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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

U20MNTJD016

photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

World Cup qualifying for the U-20 World Cup is fast approaching, and one American who is currently helping his cause to make the United States' roster is Bobby Wood.

Having recently been promoted to TSV 1860 Munich's first team, Wood made his professional debut against MSV Duisburg on Saturday. The 18-year-old forward may have only played 8 minutes in the 1-1 draw, but U.S. U-20 coach Thomas Rongen must have been pleased with the performance as it gives him another offensive weapon with first-team experience to choose from when qualifying begins in April in Guatemala.

More than doubling Wood in age, grizzled veteran Marcus Hahnemann received a start for Wolves in their FA Cup fixture against Stoke City. Hahnemann kept Wolves in the match by making nine saves, but a late goal from Robert Huth and a missed last-minute penalty kick saw Wolves fall, 1-0.

Maurice Edu was responsible for the Americans Abroad's lone goal this weekend. Edu scored a wonder opening goal in Rangers' 2-1 victory over Motherwell when he unleashed a left-footed shot from distance. The goal was Edu's third across all competitions this season.

Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:

England

PREMIERSHIP

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Everton's 1-1 draw vs. Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday.
  • Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and drew a penalty kick in Fulham's 4-0 win vs. Tottenham Hotspur in the FA Cup on Saturday.

  • Eddie Johnson did not dress for Fulham.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Aston Villa's 3-1 win vs. Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj did not dress for Aston Villa.
  • Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made nine saves in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-0 loss vs. Stoke City in the FA Cup on Sunday.
  • Jonathan Spector did not dress in West Ham United's 3-2 win vs. Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup on Sunday. He is recovering from a hamstring injury.
  • Stuart Holden came off the bench, played 16 minutes and received a yellow card in Bolton Wanderers' 0-0 draw vs. Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones dressed but did not play in Blackburn Rovers' 3-1 loss vs. Aston Villa in the FA Cup on Saturday.

CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Conor Doyle and Derby County did not play this weekend.
  • Zak Whitbread started and played 90 minutes in Norwich City's 0-0 draw vs. Crystal Palace on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Hull City's 0-0 draw vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella and Leeds United did not play this weekend.
  • Robbie Findley did not dress in Nottingham Forest's 3-2 loss vs. West Ham United in the FA Cup on Sunday.

LEAGUE ONE

  • Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United's 2-2 draw vs. Oldham Athletic on Saturday. 
  • Anton Peterlin dressed but did not play in Plymouth Argyle's 2-1 loss vs. AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.

Scotland

PREMIER LEAGUE

  • Maurice Edu started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Rangers' 2-1 win vs. Motherwell in the Co-operative Insurance Cup semifinals on Sunday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4e5GeGK1dE] 

  • Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 4-1 win vs. Aberdeen in the Co-operative Insurance Cup semifinals on Saturday.

Spain

  • Jozy Altidore did not dress in Villarreal's 1-0 win vs. Espanyol on Sunday.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA 

  • Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 2-0 loss vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley did not dress for Hannover 96.
  • Ricardo Clark did not dress in Eintracht Frankfurt's 1-0 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday. He is recovering from a fractured cheekbone.
  • Daniel Williams did not dress in SC Freiburg's 1-0 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
  • Timothy Chandler came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Nurnberg's 2-0 win vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
  • Michael Bradley did not dress in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 1-0 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday. He has a loan deal to Aston Villa pending.

BUNDESLIGA 2

  • David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in MSV Duisburg's 1-1 draw vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Saturday.
  • Luis Robles started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Karlsruhe's 1-0 win vs. Energie Cottbus on Sunday.
  • Edson Buddle came off the bench, played 29 minutes and received a yellow card in FC Ingolstadt 04's 1-1 draw vs. RW Oberhausen on Friday.
  • Amaechi Igwe did not dress for FC Ingolstadt 04. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Bobby Wood came off the bench and played 8 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-1 draw vs. MSV Duisburg on Saturday.
  • Alfredo Morales dressed but did not play in Hertha Berlin's 3-1 win vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday.

France

LIGUE 1

  • Carlos Bocanegra started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in St Etienne's 2-1 win vs. Toulouse on Saturday.
  • Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 5-1 win vs. Stade Rennes on Saturday.

LIGUE 2

  • Quentin Westberg did not dress in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 3-0 win vs. Nantes on Saturday.

Netherlands

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in Twente Enschede's 2-1 win vs. Feyenoord on Sunday. He is recovering from a back injury.

Belgium

  • Sacha Kljestan dressed but did not play in RSC Anderlecht's 0-0 draw vs. Mechelen on Sunday.

Mexico

  • Jose Torres dressed but did not play in Pachuca's 4-0 loss vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
  • Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 45 minutes for Pachuca.
  • Edgar Castillo came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Puebla's 2-0 loss vs. Atlante on Saturday.
  • Sammy Ochoa did not dress in Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G.'s 1-0 win vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Friday.
  • Sonny Guadarrama came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Atlante's 2-0 win vs. Puebla on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play in Tigres UANL's 1-0 loss vs. Toluca on Saturday.

