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Altidore hat-trick leads AZ to victory, ups goal total to 28

Jozy Altidore AZ (Getty Images)

By IVES GALARCEP

Jozy Altidore continued his goal-scoring ways in the Dutch Eredivisie on Sunday, netting a hat-trick during AZ Alkmaar’s 6-0 win vs. FC Utrecht.

Altidore scored all three goals in one nine-minute span, with two penalty kicks and a header doing the damage as Utrecht drew two red cards to fall down to nine men.

The goals push Altidore’s season total to 28 in all competitions, the largest single-season goal total for an American player in Europe. Interestingly enough, Altidore’s latest hat-trick comes just days after AZ manager Gertjen Verbeek stated publicly that he expects Altidore to leave via transfer this summer. That seems more and more inevitable with every multi-goal game he registers.

The three goals in nine minutes set a new team record for fastest hat-trick, breaking a 35-year-old record.

Altidore wasn’t the only American-born player to score for AZ. Aron Johansson, who was born in Alabama and raced in Iceland, netted his first goal for AZ with a last-minute finish.

The victory was an important one for AZ, which moved six points clear of the relegation playoff zone in the Dutch League.

Here are the highlights of Altidore’s hat-trick (and the rest of AZ’s goals):

 

What did you think of Altidore’s hat-trick? Could you have imagined him scoring 28 goals this year? What league would you like to see him move to this summer?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I watched every Hull City game when Jozy was there. Although he only scored one EPL goal he was a foul and penalty shot drawing machine. He was fouled in the box 5-6 times and all those goals went to their designated penalty kicker. In addition their best midfielder went down with a season ending injury and there was no one to give Jozy service.

    I have no doubt that he will be successful if he goes to the EPL and there is service to be had.

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  2. Jozy nearly killed me and he didn’t even know it. I was at the Princeton training camp before the 2010 WC. The forwards were doing a finishing drill, basically receiving a pass and shooting on the first touch. I was leaning against the cinder block wall that houses the concession stand that is about 20 yards behind and just above the goal. I was not paying much attention. Jozy struck a ball that went high and hit the wall inches from my head. Seriously, if it had hit me, I doubt I would be able to be typing this. So yes, he missed the target, but I feel empathy for any keeper who has to face one of his well-hit shots.

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  3. “He needs to move to a league that
    plays defense. Could he score in England, Italy or Germany?”

    You mean like how he scored in England for a crap side with NO SERVICE named Hull City F.C.

    Or like when he scored for a team in Spain known as the “Yellow Submarine”. Yeah, coming off the bench and scoring with your first touch is no real mark of skill or ability.

    If he could only score on top tier teams like Spain … Wait, he did that too. That Powder puff defense of Pique and Puyol and Casillas was so soft.

    Personally I hope he winds up in Italy because he really needs to move to a league that plays defense.

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  4. The first consistent goal scoring American in Europe will be JOZY

    Yes Wynalda, Moore and McBride also scored but Jozy will put up better numbers. Casey, EJ, Mathis could either score or do it in lower leagues, but not consistently. Jozy will

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  5. remember guys there is bias against Americans especially those who can score. Jozy will have some suitors but he may have quite as many detractors

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    • Agree – I wouldn’t want to get in the way between him and the goal! If you wanna watch more European soccer on TV (although Dutch League games are tough to find…), check out awaygoals.com to easily and quickly find what games are on T.V. at what times and on what channels.

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  6. Just think what he could do if we could field a midfield who could get him the ball on the national team…what a concept huh?….:)….he will be on his way to a much bigger team and bigger league this summer…

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  7. Blah, blah, blah, he’s finishing his shots….Some players have easy shots in bad defensive leagues, and STILL MISS….He’s getting a plethora of different type of goals this year…Some easy tap ins, others long range, create his own, crazy shots, etc….The guy is 23 years old and is a starter for his country…. No, he isn’t Messi, Ronaldo, Van Persie, etc….NOBODY is….What he is is a United States’ forward scoring MANY goals for his team….Now hopefully he’ll get some goals with national team and some service….Then again, us U.S. fans are never satisfied…Sorry Jozy, even if you score 40 goals in the Premier League one day, we’ll want 50 and say you suck….

