By FRANCO PANIZO
If Carlos Bocanegra was supposed to be out for six weeks with the injury he sustained in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s November friendly with Russia, no one told him that.
Just over a month removed from tearing a muscle in his left leg, Bocanegra slipped back into Racing Santander’s starting lineup for the club’s match against CD Sabadell on Sunday. Bocanegra went the distance in the game and received a yellow card but was unable to help the club end its current losing streak, as Santander fell, 1-0, to go winless in their last six games.
One player who did have a big role in helping his team win was Brad Guzan. Guzan put forth a seven-save performance in Aston Villa’s 3-1 upset victory over Liverpool on Saturday. The Villans’ triumph kept them undefeated in their last five league matches.
Jozy Altidore also propelled his team to victory, bagging a brace in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 win over PEC Zwolle on Saturday. Altidore’s goals gave him 14 across all competitions this season and ended a scoring drought for him that dated back to Nov. 10.
Here’s how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Everton’s 1-1 draw vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham’s 1-0 win vs. Swansea City on Sunday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 70 minutes for Tottenham.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made seven saves in Aston Villa’s 3-1 win vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes for Aston Villa.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 1-1 draw vs. Everton on Saturday.
- Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City.
- Sebastian Lletget dressed but did not play in West Ham United’s 0-0 draw vs. West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
Championship
- Tim Ream dressed but did not play in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-0 win vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers.
- Jonathan Spector did not dress in Birmingham City’s 2-2 draw vs. Crystal Palace on Saturday.
- Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City.
- Conor Doyle dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 2-0 win vs. Bristol City on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread started and played 90 minutes in Leicester City’s 1-0 loss vs. Millwall on Saturday.
- Robbie Findley did not dress in Nottingham Forest’s 0-0 draw vs. Brighton Hove & Albion on Saturday.
League One
- Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United’s 2-1 loss vs. Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
- Robbie Rogers dressed but did not play in Stevenage’s 2-1 loss vs. Crawley Town on Saturday.
- Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Scunthorpe United’s 3-1 win vs. Leyton Orient on Saturday.
SPAIN
La Liga
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in Malaga CF’s 2-0 win vs. Sevilla on Saturday.
Segunda Division
- Carlos Bocanega started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Racing Santander’s 1-0 loss vs. CD Sabadell on Sunday.
ITALY
- Michael Bradley started and played 68 minutes in AS Roma’s 1-0 loss vs. Chievo Verona on Sunday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96’s 2-1 loss vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04’s 3-1 loss vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday. He is serving a four-game suspension for a red card he received.
- Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 3-1 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.
- Danny Williams did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
- Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg’s 1-1 draw vs. Werder Bremen on Sunday.
- David Yelldell did not dress in Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-0 win vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
2. Bundesliga
- John Anthony Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 2-1 win vs. FSV Frankfurt on Saturday.
- Alfredo Morales did not dress for Herha Berlin.
- Andrew Wooten started, played 85 minutes and received a yellow card in SV Sandhausen’s 0-0 draw vs. FC Cologne on Friday.
- Joe Gyau came off the bench and payed 12 minutes in St Pauli’s 0-0 draw vs. FC Ingolstadt 04 on Saturday.
- Bobby Wood came off the bench and played 32 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 1-1 draw vs. Dynamo Dresden on Sunday.
NETHERLANDS
- Jozy Altidore started, played 90 minutes and scored TWO GOALS in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 win vs. PEC Zwolle on Saturday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Knb9seS4ga4?feature=player_detailpage]
PORTUGAL
- Tony Taylor did not dress in G.D. Estoril Praia’s 3-0 loss vs. Braga on Sunday.
- Caleb Patterson-Sewell and Vitoria Setubal’s match vs. Porto on Friday was postponed due to inclement weather.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht’s 2-1 win vs. OH Leuven on Sunday.
AUSTRIA
- Terrence Boyd started and played 90 minutes in Rapid Vienna’s 1-0 loss vs. FC Magna Wr. Neustadt on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Impressed with Bocanegra’s quick comeback? Surprised by how well Guzan has done this season?
Share your thoughts below.
Holden comeback match (with reserves) called due to weather. http://www.lionofviennasuite.com/2012/12/17/3776970/update-holden-comeback-game-called-off-bwfc-usmnt
It should have been noted above that Timothy Chandler got a yellow card in Sunday’s game, his fourth of the season.
And for the people saying that Danny Williams sat out Sunday’s game for yellow card accumulation, this is not correct. He sat out a game a few weeks ago for his fifth yellow card (he now has six).
I did a search on German news stories on the game and could not even find a mention of Williams’ name for the Dortmund game. But I did find a couple of interesting stories quoting Williams after the Hoffenheim loss December 7 to Hamburg, which was the first game after Hoffenheim Coach Markus Babbel was fired. Williams made some forthright comments that might not have been welcome by Hoffenheim club management, such as complaining about the Hoffenheim game of musical chairs with coaches.
