By FRANCO PANIZO
On most weekends it is the veteran Americans Abroad who enjoy the bulk of the success, but some of this weekend's better performances came from the younger contingent.
Leading the way was Jozy Altidore, who handed Hull City a huge boost in its fight to stay in the Premier League by drawing a penalty kick 16 minutes into its match against Fulham. Altidore didn't take the spot kick, but it was converted and it set the tone for a surprise 2-0 win for Hull.
Another young American attacker helped his team get on the scoresheet, and that was Mikkel Diskerud. Trailing 1-0 in the first half to Aalesund, Diskerud one-timed a shot with the outside of his foot to score his first goal of the season for Stabaek. The game ended 2-2.
Freddy Adu didn't directly help Aris score, but he did start for Aris in its 1-0 win over Levadiakos. Adu, who was deployed at left mid, played the full 90 minutes, marking the first time he's done that in league play this season.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started and played 90 minutes in Everton's 0-0 draw vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore started, played 79 minutes, received a yellow card and drew a penalty kick in Hull City 's 2-0 win vs. Fulham on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 2-0 loss vs. Hull City on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham's 1-0 loss vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Aston Villa's 7-1 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
-
Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 7-1 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
-
Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made ten saves in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 0-0 draw vs. Everton on Saturday.
-
Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 4-0 loss vs. Manchester United on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
- Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 1-1 draw vs. Middlesbrough on Saturday.
- Frank Simek dressed but did not play in Sheffield Wednesday's 1-1 draw vs. Coventry City on Saturday.
- Kenny Cooper dressed but did not play in Plymouth Argyle's 2-0 loss vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Eric Lichaj started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Leyton Orient's 1-0 loss vs. Brentford on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Stockport County's 5-0 loss vs. Millwall on Saturday.
- Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 1-1 draw vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
- Mike Grella came off the bench and played 75 minutes in Leeds United's 1-0 loss vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
-
Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Norwich City's 1-0 win vs. Leeds United on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Rangers' 4-1 win vs. Heart of Midlothian on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley dressed but did not play in Rangers' 4-1 win vs. Heart of Midlothian on Saturday.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 3-1 win vs. Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 1-1 draw vs. Lazio on Sunday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Michael Bradley did not dress in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 1-0 win vs. Hamburg SV on Sunday. He was suspended due to yellow card accumulation.
- Steve Cherundolo started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Hannover 96's 4-1 loss vs. FC Cologne on Saturday.
- Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 4-1 loss vs. FC Cologne on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-0 win vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
- Ricardo Clark dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-1 win vs. VfL Bochum on Friday.
- Daniel Williams did not dress in SC Freiburg's 1-1 draw vs. TSG Hoffenheim on Sunday.
- Jared Jeffrey did not dress in Mainz 05's 2-0 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play TSV 1860 Munich on Monday.
- Matt Taylor did not dress in FSV Frankfurt's 2-1 win vs. FC Union Berlin on Friday.
- David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in TUS Koblenz's 4-1 loss vs. MSV Duisburg on Friday.
France
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Stade Rennes' 3-1 win vs. Le Mans on Sunday.
- Charlie Davies and Sochaux did not play this weekend.
Portugal
- Gale Agbossoumonde did not dress in Sporting Braga's 1-0 loss vs. Benfica on Saturday.
Greece
- Freddy Adu started and played 90 minutes in Aris Salonika's 1-0 win vs. Levadiakos on Sunday.
- Eddie Johnson started and played 62 minutes in Aris Salonika's 1-0 win vs. Levadiakos on Sunday.
Denmark
- Benny Feilhaber did not dress in AGF Aarhus' 0-0 draw vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
- Michael Parkhurst dressed but did not play in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-1 draw vs. Aalborg BK on Saturday.
- Marcus Tracy did not dress in Aalborg BK's 1-1 draw vs. FC Nordsjaelland on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Chris Rolfe came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Aalborg BK's 1-1 draw vs. FC Nordsjaelland on Saturday.
Sweden
- Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro BK play Mjallby on Monday.
Norway
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 1-1 draw. vs. Molde on Saturday.
