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Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

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photo courtesy of FC Schalke 04/Karsten Rabas

By FRANCO PANIZO

Bayern Munich have enjoyed a perfect start to the Bundesliga campaign, scoring 12 goals and allowing two while winning all three of their games in the process.

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 will look to change all that this weekend.

Jones and Schalke host Bayen Munich in a match-up of two of the top teams in the Bundesliga. Schalke have enjoyed a 2-0-1 start to the season and a win over Bayern, combined with some other results, could put them in first place in the league table.

Jones and Schalke will not be the only ones fighting for first place in their respective league. Edgar Castillo, Joe Corona, Greg Garza will look to try and keep Club Tijuana atop Liga MX when they take on Atlas on Saturday. Tijuana currently lead the league on 19 points through the first eight games of the season.

If you're wondering what other interesting match-ups there are this weekend, look no further than Stoke City's battle with Chelsea. Stoke City tied Premier League champions Manchester City last weekend, and Geoff Cameron and Maurice Edu will aim to build on that against the reigning Champions League winners on Saturday.

There's also an intriguing duel between Americans, as Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim take on Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96. Hoffenheim are in desperate need of three points after a winless start to the season, but Hannover are currently one of the top teams in the league and will attempt to stay undefeated.

Here is who the Americans Abroad play this weekend:

FRIDAY

Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg play Eintracht Frankfurt.

Joe Gyau and St Pauli play FSV Frankfurt.

Conor O'Brien and SonderjyskE play AGF Aarhus.

Brian Span and Djurgardens IF play BK Hacken.

DaMarcus Beasley and Puebla play Leon.

Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL play Morelia.

SATURDAY

Tim Howard and Everton play Swansea City.

Geoff Cameron, Maurice Edu and Stoke City play Chelsea.

Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Southampton.

Conor Doyle and Derby County play Burnley.

Robbie Findley and Nottingham Forest play Leeds United.

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

Jonathan Spector, Will Packwood and Birmingham City play Barnsley.

Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Coventry City.

Robbie Rogers and Stevenage play Doncaster Rovers. (Rogers is out injured.)

Mike Grella and Scunthorpe United play Colchester United.

Carlos Bocanegra and Racing Santander play Mirandes.

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Bayern Munich.

Alfredo Morales, John Anthony Brooks and Hertha Berlin play Kaiserslautern.

Andrew Wooten and SV Sandhausen play SC Paderborn 07.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Zulte-Waregem.

Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Charlie Davies and Randers FC.

Ventura Alvarado and Club America play Cruz Azul.

Michael Orozco Fiscal and San Luis play Jose Torres and Pachuca.

Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna play Jaguares de Chiapas.

Joe CoronaEdgar CastilloGreg Garza and Club Tijuana play Atlas.

SUNDAY

Clint Dempsey, Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play Queens Park Rangers.

Zak Whitbread and Leicester City play Hull City.

Oguchi Onyewu and Malaga play Athletic Bilbao.

Michael Bradley and AS Roma play Cagliari. (Bradley is out injured.)

David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96.

Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar play NAC Breda.

Caleb Patterson-Sewell and Vitoria Setubal play Olhanense.

Eugene Starikov and FK Rostov play Spartak Moscow.

Terrence Boyd and Rapid Vienna play SV Josko Ried.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby IF play FC Midtjylland.

Sean Cunningham and Stabaek IF play Fredrikstad.

Josh Gatt and Molde FK play Odd Grenland. (Gatt is out injured.)

Mix Diskerud and Rosenborg BK play Brann.

MONDAY

Tony Taylor and Estoril Praia play Maritimo.

Alejandro Bedoya and Helsingborgs IF play Malmo FF.

Chad Barrett and Valerenga play Steve Clark and Honefoss BK.

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Which of these games are you most looking forward to? Think Schalke and Jones can knock off Bayern Munich? Do you see Tijuana staying in first place this weekend?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. someone cared enough to comment…

    There are some very good teams in the LigaMX and some that are really fun to watch like Tijuana, Morelia, Santos and Leon. Even Lavolpe’s Atlante has been a breath of fresh air lately.

    It’s obvious the neighbors down south play a more aesthetic brand of football than MLS, nothing wrong with admitting that given the realities of both leagues. One rather young and growing and the other more established with formed identity.

    Reply
  2. It is all in what you are used to.

    Different international sports have varying approaches to who can play for the national team. Check out the World Baseball Classic sometime. Or just look into the Olympics.