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What do you think of these performances? Are you more surprised or impressed by Wood's debut? Hoping Hahnemann leaves Wolves for MLS this summer? What did you think of Edu's goal?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. How’s your German? I took years and years of it in school but I’m not fluent. No chance to practice.

    Yes, they teach English in school but lots of times even if they learn it in school many Europeans are embarrassed to try it out on you because they don’t want to sound stupid or insult you by speaking your language poorly.

    The end result is fluency, which is what we are really talking about, gets a little lost in the mix.

    Reply
  2. “Pachuca paid him WAY more than Puebla ever could ”

    If you read Ive’s sentence closely you will eventually figure out that Puebla HAD NO DINERO. Negotiating with a guy that only has five bucks will eventually get you, at best, five bucks.

    Reply
  3. That’s stretching it.

    I don’t think Whitbread has ever played in the EPL but if he did it wasn’t much, whereas Jay spent a whole season with Watofrd in the EPL doing well there.

    Yes he’s been in England a while now mostly injured, whereas Jay was mostly a rock. That should tell you something.

    Reply
  4. Chandler a RIGHT BACK? Then he must be the new “Cherundolo replacement for 2014”.

    First it was Spector, then Lichaj now it will be Chandler.

    Bet on it.

    Reply
  5. Even though Lichaj is still only a prospect for RB at the International Level (still needs more Game Time), he has still replaced Spector as the #2. Alston has potential but doesn’t face the same kind of compitition in MLS as Chandler does in the Bundasliga. Sarkodie & Valentin Still have yet to play a professional game. Once they do they’ll still have the same issue as Alston. True Depth is something the USMNT has always lacked. We should be working towards having a minimum of 2 players for each position playing against good compitition in the desired position.

    Reply
  6. Glad to hear our new German is playing well. Don’t know too much about him but I find it odd that he doesn’t know a lick of English.. All my German friends say that it’s part of their schooling in Germany….

    Reply
  7. Let’s not forget Spector’s best position used to be RB and he is unlikely to break through the logjam at CM. Don’t like Spector? Kevin Alston, assuming he recovers fully from injury, is a very good RB. Like to talk about young guys instead? How about Sarkodie and Valentin? Never seen Chandler play so I can’t compare, but I am not too worried about the future of the RB position.

    Reply
  8. Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96’s 2-0 loss vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Friday.
    ———————-

    Steve is our most underrated American Abroad this season. I only caught the last 30 minutes of this match, but Steve played incredibly well and is leading this team very well this season. The loss dropped them out of a Champions League spot, but they are still in the hunt.

    Timothy Chandler came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Nurnberg’s 2-0 win vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
    ——————-
    This kid is blowing up. He doesn’t speak English, but like Jermaine Jones, has an American parent. I can only imagine how many texts Bob Bradley is sending this kid.

    Reply
  9. BAHAHAHAHA look at the caption to the picture on this link about Michael bradley and Aston Villa.

    For those that can’t click it, under a picture of Michael it says
    “Midfielder Bradley is the son of former United States coach Bob”

    Reply
  10. Chandler YES, the others are not really needed.

    Playing any minutes whatsoever in a top 4-5 league while being under the age of 22-23 should be an AUTO-call to the next USMNT camp.

    Reply
  11. Why the heck did Gomez leave Puebla after the world cup ? He was doing good for them and scoring a lot he should have never left Puebla for Pachuca. -___-

    (SBI- He got paid. That’s why. Pachuca paid him WAY more than Puebla ever could He was a free agent and took a great deal with a good club. Even if he had stayed at Puebla there was no guarantee he would have done the same thing again.)

    Reply
  12. If I recall, Jay Demerit was in the same position in the Championship and he turned that into a starting position in the World Cup. I think Whitbread does finally deserve a call up. He’s been in Europe for a while now

    Reply
  13. Re: Timothy Chandler, he told Yanks Abroad that he has a greater interest in playing for the States ahead of Germany and he was impressed with the US’s World Cup performance. Not at position of need, but it assuming he follows through, we’re building depth (nearly) all over the pitch.

    Reply
  14. Playing regular minutes for a top division should warrant a call up…but the Championship and the 2 Bundesliga doesnt mean they belong. And the Edgar Castillo experiment ended almost as quick as it began. If he finds form than maybe in the future..but he’s been poor.

    Reply
  15. I think it’s time for Zak Whitbread and David Yeldell to get a shot in USMNT camp. They’re both playing regular minutes in Europe.

    Sonny Guadarrama and Timothy Chandler are also interesting prospects. I’ve never seen either one of them play.

    And will we ever see Edgar Castillo in a Nats uniform again?

    Reply

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