- Hunter Freeman started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 1-1 draw vs. Molde on Saturday.
- Mikkel Diskerud started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Stabaek's 2-2 draw vs. Aaelsunds on Saturday. The goal can be seen here.
Mexico
- Jose Francisco Torres started and played 70 minutes in Pachuca's 1-0 win vs. Morelia on Saturday..
- Edgar Castillo started and played 36 minutes in Tigres UANL's 1-0 loss vs. Toluca on Saturday.
- Marco Vidal started and played 90 minutes in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 3-0 loss vs. Atlante on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench, played 31 minutes and scored a GOAL in Puebla's 2-1 win vs. America on Sunday.
Argentina
- Michael Hoyos dressed but did not play in Estudiantes La Plata's 2-1 win vs. Godoy Cruz de Mendoza on Friday.
—————————–
What do you think of these performances? Glad to see the youngsters do so well? ? Do you see Altidore helping Hull avoid relegation? Impressed by Diskerud's goal? Believe Adu will continue to start?
Share your thoughts below
wow, yeah those americanistas were starting to riot during the game. It looked dicey, perhaps quite common
cool to think that what could be a likely striking partnership for us in the World Cup were starting in the EPL against each other…not too shabby.
you didnt see him in the crowd? The camera turned to him. He was with those shirtless guys jumping throughout the game. He also had a sombrero on. Weird that a mid-50s white dude would be shirtless, wearing a sombrero, and jumping all game long, but I swear it was him.
I was talking with some longtime Wednesday supporters and they felt that Simek has been pretty poor this year when he’s played.
very true. hopefully our boy charlie
Funny: “Who’s playing up front with Jozy?” is also the question for the USMNT…
What’s up with Simek and Whitbread not making the first team anymore? They were killing it earlier in the season….
Great to see Grella get some much needed minutes – think he’s one to keep an eye on although he’s taking the long way to the top!
how does that relate to their being with everton? are they moving out on loan or is everton done?
The game callers made a much bigger deal about goalkeeper Ochoa’s horrible effort on the long range free kick by Gomez. They even said that Ochoa’s play had them very concerned about Mexico’s chances in this years WC. Stands to reason that VW (Puebla) beats Bimbo (Club America) but hey at least they can all enjoy a Corona afterward.
Jees Ochoa did well with that one huh.
herculez is killlllling it.
That was an amazing strike. Gomez is on fire. Gotta bring him in and have a look.
btw, Hercules almost had a second goal, sprinting onto a lobbed through ball, he and one defender racing for the ball, Hercules got there first, just barely, and at full speed, first touch headed down the ball to his feet, and released a helluva strike. Ochoa was just barely able to make the save. had he socred that one, the whole crowed would have shat themselves in one go. my fav word of the day, it was sweet!
sweet. just got home from the Puebla game, and I’m happy to see a highlight up so fast. we didn’t rush home, we stayed and watched the fights in the stands. traffic was something getting home, but they closed down one half of the boulevard, better yet, they turned it around and had the four lanes all headed the same way, was purdy cool.
yeah man, we won, finally, at home, against America. was sweet. and my man, a fellow gringo, scored, was sweet.
let’s go Puebla, let’s go Portland, let’s go USMNT!!!
I think he’s earned an audition with our remaining friendlies. I’d love to see it. We have very little depth at forward and god forbid if we had to deal with an injury to Jozy. How could we not give a chance to a guy that can’t stop finding the back of the net? And what a satisfying goal.
Jozy played an awesome game for Hull. I just watched it again just for kicks. The fans really seemed to appreciate his efforts. Hopefully he can build on this and be huge for them down the stretch.
In the video where they show the Puble-America highlights, the announcers are saying how they are starting to worry about Ochoa because of his recent form. They say how they should keep an eye on him because they don’t want this form on the national team.
Gomez is F*cking Flithy……….. GOOD!!!!!!!
This just got me so much more excited for SA.
Actually 12 matches
Gomez came on as a sub in the 59th minute to score his 7th goal…in 11 matches.
