by FRANCO PANIZO
Tim Howard has had enough brilliant moments in his career to fill up an ESPN highlight reel. From his gutsy performance against Argentina in 2008, to his penalty kick heroics against former club Manchester United in last season's FA Cup, Howard has made a name for himself with his timely saves, and his most recent shot block is just the latest evidence of his greatness.
Having come back from a two-goal deficit, Everton saw its draw preserved by Howard, who made a match-saving stop on a Jermaine Defoe penalty kick in stoppage time of the Toffees' match against Tottenham. The U.S. national team goalkeeper had six saves in the game, delivering in the clutch just three days after leading Everton to a vital Europa League victory.
Howard was one of several bright spots on a weekend that saw recently recovered Jay DeMerit make Watford's bench, Michael Bradley deliver a beautiful assist and DaMarcus Beasley make an appearance in a vital Rangers' victory .
Here is how the rest of the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Everton's 2-2 draw vs. Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
- Jozy Altidore started and played 54 minutes in Hull City's 3-0 loss vs. Aston Villa on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-0 win vs. Sunderland on Sunday.
- Eddie Johnson did not dress in Fulham's 1-0 win vs. Sunderland on Sunday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham's 4-0 loss vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel started and played 90 minutes in Aston Villa's 3-0 win vs. Hull City on Saturday.
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Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 3-0 win vs. Hull City on Saturday.
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Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes, received a yellow card and made seven saves in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2-1 win vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
- Jay DeMerit dressed but did not play in Watford's 2-0 loss vs. Newcastle United on Saturday. DeMerit and Watford play Queens Park Rangers on Monday.
- Frank Simek did not dress in Sheffield Wednesday's 2-0 loss vs. Reading on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Millwall's 3-0 loss vs. Hartlepool United on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
- Ian Joyce did not dress in Southend United's 1-0 loss vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
- Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Leeds United's 2-2 draw vs. Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson did not dress in Milton Keynes Dons' 2-2 draw vs. Yeovil Town on Saturday.
- Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 2-1 win vs. Stockport County on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 3-1 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Rangers' 3-1 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday. He drew a penalty during his appearance, resulting in a Rangers goal.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 3-0 win vs. Aberdeen on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 3-0 win vs. Sampdoria on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Michael Bradley started, played 79 minutes, received a yellow card and had an ASSIST in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 2-1 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Sunday.
- Steve Cherundolo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Hannover 96's 0-0 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
- Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 0-0 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-0 win vs. Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Kenny Cooper did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-0 win vs. RW Oberhausen on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern 's 1-0 win vs. Hansa Rostock on Saturday.
- Matt Taylor came off the bench and played 5 minutes in FSV Frankfurt's 2-0 loss vs. FC Augsburg on Friday.
- David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made eight saves in TUS Koblenz's 5-1 loss vs. St Pauli on Saturday.
France
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Stade Rennes' 1-0 win vs. Lorient on Saturday.
Portugal
- Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Belenenses' 0-0 draw vs. Rio Ave on Saturday.
- Kamani Hill did not dress in Vitoria de Guimaraes' 4-1 loss vs. FC Porto on Friday.
Denmark
- Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play Esbjerg on Monday.
- Jeremiah White and AGF Aarhus play Esbjerg on Monday.
- Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 3-0 win vs. FC Midtjylland on Sunday.
- Marcus Tracy started and played 77 minutes Aalborg's 2-0 loss vs. Sonderjyske on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? How clutch do you consider Howard's penalty kick save? Encouraged to see DeMerit back for Watford so soon? Still drooling over Bradley's assist? Think things at Rangers are starting to turn around for Beasley?
Share your thoughts below.
Absolutely.
That save by Timmy may be the turning point of Everton’s season.
Fantastic to see Tracy getting regular time. We need to take a look at him in the January camp.
Would be great to see Jones, Edu and DeMerit close to getting back on the field.
Only place Adu is getting any regular playing time soon is in MLS.
The renewed calls for Beas and Adu portend a cold summer in South Africa.
Agreed. If Freddy hasnt caught on with the past 4 clubs he has been with, I dont see a team in the Dutch first division throwing him in their lineup.