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    • He’ll never scored 40 goals in the Premier League. When he played there I don’t think he scored 4.

      Michael Bradley has like 20 goals in this league as a midfielder.

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      • Let me repeat.

        Michael Bradley scored 20ish goals in this league as a midfielder. Do you see the defenses? My freaking lord they are awful.

      • and he wouldn’t start in any NT in the top 20, let’s be honest, he just play in Roma because the owners are Americans.

      • Do you know anything about that Hull City team?

        I remember watching their games and they were lucky to create multiple chances in a game.

        To dismiss someone based on that, when they were like 19 at the time, is beyond idiotic.

      • no 1 has scored 40 league goals in the Premier League. I believe the likes of Ronaldo, RVP, Alan Shearer had somewhere in the 30’s.

      • You do realize that *wasn’t* sarcasm, right? Sheesh, the word has been misused by so many for so long that it’s no wonder no one knows the meaning of it anymore.

      • I was just pointing out how as U.S. fans, so many are always wanting more even when an American player is so successful in the European leagues. Never satisfied.

      • This coach played Bradley in a very offensive position, in fact I think a center forward or very high when he was with herenveen. You can’t possibly think MB was 20 goals from the deep mid, Real Madrid would have been after that kind of magic.

  8. he just needs to score for us at the WC

    3 goals and leading us to the quarter finals and I would never complain about him ever again

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  9. The OG says it all. He needs to move and score in a real league. I’m not saying he can’t do it….but he needs to face better defense than that crap.

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    • As I said up top – he has scored more for AZ than any player in 20 years, possibly more. So, yeah, the defense in Holland is suspect, but he is shredding it at a historic pace for his club. And do we need to talk about the long list of great goal scorers who got their start in Holland?

      To me, this is the first coach who has used him right. His failures were a lot on him, of course, but a lot had to do with conservative coaches assuming he MUST be a hold up center forward. (Sound familiar, Jurgen?) If he is used correctly where ever he goes, he will score. Lots.

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    • Clint’s Robert Greene goal against England in the World Cup was pretty comical and pretty crappy.

      Own goals happen everywhere.

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      • My point is he needs to move to a league that plays defense. Could he score in England, Italy or Germany? Maybe. We’re never going to find out as long as he’s playing against these powder puff defenses in Holland.

      • Bryan,

        If the defenses in Holland are powder puff it stands to reason there should be a lot of guys scoring, correct?

        Number of players with ten or more goals as I write this:

        Holland 14
        Germany 16
        Spain 15
        France 13
        Italy 14
        EPL 23

        And please don’t tell me that Holland, a known producer of goalscorers, has players that are offensively weak.

        I don’t care if Jozy can or cannot score in England, Italy or Germany. I’m almost certain that if he gets to the right team he will score.

        What I care about is can he eventually translate that form to the USMNT.

      • Very well said! I think your metric here really shows that we can’t continue to hold onto these league stereotypes.

      • That’s rubbish. If Holland were as ‘powder puff’ as people say, then everyone would be doing what Jozy is doing.

        Everyone isn’t. In fact, he’s scoring at a historic clip even for that league.

        So that’s officially a dead argument. Do I want him to move back up the ladder? Sure. But does that detract from what he’s done this season?

        Not. One. Bit.

    • As I said up top – he has scored more for AZ than any player in 20 years, possibly more. So, yeah, the defense in Holland is suspect, but he is shredding it at a historic pace for his club. And do we need to talk about the long list of great goal scorers who got their start in Holland?

      To me, this is the first coach who has used him right. His failures were a lot on him, of course, but a lot had to do with conservative coaches assuming he MUST be a hold up center forward. (Sound familiar, Jurgen?) If he is used correctly where ever he goes, he will score. Lots.