Are you serious? He’s ripping it up. If Bradley’s evaluation of players depend on who’s in form I don’t see how he doesn’t already have his seat on the plane to South Africa.
Lazy!
Nice! made me smile 🙂
He played in a recent reserve game against Cody Arnoux and Anton Peterlin. They are both on trial with Motherwell.
Calm down, it was reported that Gooch was getting checked up from the doctor who performed his surgery which was here in LA.
I don’t think Gooch would even think of considering a loan to play for Galaxy
more intriguing than the 23 for the WC I want to see the 30-man provisional squad who gets called in to train in May. Gomes should get a call up even if he doesn’t make the final squad. I hope there are some surprises.
He sporadically makes the bench for Celtic in Cup matches.
7th of the season
Announcers just mentioned Herculez’ hope to get back on the US national team and they wonder if Bob Bradley is keeping an eye on him.
Is there any kind of word about Dom Cervi coming from Celtic? This is his second season and I don’t think he’s even sniffed the bench in cup matches. Is he progressing, developing, learning the ropes, or is he just languishing?
Gomez scores again! How many is that?
otro gol por Herculez Gomez!!!!
Neato!
Above I briefly addressed what has been reported (by ESPN) on Onyewu’s latest.
Is it true Mike Bradley may have to wear a mask for his broken nose for his next few games?
And Franco, you should fill us in on the Gooch situation. I’m getting concerned that he isn’t even in Italy on gameday, if what the other posters have said is true.
Noted and changed. Thanks.
Yeah, I was watching the Galaxy-Revolution match and saw the shot of him and Beckham sitting together in the box. The ESPN broadcast of the MLS season opener on Thursday reported that Onyewu was in LA for a checkup with the doctor who had performed the surgery.
from a hull city site:
“Fagan also put in a lot of work, that generally goes without saying, but showed decent ability on the ball too and while he wasn’t as dangerous as Altidore, he made good runs out wide that opened up space and gave us a good option. Altidore was terrific. He was strong with his back to goal and electric when he got the ball out of his feet. They had no answer to him. It’d be nice to see that endeavor rewarded with a goal or two, he deserves them. He’s improved constantly throughout the season to the point where the only question about our strike force should be “Who’s playing up front with Jozy?””
Why was Gooch in LA?? Loan to the Gals would be OK, but playing time on an injury stricken Milan squad is obviously the route most US fans want him to take. Is this possible compensation for the Becks injury…I’m a fan of the big man but a loan deal or sale of a “big name” mid or striker would be fair considering LA has a pretty decent youngster at CB. ?????
Leeds played one of their worst games this season. It was easy to pick out Grella as one of the better players.
just a suggestion to give a time mark on the videos of the goals so we don’t have to watch the entire highlight package. Thanks.
or did he draw 3 yellows?
Jozy did great drawing the PK and 2 other yellows from defenders. He does alot of stuff that doesn’t show up on the stat sheets.
I heard Grella was one of the best players on Leeds, and Adu looked solid
i’m sure panizo will add your gooch fact to his report
Hey Franco,
Sorry to be picky, but you can’t call it “Aalesunds”. It’s just “Aalesund.” The ‘s’ is possessive. You can call it “Aalesunds Fotballklub” if you like or “Aalesunds FK” but just “Aalesunds” doesn’t make sense. Thanks for the great post though.
Does anyone have a link to the Alejandro Bedoya
match on monday?
It’s easy to forget he is only 20.
I guess Adu played well enough to get the full 90 and is not now match fit. y did Castillo leave early form his game?
All that’s been missing for Jozy are the goals, but that’s easier said than done on a low-scoring team like Hull. I think he’s impressed a lot of people this year.
Adu indirectly lead to the score.
He was the one that got fouled which gave Aris the FK near the box then Neto bent it home.
Jozy not only drew the penalty but earned 3 Fulham players yellow card for fouls on him and drew a great save from Schwarzer on what would’ve been an easy assist with a beautiful ball across the front of goal. He was rated man of the match by most British media.
Gooch not only didn’t dress but was in Beckham’s box for the Galaxy-Revs game Saturday night at the HDC.