by GIANFRANCO PANIZO
While there were few positives to draw from the U.S. U-20 national team's World Cup opener, there were reasons for optimism from some of the Americans Abroad this weekend.
Tim Howard once again provided Everton with a solid performance, making three saves en route to a 1-0 win over Portsmouth. Howard's cleansheet was his second of the season.
Another sign for optimism was Michael Bradley seeing Bundesliga action for the first time in almost a month. Bradley did not start in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 3-0 loss to SC Freiburg, but he did come off the bench at half-time.
Not everything was good, though. Defender Oguchi Onyewu failed to see the field again for AC Milan in their 0-0 draw against lowly Bari.
Here is how the rest of the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Everton's 1-0 win vs. Portsmouth on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore came off the bench and played 7 minutes in Hull City's 6-1 loss vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Eddie Johnson did not dress in Fulham's 1-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector and West Ham play Manchester City on Monday.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Aston Villa's 2-1 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
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Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 2-1 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
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Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 5-2 loss vs. Sunderland on Sunday.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
- Jay DeMerit did not dress in Watford's 1-1 draw vs. Reading on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
- Frank Simek dressed but did not play in Sheffield Wednesday's 3-1 loss vs. Cardiff City on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Ian Joyce dressed but did not play in Southend United's 1-0 loss vs. Oldham Athletic on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Millwall's 1-0 loss vs. Leyton Orient on Saturday.
- Mike Grella started and played 90 minutes in Leeds United's 1-0 win vs. Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Milton Keynes Dons' 1-0 loss vs. Leeds United on Saturday.
- Jon-Paul Pittman started and played 76 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 1-1 draw vs. Swindon Town on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 0-0 draw vs. Aberdeen on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
- DaMarcus Beasley dressed but did not play in Rangers' 0-0 draw vs. Aberdeen on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in AC Milan's 0-0 draw vs. Bari on Sunday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Michael Bradley came off the bench and played 45 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 3-0 loss vs. SC Freiburg on Sunday.
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 4-2 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
- Sal Zizzo dressed but did not play in Hannover 96's 4-2 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 1-0 win vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Kenny Cooper started and played 90 minutes in 1860 Munich's 0-0 draw vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday.
- Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 2-0 win vs. Karlsruhe on Saturday.
- Matt Taylor came off the bench and played 17 minutes in FSV Frankfurt's 3-0 loss vs. Energie Cottbus on Friday.
- David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in TUS Koblenz's 1-1 draw vs. FC Augsburg on Sunday.
France
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Rennes' 1-0 loss vs. Bordeaux on Sunday.
- Charlie Davies started and played 90 minutes in Sochaux's 2-1 loss vs. AS Nancy Lorraine on Saturday.
Portugal
- Freddy Adu and Belenenses did not play this weekend.
- Kamani Hill and Vitoria de Guimaraes play Uniao de Leiria on Monday.
Denmark
- Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play Esbjerg on Monday.
- Jeremiah White and AGF Aarhus play Esbjerg on Monday.
- Dan Califf did not play in FC Midtjylland's 2-0 loss vs. Sonderjyske on Sunday.
- Michael Parkhurst did not play in FC Nordsjaelland's 2-0 loss vs. Odense BK on Saturday.
- Marcus Tracy did not play in Aalborg's 2-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
Norway
- Troy Perkins started and played 90 minutes in Valerenga's 2-0 win vs. Bodo/Glimt on Sunday.
- Mikkel Diskerud did not dress in Stabaek's 3-1 win vs. Stromsgodset on Sunday. He is with the U.S. U-20 national team.
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 1-0 loss vs. Sandefjord on Sunday.
- Hunter Freeman started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 1-0 loss vs, Sandefjord on Sunday.
Sweden
- Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play GAIS on Monday.
Mexico
- Jose Francisco Torres and Pachuca play Santos on Sunday evening.
- Michael Orozco started, played 59 minutes and received a yellow card in San Luis' 3-0 loss vs. Chiapas on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in UANL's 2-1 loss vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Marco Vidal dressed but did not play in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 2-1 loss vs. U.A. de G. on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Think Howard and Everton will finish in the top eight this season? Happy to see Bradley getting back into Moenchengladbach's rotation? Do you hope Onyewu gets loaned out in the winter?
Share your thoughts below.
IVES & GIANFRANCO – Instead of constantly alerting us to players that are playing the next day on Monday, why don’t you tell us how they did last weekend?! AGF Aarhus plays half its games on Monday, and we can never find out how Benny & Jerry did from this site because you don’t look up the results from the past week.
Another easy fix to this problem would be to simply publish your Americans Abroad weekend rewind on Monday afternoons.
Michael Palcio had 2 assists for Radnicki Obrenvoac in there 3-0 away win this weekend good to hear he is doing well another stupid move to let him leave NY..
i agrree nick….its even sadder when that manager being leonardo just brought in onyewu to help the ac milan side greatly and hasnt given him any shots
Has Freddy played at all yet? His career prospects are looking worse every minute.
issac, u notice that harksy said nothing positive on that effort??
Leonardo should be fired. His team choice is scary. Look at Kaladze’s most recent international performance vs. Gooch’s most recent international performance. Two own goals in one half vs. a solid, no-nonsense performance. I think it speaks for itself. Kaladze is old and can’t run for his life. Gooch atleast deserves a look. I’m not begging for him to start every game, but it’s quite embarassing that he hasn’t even seen the field yet. What’s the use in having a player if your starters are injured and you’re still not using him, and have no intention of doing so? Worthless.
kylefeller….thats exactly what ive been saying, storari has saved there defence a million times this year so far
david….leonardo gave us that false hope buddy, he said himself that onyewu was brought in to be an important part of this team and thiago silva is already injured and for whatever reason leonardo is playing kaladze over onyewu