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  10. Jozy did well, but that (own) goal of the year stole the show!

    Also, Utrecht’s keeper is an inspiration to pudgy Sunday league keepers everywhere! Maybe not today, but there’s hope for us all.

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  11. Oh, man. Here we go again.

    Jozy Fan: “Take that, Jozy haters!”

    Jozy Hater: “Netherlands is an easy league where no one even bothers to play defense. Jozy still sucks until he can replicate that form for the national team.”

    Random-Agenda Poster: “Somehow, I am going to use this thread to justify why Klinsmann is an awful coach and I hate him.”

    Another Ransom-Agenda Poster: “Timothy Chandler is a terrorist!”

    Yet Another Ransom-Agenda Poster: “Call up Conor Donovan.”

    Me: “For what it’s worth, I thought Jozy looked good today.”

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      • You left out the new trend where that one guy tries to say that Boyd would do better than Jozy and is a superior player already.

      • I’m in that camp. I would rather have Boyd start up top with Herculez than Altidore.

        I know you were being facetious, but that’s my honest opinion.

      • As a US fan who lived in Europe and watched Dutch games…I beg to differ. Although, I would say Ajax, PSV, and Feyernoord are usually above everyone else

      • I think Sporting KC or the Galaxy could finish comfortably mid table in most Euro leagues, perhaps contend for Europe in more than a few, and survive the drop in the EPL.

        The rest of MLS would struggle to finish mid-table in the 2nd tier of Euro 1st divisions, drop hard in the EPL and top tier, and maybe finish mid-table in Scandinavia.

      • I was thinking about this same pointless conversation a few days ago when I watched two great MLS teams reliably lose to Mexican sides, despite carrying the highest hopes of their league.

        (1) Close yourself the mouth, because what you’re saying isn’t remotely knowable.

        (2) Even if it were knowable, all evidence points to MLS not measuring up against more established leagues

      • MLS is our league, after all. If someone scored well playing basketball in england or italy we’d certainly compare those leagues to the NBA.

      • the other leagues are better with tactics and coaching…..so mls may have great athletes and improving technical players, the tactics overall are not that great…look at how seattle lost against santos…yes santos is a good team, but the number of players that did not complete runs to allow for an additional pass, that’s one of things missing in mls overall….the tactics are not taught here until the players are older. overseas, players learn tactics from the time they are 14 years old….

  12. Nice to see him not only convert those penalties, but earn them as well. Adebayor could learn a thing or two from him…..

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    • But I’ll settle for 30.

      By the way, per Greg Seltzer, Jozy has the most goals across all comps for AZ in at least 20 years. (He is searching for all time records.)

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    • i thought he might get 20-25. Back in September when he was scoring in every match I thought he might get up to 35 but he slowed on quite a bit.

      He needs to keep scoring. Say what if scores a brace in the Dutch Cup final and wins it for AZ

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    • Dude is tha mutha****in SHIZZLE, brizzle. Keep this mofo in the Yanks lineup. Focus on getting the man some service. Can’t wait to see him light up the Premiere League. He will outshine Deuce ( and I don’t say that lightly, as Clint is an icon in my humble opinion).

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      • Listen, I am a big Jozy fan and IMO there is no doubt Altidore should start uptop with a partner(Deuce,Gomez,LD,Boyd) for the Nats but this worries me a bit. American players have a track record of going to the biggest name club that shows interest and then being a staple on the bench. I’m not saying this will happen for sure but it just worries me, especially when he is such a favorite where he is right now. That being said, I bet Spurs would have gladly replaced Adebayor with Altidore in their Europa League match vs Basel this weekend. Wherever he goes, he has to go to the place that is going to play him, a lot.

      • Yeah, I’d much rather see him move to Ajax or PSV. He’s doing well in the dutch league so I’d like to see him wait another year or two with a slightly better team before he goes.

      • How entertaining would it be to hear any former member of Kiss say, “Dude is tha mutha****in SHIZZLE, brizzle”?

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