New England Revolution] game." MORE

NIKO HANSEN ON THE TIMING OF THE PADERBORN MATCH TO POSSIBLY REGAIN SOME SHARPNESS...

“I think it’s a good one for us to get some guys some minutes and just mentally play against a good team. I think it takes away, I don’t know if you want to say pressure a little bit, and then going out and enjoying ourselves. It’s kind of been you get away, you come back, you have a friendly game and I think it kind of sets us well for the rest of the season.” MORE

STORYLINES PRESENTED BY BMW

• LOONS ON THE ROAD: Several Minnesota players have been off on international duty over the past couple of weeks, and will likely still be missing for Saturday’s game. Kervin Arriaga started both games last week for the Honduran national team in the CONCACAF Nations League, a 1-0 win and a 2-1 defeat, both against Curaçao in Curaçao. Honduras will play against Canada and Dayne St. Clair on Monday, with the asterisk that Canada’s first scheduled match of this international break was canceled due to a labor dispute. Robin Lod and Finland are off to a good start in the UEFA Nations League, with a 1-1 draw against Bosnia & Herzegovina and a 2-0 win over Montenegro thus far, both of which Lod started in. Finland plays against Romania on Saturday and against Bosnia & Herzegovina again on Tuesday. Michael Boxall came off the bench in New Zealand’s 1-0 loss to Peru on Sunday. New Zealand has one more friendly against Oman on Thursday before the all-important final World Cup qualifying match against Costa Rica on Tuesday. Molik Jesse Kahn of MNUFC2 has appeared off the bench in both of Trinidad & Tobago’s Nations League fixtures, a 2-1 loss to Nicaragua and a 1-0 win over the Bahamas. Trinidad & Tobago has two remaining games on Friday and Monday, both against St. Vincent and the Grenadines. MORE

GET TO KNOW SC PADERBORN 07

SC Paderborn 07 is a German soccer club based out of Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia that plays in the second level of Bundesliga. The club, as it is today, began in 1985 when two rival Paderborn clubs (TuS Schloß Neuhaus and FC Paderborn) merged together. In 1983, Neuhaus had been promoted to Bundesliga’s second tier, a professional status club, but was struggling to compete. In order to help boost the team, the clubs merged into TuS Paderborn/Neuhaus. In 1997, they changed their name to SC Paderborn 07 in honor of the 1907 founding of TuS Neuhaus

The past few years have been a bit of a roller coaster for SC Paderborn 07. The team has played in the top flight of Bundesliga, one of the elite international leagues in the world, competing against the likes of world-class clubs such as FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund. They have also played stretches in the second and third divisions of Bundesliga. Currently, the club plays within the second tier of Bundesliga since being relegated from the league’s top tier after the 2019-2020 season. MORE