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Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

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photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

With the list of Americans Abroad continuing to grow with each passing year, it is becoming more common to find duels between Americans.

This weekend provides a handful of them, and there will be at least one intriguing match-up on each day.

Friday's duel worth watching takes place in Mexico. Pachuca host Tijuana in a match that could see Jose Torres do battle against fellow Americans Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo and Greg Garza. Torres and Castillo are probable to start for their respecive teams, while Corona and Garza could be used off the bench for this weekend's clash.

The encounter with intrigue on Saturday takes place in the Premiership, where Clint Dempsey and Fulham will try and knock off Zak Whitbread and Norwich City. Dempsey and Fulham are currently two spots below the Canaries in the Premier League standings, and a win would see the Cottagers leapfrog Norwich while getting one step closer to the upper half of the table.

The match-up to round things out on Sunday will happen in the German Bundesliga, as third-place Schalke 04 face off versus TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The game will give Jermaine Jones and Schalke a chance to further solidify their Champions League spot, as well as hand Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and Joe Gyau a chance to pull of an upset in front of their home crowd.

Here is who the Americans Abroad play this weekend:

FRIDAY

Jonathan Spector and Birmingham City play Doncaster Rovers.

Terrence Boyd and Borussia Dortmund play VfB Stuttgart.

Matt Taylor and SC Paderborn 07 play TSV Eintracht Braunschweig.

Jose Torres and Pachuca play Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo, Greg Garza and Club Tijuana.

SATURDAY

Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Chelsea.

Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann and Everton play West Bromwich Albion.

Clint Dempsey and Fulham play Zak Whitbread and Norwich City.

Stuart Holden, Tim Ream and Bolton Wanderers play Wolverhampton Wanderers. (Holden is out injured.)

Conor Doyle and Derby County play Bristol City. (Doyle is out injured.)

Robbie Findley and Nottingham Forest play Crystal Palace.

Robbie Rogers and Leeds United play Watford.

Daniel Potts and West Ham United play Reading.

Mike Grella and Bury play Tranmere Rovers.

Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Huddersfield Town.

Anton Peterlin and Walsall play Rochdale.

Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya, Carlos Bocanegra and Rangers play Motherwell.

David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play SC Freiburg.

Andrew Wooten and Kaiserslautern play Hamburg SV.

Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg play Bayern Munich.

Alfredo Morales and Hertha Berlin play VfL Wolfsburg.

Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich play Hansa Rostock.

Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Lorient.

Charlie Davies and Sochaux play Brest.

Mix Diskerud and KAA Gent play Standard Liege.

Eugene Starikov and Zenit St Petersburg play Spartak Moscow.

Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play AC Horsens.

Michael Orozco Fiscal and San Luis play Cruz Azul.

DaMarcus Beasley and Puebla play Queretaro.

Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL play Morelia.

Sonny Guadarrama and Atlante play Adrian Ruelas and Jaguares de Chiapas.

SUNDAY

Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play Swansea City.

Dominic Cervi and Celtic play St Johnstone.

Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona play Fiorentina.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 play Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams, Joe Gyau and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04.

Luis Robles and Karlsruher SC play FC Union Berlin.

Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar play Vitesse Arnhem.

Oguchi Onyewu and Sporting CP play Uniao Leiria. (Onyewu is out injured.)

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Kortrijk.

Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Brad Rusin and HB Koge.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby IF play Odense BK.

Ricardo Clark, Sean Cunningham and Stabaek IF play Fredrikstad.

Josh Gatt and Molde FK play Haugesund.

Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Sogndal.

Samuel Petrone and Mjallby AIF play AIK.

Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna play Toluca.

MONDAY

Adam Henley and Blackburn Rovers play Manchester United.

Conor O'Brien and SonderjyskE play AGF Aarhus.

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Which matches are you most looking forward to? Who do you see winning between Pachuca and Tijuana? Think Dempsey's Fulham will top Whitbread's Norwich City? How much of a role do you see the Americans playing in Schalke's game against Hoffenheim?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’ll disagree with your second point there. Several on your list are past their prime, but Casey, Ching, Eddie Johnson and Cooper have all scored meaningful goals for the US.

    Boyd has shown well in the limited minutes he’s been available (brace vs. ES despite getting punched in the nose, had little to no service against Italy in limited minutes and still made 1 threatening run).

    Wooten hasn’t been given a chance, but appears to be a scoring machine.

    Sapong showed well in limited minutes against Panama.

    Aside from horrendous luck and some sort of bad luck voodoo curse, Wondo has actually created a lot of scoring opportunities (for self and teammates) in the few games he’s played since the Gold Cup.

    Buddle showed well in his last appearance.

    Agudelo played well against Mexico and Cuba for the U-23s. Not to mention his 2 senior team goals.

    Prior to his injury, Davies was the next big thing.

    As for the rest of that list…why are they even listed in the same category as the others I’ve named?

    Reply
  2. Unfortunately, the allocation order as stands would send him to a Canadian team.

    Here’s rooting for Vancouver and Montreal not to finish bottom 3!

    Reply
  3. C’mon now, don’t be drama queens…. players better toughen up… get over it, it’s life. You know… what Nietzche said “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” and all that. Putting on a USA kit doesn’t entitle victories, long term, persistent hard work, and yes- overcoming adversity and failure does. You have to earn that status.

    Reply
  4. I’ve got Gomez as America’s third best forward behind Dempsey and Altidore.

    The rest of the pool has not separated themselves:

    Charlie Davies
    Yevgeni Starikov
    Juan Agudelo
    Terrence Boyd
    CJ Sapong
    Bobby Wood
    Edson Buddle
    Robbie Findley
    Teal Bunbury
    Andrew Wooten
    Chris Wondolowski
    Kenny Cooper
    Mike Grella
    Conor Casey
    Will Bruin
    Michael Fucito
    Billy Schuler
    Stefan Jerome
    Eddie Johnson
    Brian Ching
    Justin Braun
    Conor Doyle

    Reply
  5. Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya, Carlos Bocanegra and Rangers play Motherwell.

    One assumes they would play Father even better.

    Reply
  6. Klinsmann actually tweeted yesterday acknowledging and congratulating Gomez on his recent hot streak so one has to assume he is on klinsy’s mind for a call up.

    Reply
  7. will Gomez ever get a call up from JK? I mean he’s an American striker scoring regularly outside of MLS. That right there is all you need.

    Reply

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