Basement to Big Stage: Brothers Brenden, Paxten Aaronson on U.S. Gold Cup Roster

Brenden and Paxten Aaronson play on better soccer fields these days than the New Jersey basement, known as "The Dungeon," where they used to practice penalties and free kicks.

"We had to put in special lights so they wouldn’t kick the light bulbs and break them," mom Janell Aaronson recalled. "We had to do some padding on some of the poles that are in the basement so they didn’t get hurt. We made it as safe as we could."

On June 10, she was in the stands at GEODIS Park in Nashville, Tennessee, watching them become just the fourth pair of brothers to start the same match together for the U.S. national team, the first since George and Louis Nanchoff against the Soviet Union in 1979.

"I played with this guy since, I don’t know, 5 — he was probably actually 2 at that time," Brenden said. "Maybe 7, I was, and he was probably 4."

Brenden, 24, is already a World Cup veteran, appearing as a substitute in all four U.S. matches in Qatar three years ago. Paxten, who turns 22 in August, hopes to make the World Cup roster for the first time when the U.S. co-hosts next year's tournament.

"Completely different players," U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino said. "Both in different ways can perform."

Both are on the roster for the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where the Americans play Guatemala on Wednesday night (7 p.m. ET on FS1 and the FOX Sports app) and hope to advance to a final against Mexico or Honduras on Sunday. Both are midfielders and wingers who made their way up through the Philadelphia Union academy system and moved to Europe after two seasons in Major League Soccer, Paxten at age 19 and Brenden at 20.

At the start of their national team camp together, they reflected on learning the sport in their backyard and how the downstairs room was