    The exclusivity of eligibility is directly related to just how bad that country needs to field a representative team.

    Spain, Brazil, Argentina and teams like that generally don’t worry about dual citizens because they can win World Cups without them.

    Once the USMNT wins the World Cup and are a regular contender with Zimmerman approved real Americans they can look down their noses at players that don’t meet your real American smell test. Until then, the USMNT can’t afford to be uppity and condescending about it.

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  3. Clint is still working up his match fitness (first start for the Spurs) and did look he was pacing himself out there more than usual. And/or he was pulled to save him for QPR match; Spurs are going to be gassed for that game if they try to use the same lineup.

    Because of fitness, I expect Siggy to start with Dempsey being a second half sub. If (big IF) Dempsey feels fully fit, maybe he’ll take Lennon or Bale’s starting spot and be subbed or moved to AM in place of SIggy in the 2nd half.

    I do agree Dempsey looked pretty decent against Lazio; better than Siggy did when he came in. I vaguely recall Siggy being one of AvB’s “pet acquisitions” so he might prefer Siggy to Dempsey in the AM/withdrawn striker role. Dempsey will have to battle Siggy for that role since I suspect Dempsey was brought in mainly for cover for the frontline.

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  4. “Born in the USA and stayed until he was 3 then left and returned for a year while 17. He’s Icelandic 100%”

    In that one year he played at the IMG academy with guys like the Boss and Zarek Valentin.

    100%?? You have some funny math there.

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  5. Of course I want the US to have the best players possible. But Johansson and Diskerud not playing for Iceland/Norway seems almost wrong.

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  6. Yeah, it was clear to see that AVB made the wrong adjustments to win the game as chances really dried up with the substitutions. AVB has gotta see that, and know Dempsey perfromed better than Gylfi . My hope was that AVB move Dempsey up top with Defoe and put in Huddlestone for Sandro (just to replace tired legs), moved Dembele closer to the goal, and gone with a 4-4-2. The danger was being created through the wings and this would have given them more targets and open up space to isolate Bale and Lennon. Although, you wonder why any change was needed as the game was Tottenham’s to win.

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  7. for those who don’t know, read this: http://goal.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/09/americans-abroad-aron-johannsson-starts-strong/

    the last line:

    “if Jurgen Klinsmann calls me and says he wants me to play for the United States, then it would be pretty hard to say no.” – Aron Johannsson.

    He says he is 100% Icelandic but at least he was born in the USA and played in Florida’s IMG Academy. Thats more US Soccer involvement than some of the other duel nationals can say!

    This is why i think Jurgen should run 2 U-23 camps per year. Non-cap tying just to try out some players like this. One in the summer for the euro based players and one in the winter for the MLS/Scandinavian based players.

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  8. I am eager to see whether Clint Dempsey starts Sunday for Tottenham against QPR. Clint proved yesterday beyond a shadow of a doubt against a very good (and very physical) Lazio team that he has the skills to be a key player for a Tottenham team overflowing with young talent. I found it very troubling that Coach Andre Villas-Boas yanked Dempsey for Gylfi Sigurosson in the 74 minute of a scoreless Europa League game that Tottenham desperately wanted to win. Dempsey was in the middle of almost all of Tottenham’s scoring opportunities and was still interacting well with other key offensive figures trying to produce the winning goal when he was pulled for a kid who, although he has great potential, is still only a shadow of the player Clint is. And you could see clearly that Tottenham’s offensive threat dropped after Clint left the pitch.

    Reply
  9. Born in the USA and stayed until he was 3 then left and returned for a year while 17. He’s Icelandic 100%. But there is a great chance for him to play for us.

    but wouldn’t it be weird out of all the players to save our striking force, we turn to an American born Icelandic fella?

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  10. Come on, let’s start tracking Aron Jonnasson on this. He is American, and eligible to play for the USA immediately. We follow Frank Simek and Mike Grella, but not Aron who is playing in the top league in Denmark? Not pissed, just trying to provide fodder for my viewpoint.

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  11. Looking forward to catching the Tijuana game, and I don’t follow the FMF that closely…they play an entertaining brand of soccer…and having 3 yanks makes it easy to cheer them on.

    Reply
  12. can we all please take a moment to honor Steve Cherundolo. Nearly 14 years at the same club. His team is a solid top 8 club in the Bundesliga for the past 2 years.

    Reply

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