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Americans Abroad: Weekend Preview

By FRANCO PANIZO

With his road to recovery now complete, Stuart Holden has his sights set on regaining his starting spot with Bolton Wanderers and he might get a chance to stake his claim this weekend.

Having been rested for last weekend’s match against Crystal Palace, Holden will be available for selection when Bolton takes on Tim Howard and Everton in their FA Cup clash on Saturday. Trotters manager Dougie Freedman will have the final say on whether the 27-year-old midfielder makes his first start for the club since 2011, but if recent history is any indication, the Scotsman has plenty of confidence in the completely-healthy Holden.

Geoff Cameron is also set to partake in a high-profile FA Cup game this weekend. Cameron and Stoke City host Manchester City on Saturday, and the Potters will surely be tried and tested by a loaded Blues side that has won its last five games across all competitions.

Maurice Edu should also be in action on Saturday, as Bursaspor travels to battle Istanbul Buyuksehir BSK. Edu made his first start for the club in a cup match on Wednesday, and he could be in line for another 90-minute shift as Bursaspor looks to extend their eight-game unbeaten streak in league play.

Here is who the Americans Abroad face this weekend:

FRIDAY

Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Millwall in the FA Cup.

Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg play Borussia Dortmund.

Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar play VVV Venlo.

Herculez Gomez, Hector Joya and Santos Laguna play Leon.

SATURDAY

Geoff Cameron and Stoke City play Manchester City in the FA Cup.

Tim Ream, Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Tim Howard and Everton in the FA Cup.

Conor Doyle and Derby County play Blackburn Rovers in the FA Cup.

Zak Whitbread and Leicester City play Huddersfield Town in the FA Cup. (Whitbread is out injured.)

Jonathan Spector, Will Packwood and Birmingham City play Burnley. (Packwood is out injured.)

Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Mike Grella and Scunthorpe United.

Carlos Bocanegra and Racing Santander play Cordoba.

Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Eintracht Frankfurt.

Michael Parkhurst and FC Augsburg play Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04. (Jones is suspended).

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 play VfL Wolfsburg.

David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play SC Freiburg.

Maurice Edu and Bursaspor play Istanbul Buyuksehir BSK.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play KSC Lokeren.

DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Orozco Fiscal and Puebla play Cruz Azul.

Jose Torres, Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL play Queretaro.

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

Ventura Alvarado and Club America play Atlas.

SUNDAY

Clint Dempsey, Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play Leeds United in the FA Cup.

Oguchi Onyewu and Malaga play Mallorca.

Michael Bradley and AS Roma play Bologna.

Caleb Patterson-Sewell and Vitoria Setubal play CD Nacional de Madeira.

Tony Taylor and Estoril Praia play Olhanense.

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Which of these games are you most looking forward to? Think Holden will start against Everton? Is there any chance that Cameron and Stoke knock off Manchester City?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. It’s crazy to think that was the last time we played Mexico (and it mattered). Flame me all you want but I think from top to bottom, right NOW, we have a better side. If you look at our projected starting 11 going into WCQ. We have a much better MB4 in the midfield. Jozy didn’t play in that Mex game and he was having a great Gold Cup prior to his injury, now he’s scoring goals for fun. Our back line has improved w/ the additions of Johnson and Chandler. You compare our top 11 players right now to theirs and we’re a better side.

    Reply
    • Love your optimism, but as much as I hate that team down under, they are much better.. period. They have better players both induvidually and more importantly, collectively.
      We have a few bright spots, Deuce is Duece, MB is playing very well, Zusi is the new up and comer, and we have a few spots on the team locked down and have a great keeper.

      But seriously, we dont know what our back line will look like, we dont know what lineup throughout midfield we’ll have, and lets face it.. Jozy has still gotta prove he can play for us….

      We aint there yet- period

      Reply
      • While I hate to admit it Mexico is the better squad…right now. While we might match up favorably with them on a player to player basis, they are currently much more cohesive as an overall unit, have a more stable starting 11, and are more familiar with their system/style of play. The bright side for the US is that we are only a piece or two away from potentially having a consistent starting 11 with optional backups who won’t represent significant fall off in skill and ability.
        A Reliable replacement for Boca, Holden back to pre-injury form, and a Donovan return, coupled with 9 months of experince for the youth players…(D. Williams, Shea, Gatt, Boyd)…and I think we’ll be a very well rounded team. 5-6 points out of our first 3 Qualifiers is possible, and if achieved this team could really take off.

    • Hey, Ryan in NYC by way of NC. I ain’t gonna flame you. I agree that we now have a better team than the one that got beat in the Gold Cup final. And I think we are now a much better coached team than back then. I am not going to say we are now better than Mexico, but as we proved last August in Mexico City with basically a b-team, we are at their level and capable of beating them on any given day. I think huge dividends are going to come from Dempsy’s move to Tottenham and MB’s to Roma.

      And I get the feeling that Klinsmann is starting to feel his oats, feeling much more confident of what we can do next summer in Brazil. He gave an interview a few days ago to a big financial newspaper( which I posted a link to on this thread yesterday but which for some reason SBI deleted). It is a must read interview for all USMNT fans. The gist of the interview is that the 2002 quarter final finish is no big deal as it is not winning and that Clint Dempsey playing for mediocre club like Fulham also is no big deal, need to push higher and higher and higher. In other words, Klinsmann is not spouting PR gibberish trying to prepare us all for World Cup failure, but rather setting higher expectations.

      Reply
  2. Bornsucks doesnt play at all for tigres…must be nice earning a fat check and sitting on the bench bet he comes back to MLS and becomes an automatic starter. crazy to think 2 yrs ago he was the USNMT stater in the gold cup final. He needed to go Mexico be reasured he sucks big time.

    Reply
    • Dolo started on the right and Lichaj started on the left. When Dolo went down with an injury we switched Lichaj to the right and put in Bornstein, so no, he wasn’t a started at the gold cup final

      Reply
    • Way to not know what you’re talking about.

      Bornstein played because Chandler refused the call-up, and then Bedoya injured Cherundolo so Lichaj had to move over from LB to RB. What was the other option that that point, jack of all trades master of none Spector?

      Reply
      • It’s hard to imagine that Spector would have done any worse than Bornstein, who was repeatedly torched by Mexican players. Plus, putting Spector at RB had an added benefit of not having to reshuffle the back line. Spector did OK at RB in the Confederations Cup against some quality competition so it’s not like he did not know the position.

      • Spector was not part of the 18 man squad for the Gold Cup Final. Bradley did not activate him for that final match, so he was not an option to play in that game.

    • Bornstein didn’t start that game, he came in and got torched after an injury. It was possibly the worst NT performance I have seen.

      He did start games in WC 2010 though, and was surprisingly good. After that I don’t blame Bradley for bringing him to the Gold Cup as a backup.

      Reply
  3. 2 questions

    1) Did Goodsons transfer to a Turkish team fall apart due to his wifes reluctance to go to a non Christian country

    2) Is Gooch’s loan to Malaga a complete failure?

    Reply
    • I don’t think Gooch has many regrets about his loan to Malaga. Malaga is a very good team and it is not easy to get regular playing time with them. Gooch appeared in 6 games and scored 2 goals. Plus appearing in 1-0 Champion’s league win against his former team AC Milan was priceless.

      Reply

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