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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

FUSSBALL - BL, Rapid vs Wacker

By FRANCO PANIZO

Rapid Vienna have very few reasons to smile these days, but the play of Terrence Boyd continues to be one of them.

Boyd was back to his scoring ways on Saturday, netting his 16th goal across all competitions this season in Rapid Vienna’s 1-1 draw vs FC Wacker Tirol. Boyd found the back of the net for the 12th time in league play when he pounced on a rebound and smashed it home with a kung-fu kick. Unfortunately for Vienna, Boyd’s second-half strike would not hold up as they surrendered a late equalizer that extended their winless run in league play to nine games.

While Boyd added to his goal-scoring total this weekend, one veteran made his way back into his club’s starting lineup. Now recovered from his problematic knee injury, Steve Cherundolo started and went the distance for Hannover 96 in a scoreless draw with VfB Stuttgart on Sunday. The match marked the first time Cherundolo had played for Hannover since a Dec. 19 DFB Pokal fixture against Borussia Dortmund.

In England, Brad Guzan continued his outstanding form in helping Aston Villa secure a vital 3-1 victory over Geoff Cameron and Stoke City. The win helped the Villans climb out of the drop zone, while also pushing Stoke even closer to the relegation race. Another match-up of Americans saw Tim Howard and Everton tie Clint Dempsey and Tottenham.

Stuart Holden also brought some reason for optimism, as he made his second appearance for Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. Holden started for the club and played 59 minutes in a 3-2 win over Blackburn Rovers, a result which pushed the Owls three points clear of the relegation zone in the Championship.

Here’s how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 3-1 loss vs. Aston Villa on Saturday.
  • Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City.
  • Sebastian Lletget did not dress in West Ham United’s 0-0 draw vs. Liverpool on Sunday.
  • Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw vs. Everton on Sunday.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play for Tottenham.
  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Everton’s 2-2 draw vs. Tottenham on Sunday.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Aston Villa’s 3-1 win vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector started, played 45 minutes and received a yellow card in Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw vs. Millwall on Saturday.
  • Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from a leg injury.
  • Conor Doyle dressed but did not played in Derby County’s 1-0 loss vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
  • Tim Ream dressed but did not play in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-0 win vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Stuart Holden started and played 59 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 3-2 win vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Leceister City’s 1-1 draw vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

League One

  • Frank Simek did not dress in Carlisle United’s 2-1 win vs. Oldham Athletic on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella did not dress in Scunthorpe United’s 3-0 loss vs. Preston North End on Saturday.

SPAIN

La Liga

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in Malaga CF’s 4-2 loss vs. Real Sociedad on Saturday.

Segunda Division

  • Carlos Bocanega started and played 90 minutes in Racing Santander’s 1-0 win vs. AD Alcorcon on Saturday.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley and AS Roma play Lazio on Monday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 3-0 win vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg’s 2-1 win vs. Mainz on Sunday.
  • Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Augsburg’s 4-2 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04’s 2-0 win vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
  • David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96’s 0-0 draw vs. VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.

2. Bundesliga

  • Joe Gyau started and played 72 minutes in St Pauli’s 3-2 loss vs. Dynamo Dresden on Saturday.
  • John Anthony Brooks and Hertha Berlin play Eintracht Braunschweig on Monday.
  • Alfredo Morales and Hertha Berlin play Eintracht Braunschweig on Monday.
  • Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 2-1 loss vs. MSV Duisburg on Sunday.
  • Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich’s 1-1 draw vs. Energie Cottbus on Sunday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Jozy Altidore started and played 90 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 1-1 draw vs. NEC Nijmegen on Sunday.

PORTUGAL

  • Tony Taylor dressed but did not play in G.D. Estoril Praia’s 4-0 win vs. CD Nacional de Madeira on Sunday.
  • Caleb Patterson-Sewell dressed but did not play in Vitoria Setubal’s 2-1 loss vs. Rio Ave on Sunday.

RUSSIA

  • Eugen Starikov dressed but did not play in FK Rostov’s 1-0 win vs. Spartak Moscow on Saturday.

TURKEY

  • Maurice Edu and Bursaspor play Besiktas on Monday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht’s 0-0 draw vs. Standard Liege in the Belgian playoffs on Saturday.