Based on his performance in the Gold Cup, I dont see him starting in the MLS.
CD
dominant in college
came off the bench in the olympics and almost saved the squad
successful in sweden
broke in with the Nats
solidified self as starter
LN
excellent for youth national teams
good in college
couldnt catch on at PSV
unimpressive at Randers
decent in Vietnam
The difference is CD kept getting better at every stop. His problem was just getting a chance with the U23s or Nats. Nguyen hasnt been a revelation at any of his post-IU stops.
Sure he could still be a decent player, but great players dont come out of no where.
“David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made eight saves in TUS Koblenz’s 5-1 loss vs. St Pauli on Saturday. ”
Are we ready to predict St Pauli’s promotion yet?
In fairness to Yeldell, not all of the goals were his fault.
I really don’t know the comparisons between the Portugese league and the Dutch league, but if Freddy isn’t playing for a lower level Portugese team, I don’t think he’s going to magically go to a Dutch team and be guaranteed to play all the time like someone above mentioned (not you jig)…
Fantastic stuff…
here is the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMVELivlw0w
I dont see how going to Holland is going to solve Freddy’s problems. Unless you mean he’s gonna go to a team in the second division. If you think he’d contribute to a team in the Eredivisie, i’d be curious to hear which one and what player(s) he would replace.
TIMMAY! > Willem Dafoe > Jermaine Defoe
Just wanted to second the article link from TJ Pierce. Had read it a week or two ago, great stuff from TIAS.
No kidding? That’s just classic. Isn’t cool that for everyone not in Pot B of the WC Draw, the USA was included in their worst-case scenario?
-Want to see Marcus Tracy in the January camp.
-“DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Rangers’ 3-1 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday. He drew a penalty during his appearance, resulting in a Rangers goal.” — keep working hard Beas.
-Same old Freddy.
-Dempsey played very well and hustled his butt off.
-I watched the final 30 minutes of the Everton/Spurs game on my feet. My chest was pounding when Defore stepped up to the spot. Timmy guessed the right way and Everton earned a draw but deserved the win.
-Here’s hoping Jay gets on the pitch this afternoon in the London derby.
Im pretty sure he turned down a gold cup invite to remain with his team.
Chaka Khan
Looks like Edu will be making a come back in the coming weeks. I’d like to see him form ASAP. Good young player.
Seems to me that DeMerit should get a transfer to Everton to add depth to their Center D. Wishful thinking 🙂
Ives,
Check out the highlights from the 2nd division Italian league game involving Ascoli and Regina. Regina attempted to kick the ball out because of an injured player, but the Ascoli forward intercepted it and scored. A small riot ensued, but after halftime, all the Ascoli players stood still on the pitch, allowing Regina an uncontested goal. This act of fairplay is now being heavily criticized and investigated.
Who knew? Something good can from Italian soccer.
http://www.thisisamericansoccer.com/us-mens-national-team/vietnam-superstar/
I thought I read that Nguyen had been practicing with one of the MLS teams in Texas and was leaving Vietnam. I think the article said MLS was a strong possibility. I’ll look around for a link.
Huge!!! Way to go, Timmy!
A bit off topic with regard to people who actually played over the weekend but I couldnt help but pull up some Jeremiah white clips. After watching them, I see he is a very quick, versatile with regard to playing on the left or right and gives some great service from any side of the field, that and this kid has some technical ability to boot. In addition to that, he is fast and most importanly, he is no pu**y. It is a bit reminiscent of CD-9.
Anyone know why his name is not being mentioned?
He was playing in Vietnam and getting familiar with his family roots. Probably an amazing experience for him, but it did not do much for his soccer development. I read a rumor somewhere that there was some falling out and the team let him go within the last month or something. Not sure where he is now. Not sure if his situation is all that comparable to davies since Davies was tearing it up in Sweden, which is far from a garbage league. But it would be nice if he suddenly stepped up and solved our problems.
what’s the word with Lee Nguyen?
he’d could potentially be a charlie davies type that comes outa no where and blows up the scene.