I am not saying their is a connection between the comments and Willaims’ absence from the team Sunday, just pointing out the stories.
http://www.1899aktuell.de/slideshow/4514-williams-qes-tut-dem-team-nicht-gut-wenn-staendig-trainer-gewechselt-werdenq
http://www.1899aktuell.de/slideshow/4512-williams-ahnt-abstiegskampf-bis-zum-saisonende
Add to the fact that Williams has been in poor form; I could see why he wasn’t in the 18.
I root for Lichaj big time but he had a rough outing. Liverpool time and again exposed his side. Guzman was huge.
What up with Llegat. He’s been making the bench. The kid is how old?
Sebastian Lletget is 20 years old. Great prospect. He he good touch and a great last pass. One of the youth coaches at West Ham called him the best prospect he’s ever seen. I’m sure that’s a stretch, however he does look promising. He’s been playing with the West Ham U21s this year and currently they’re in first place. Good to see him dressing with the first team and hopefully he will get some playing time soon.
He is 20, should make the bench until Diame comes back from injury, they play 3 games in a week coming up so he should get some minutes.
Is it better for robbie rogers to be playing in league one rather than the mls?
Well he’s NOT playing very much in League 1.
Which I prefer, because it keeps him out of the national team.
Amazing guys like Rogers (and Wynn, Findley, etc.) have any caps with the MNT with their lack of skills, tactical awareness, and intelligence beyond “run really fast”.
Yes. Its better. Lowers the chance of him slipping into the national team, and that’s a good thing.
Wonder why Spector didn’t play. Injured? He almost always goes the full 90 for Birmingham.
Lots of craptastic Eridivisie defense on display there. I do like AZ’s Maher. I bet Jozy does too.
Did our Aston Villa boys play well?
Sky Sports gave both Guzan and Lichaj good player ratings.
Jozys goals were great looking forward to another scoring streak!
The Rapid Vienna Game was a LOSS for Terence Boyd’s team
Wiener Neustadt 1 – 0 Rapid Wien
I thought the first goal was Jozy Altidore’s finest yet. Initially he simply outran and out-hustled his defender to get to the long back pass, although it kind of looked like the defender was lackadaisical, but nonetheless great hustle for Jozy, and then… he out muscled the defender, was then brought down by the goalie and defender and , instead of crying for a penalty kick, got up immediately and with the ball in play got it past two defenders and the goalie for a well-taken and totally self-made goal.
Way-to-go!!
Demps did not play 90, and cameron is a terrible lb, stoke is a rediculus football club but results are results.
Yeah, I have a hard time watching Stokes but I do it because of Cameron.
He rarely does, but hes played in every game this season and is in good form so everyone should be happy.
Any idea why Williams sat? He needs to be playing 90 so we have an in form #6 for our Hex game. With Jones out, Edu not even dressing, and MLS in offseason it would be nice to have Williams in form. If anything Bradley can play that role with Kljestan playing a #8 role.
Yellow cards i believe
Dempsey didn’t go the full 90, I watched the game and he was subbed out for GS around the 69-71 mark.
Klinsmann can’t keep calling Edu in, can he? He isn’t even making the bench. Even guys like Sebastian Lletget are doing that.
Also Bradley needs to be our captain asap, Boca plays for a mediocre Spanish second division team. John Anthony Brooks needs to be called in and cap tied ASAP as he is playing very well for a good team in the German second division.
It’s good to see Wooten and Wood getting minutes as well, Agudelo needs to head to a decent European league (meaning not Scotland) or he may fall behind these other young forwards as he already has with Boyd.
Overall a good weekend for yanks abroad. Tottenham move up to fourth, Hertha Berlin and JAB move up to first in the Bundesliga 2, Boca came back early, Altidore scored a brace, Kljestan continues to play well, Wood continues his comeback, Chandler locked down Elia all game, and Boyd continues to play well in his first professional season. Looking forward to Holdens return and Yanks Abroad continued succes in their respective leageus.
Hoffenheim are the exceptions, they are really struggling.
I do not think this week was the best their was a lot of did not dress and hardly no one except Jozy scored nor assisted.
Saw some twitter rumbling that Stuart Holden would play in a reserve match in Monday. Any confirms on that?
The only thing I could find hinted it would be with one of the youth teams. Still, slowly getting him match fit with any kind of reserve match is better than nothing. I still would assume he’s at least a month or so from seeing first team action. I think after all this Bolton are, thankfully, not going to rush anything with him.
Anyone catch the Roma game? Why was Bradley subbed out after 68 minutes? Poor form? Injury? Also, Franco (and I say this tongue-in-cheek b/c I love your updates and don’t mean to diss) but can a win against Liverpool by anyone not in the relegation zone reasonably be called an “upset” this year?
cause his passing sucked and the midfield wasn’t doing good.
someguy, did chievo score against roma before or after junior was subbed?
Chievo scored after DDR came in for MB not quite 90.
The whole Roma team was sucking, including MB, but that’s just what Chievo do to teams with their compact defense…
I noticed that in the stat sheet. I wonder if Roma would have lost had Bradley stayed in, especially since he usually gets stronger as the game goes on. Any comments on DDR’s performance?