Plays left wide or uptop. What’s he been doing?
actually the feed i was watching made that exact comment and then after the save said something to the extent of “Well now we know who WON’T be asking to take any penalties for England against the USA next summer” lol.
i see marcus tracy going to the world cup
i wish freddy would buy out his contract and sign up with a club in holland that would see him playing some EVERY SINGLE MATCH.
you’ve all seen his skill. let’s let the kid grow up some more and mature as an adult.
sheesh already.
Agreed. It just strikes me that someone in the Dutch league might be interested in him. But that is just a guess not based on much. I just have a hard time seeing a physical league like England or Greece having much desire for him.
people forget adu is still only 20, he still could be good, not as good as people thought though
I follow his twitter, I don’t recall him ever making excuses for not playing.
At this point, “a nice fit” means only one thing: minutes, and lots of them. He’s not exactly in a position to pick and choose where and when he should get paid to play.
If you follow his Twitter, you’ll notice that Freddy has an excuse every week.
Cleary Adu has not lived up to his overhype (there is an understatement of the year) but as Jacopo Belbo points out, he is only 20 yrs old. We should not write him off. Given his falling out back at DC United and his inability to get playing time in Europe, I suspect that he is not the most coachable player. It would be nice to see him actually get some playing time. Holland would be a nice fit. Its a skill league that I think suits Adu’s game and well respected for player development.
Freddy Adu might actually have an excuse this time. The game was played in horrible conditions, the pitch was a swamp. He wouldn’t have been able to
do anything even if he got in. Manager only made one sub and that was with five minutes to play.
Adu’s comments on Twitter:
“that was an ugly ugly game. Under those conditions all you could do is boot the ball up field everytime”
fellani. belgian national team player. he, like kyle beckerman, needs a haircut. hippies.
who’s the Everton dude with the giant afro? that guy is crazy!
as much as i think that freddy adu is currently rubbish it is important to remember that he is only 20. as amazing as that is considering how long he has been in the american soccer spotlight. having said that if he doesn’t get with some team (maybe in the English Championship or Netherlands) where he can actually play, learn and get better he may never shake the overrated sucktastic stigma.
i am more interested in the news that J. Jones is back in full training …. a midfield trio of Jones, Bradley, Holden with Donovan/Dempsey supporting Jozy, not too shabby … well, aside from Jozy who is a bit shabby but sadly the least shabby of our options.
yea i was thinking the exact same thing!
yeaa everton’s performance is not the result of howards form, it is indeed his defenders, after yobo got injured neil had to move in to the center along with hibbert, thus they were both playing out of position from their usual fulback, the depth of everton’s centerbacks is currently the issue NOT timmy.
How the announcers didn’t set up that Defoe vs Howard spot kick as a preview of the World Cup is beyond me. You couldn’t make up that kind of storyline! USA goalkeeper stops penalty against possibly the starting forward for England.
Also, when you have injuries to Yakubu, Yobo, Arteta, Jagielka, Anichebe, Osman, Vaughn, Neville, Gosling and Distin, they are lucky to be getting any results. Out of those injuries, at least 6 would be starting. Yakubu is technically back, but not starting yet. He’s not himself yet. You would be surprised at how good that group actually is.
judging by the highlights of in this post, their poor record is due to poor defending rather than poor goal keeping. the defenders were clearly beaten on both goals leaving howard with no chance at all. no wonder moyes didn’t want to let lescott go to city.
I thought Timmy was gonna break his hand punching the goal posts!!Fantastic to see that type of talent, heart, and emotion out of our number 1!!!
So is it safe to assume that Adu just sucks?
F…k yea timmy! Edu getting healthier is all fine and dandy but from a USNT needs perspective we need Beasley playing more than we need Edu.
ship Beasley back to Holland ASAP!
They lost Lescott and Jagielka and have not really been able to produce the same caliber defense they had last season. (aside from Baines)
not a reflection of howard’s form really.
Tim Howard was FIRED UP after that save. As he should be.
Good to see DB getting some playing time. Hopefully that continues. It’d be nice to see an Edu sighting soon…
Everton’s not in a good place in the standings. Can this be attributed to Howard’s form or the defenders in front of him? I’m asking because I haven’t watched any Everton games this season.