I agree that they should have kept Bradley in.
The bigger issue is Roma’s ability to beat teams that pack in and defend like Chievo…
Aston Villa was on cusp of the relegation zone prior to the win, and is still only 3 points clear of it.
so what does Edu do all week? Does he feature at all in training?
He needs to be loaned out in January
Getting a new agent would probably be smart as well. As Klinsi correctly pointed out a while back, that guy seems to have nobody looking out for his career.
Sounds about right neither rangers and stoke were great moves even tho im sure they were financially.
Nonsense. His agent secured multiple offers this summer from clubs in leagues which were a better fit for a player of Mo’s skills (or lack thereof) than the EPL. However, it would appear that Mo had his eyes set on a move south, and it’s a credit to his agent that he was able to get what his client wanted by securing the offer from Stoke (which frankly was the perfect EPL landing point for Mo, as it is the PL club where his skillset had the best chance of landing him playing time). Let’s hope for Mo’s sake that he’s willing to swallow his pride in January (or next summer) and make a move to a lesser league where he can contribute on the field.
by the way, how do you know this inside information about Edu’s preference.
What inside information? You’ll note that I said it “appeared” Mo preferred a move south, to the EPL. Based on the evidence we have in front of us, that appears to be a reasonable conclusion.
He’s not getting any time right now, but an injury to any of their CM’s or CB’s and he’ll get his chance. Also, there are always rumors of Shawcross or N’zonzi being bought which would put Mo in the 1st team picture. Shawcross got called into the England squad for the last WC qualifiers and hasn’t yet signed a new deal with Stoke. If he doesn’t sign a new contract with Stoke, he very well could get a move to a bigger club in England. I think Stoke bought Edu as a safety net and they know eventually he’ll prove his value as such.
There have already been multiple injuries suffered by/red card suspensions issued to Stoke CM’s this season…and Mo still hasn’t made the bench. As for CB, he’s played the position at most a couple of times for the National team/youth National team. He never played there for Rangers. If a CB is injured, there are multiple players at Stoke who would be ahead of Mo on the depth chart (including our own Geoff Cameron).
It looks to me like Stoke took a punt on a US National team player who was for all practical purposes available on a free and it appears they haven’t been impressed. This really shouldn’t surprise anyone who watched a lot of Mo with his previous club. He still has value though, and Stoke will almost certainly be able to recover the minimal transfer fee they invested in Mo (when that will happen I have no idea).
Is Seb Hines considered an American Abroad yet, or are we still waiting on him to file his paperwork?
He has the passport just needs to file the one time switch, which according to this article he do as soon as he got a call up…
http://americansoccernow.com/articles/seb-hines-hopes-for-a-chance-with-the-usmnt
Good find. I’ve never seen him play, but at 24 and starting in the Championship, he’d certainly help our defensive issues. It’s also nice to hear a dual citizen actually come out and say he wants to play for us instead of playing the tightrope. Let’s see if he gets an invite before the Gold Cup, otherwise, he would be a lock for that roster.
Didnt he score an own goal last week? Not sure how they did this week but him at boro and henley at blackburn are both promotion hopefuls
Yeah in the cup game against Swansea, didn’t see it though
2.5years of solid play in Belgium. Time for Sasha to move to France or Italy
That’s nice of you to say, but it’s not just up to .
Sacha is it?
Has anyone from France or Italy made a move for him? With the WC coming up this is a bad time to move unless you are very confident you acclimate quick.
why again did Boca choose to go on in 2nd division Spain? He had offers from France, Germany and Greece. And whats up with Gooch? why did he even go to Malaga?
An offer is not the same as the promise of a starting role. He’s playing in an MLS-caliber league, making better than MLS money, and he’s staying match-fit with weekly games. At the twilight of his career he can’t afford any time on the bench, especially as I’m sure he wants to remain with the Nats through qualifying and perhaps (in his mind) through the 2014 WC.
Go on
Because Gooch knew he was signed to be a squad player on a team in what was/is the best league in the world on a team that just won their group in the Champions League, with Gooch mangaging to get a few games here and there and being an injury away from starting. I imagine a number of US players would have jumped at that opportunity.
Loan deal Sporting made.
Does the player (Gooch in this case) have any say in a loan deal? He was starting for Sporting before his injury.
I don’t think you can be sent out on loan without signing off on it, but if your parent team is trying to loan you out it probably means you don’t have much of a future with them. Sporting Lisbon brought in 2 CB’s this summer, including a 22-yr old for ~$1.5mil from Spartak Moscow, so I don’t think Gooch was part of their plans.
Onyewu got on with a good team in a good league. Don’t see how we can complain about that. Bocanegra could have found a better spot but he’s playing in a good league (perhaps better then MLS, at least in regards to technical play), and he’s probably enjoying spending part of his career in Spain. What country sounds nicer to you? Germany, or Spain?
Jozy with the brace. 11th league goals so far. 25 total all year. Sure its Holland and rated as 8th best league in Europe but it still means something