DENMARK

  • Clarence Goodson dressed but did not play in Brondby IF’s 1-0 win vs. Randers FC on Sunday.
  • Charlie Davies came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Randers FC’s 1-0 loss vs. Brondby IF on Sunday.
  • Conor O’Brien came off the bench and played nine minutes in FC Nordsjaelland’s 2-0 win vs. AC Horsens on Sunday.

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd started, played 90 minutes, received a yellow card and scored a GOAL in Rapid Vienna’s 1-1 draw vs. FC Wacker Tirol on Saturday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IgVzllbLKI?feature=player_embedded]

SWEDEN

  • Alejandro Bedoya and Helsingborg IF play Oster on Monday.
  • Brian Span and Djurgarden IF play Mjallby on Monday.

NORWAY

  • Josh Gatt came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Molde FK’s 1-0 loss vs. Brann on Saturday.
  • Mix Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 4-0 win vs. Sogndal on Sunday.
  • Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 4-3 loss vs. Aalesund on Sunday. 

MEXICO

  • Herculez Gomez started and played 56 minutes in Santos Laguna’s 0-0 draw vs. Club Tijuana on Sunday.
  • Benji Joya did not dress for Santos Laguna.
  • Michael Orozco Fiscal started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Puebla’s 1-1 draw vs. Club America on Saturday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started and played 75 minutes for Puebla.
  • Jose Torres started, played 74 minutes and received a yellow card in Tigres UANL’s 0-0 draw vs. Leon on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.
  • Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 0-0 draw vs. Santos Laguna on Sunday.
  • Joe Corona started and played 78 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Greg Garza did not dress for Club Tijuana.
  • Ventura Alvarado did not dress in Club America’s 1-1 draw vs. Puebla on Saturday.

—–

What do you think of these performances? How many more goals do you see Boyd netting with Rapid Vienna this season? Think Cherundolo can put together a string of good performances now that he is back from injury?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. JAB started today. Morales came off the bench in the 12th minute, assuming for an injury. Hertha Berlin up 1-0 at halftime.

    Bradley back in the starting XI but Roma are down 1-0 in the 20th.

    Edu, back from his injury last week, started and went 90 in a 3-0 win today.

    Reply
  2. first, just want to note that Clint Dempsey had a solid performance yesterday against a very well coached and hungry team supported by a superb goalkeeping effort from a guy name Tim Howard. Tottenham yesterday with Bale’s absence was missing perhaps one of the top three palyers in the world, not to mention missing key winger Lennon and Jermain Defoe. Clint had the difficult task of playing behind a mostly weak Adebeyor (yes, he did have a good goal early and from that point on mostly did not offer much) and alongside a rookie Lewis Holtby. And when it came time for the big play to salvage a point, Dempsey, despite no doubt aching to score the goal, was savvy and smart enough to fake as if ready to fire but instead letting the pass slide by to Adebayor, who missed the shot but with Sigerdsson, who was excellent yesterday, putting the rebound into the net.

    Dempsey is now on a much better team than Fulham with a much better coach and playing regulary. He is no longer the star of the team like he was at Fulham, but he is having a solid year and you can see that his personal game continues to improve because he being exposed daily to much better talent than he was a Fulham.

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    • +1. he didn’t have a great game, but it was decent enough (except for the atrocious dive), and was about what i expected out of a bale-less spurs against a dangerous everton.

      was laughing at the guy yesterday who didn’t want to give credit to dempsey for the smart dummy on that goal; probably because he had been slamming him through the whole commentary post..

      Reply
  3. Disappointing Shea is not getting any more time at Stoke. As poor as their wing players are, I think he could bring something for them because they have absolutely nothing offensively. I thought in the two short cameos he had when he first came over he looked promising. Cameron may have had his worst game at Stoke yesterday, at least as far as I could tell. He wasn’t able to clear the ball on the first goal and looked sloppy on the ball but I didn’t get to watch much of the second half.

    In my opinion, I think Klinsmann did Dempsey a disservice by pressuring him out of Fulham. He was really just getting comfortable there and making a name for himself. I fear the move to Tottenham may have effectively ruined his career. If not for the current injury situation there, he wouldn’t be playing at all. He let himself down by getting hurt and allowed Siggurdson to get more time and he has taken advantage. When everyone is healthy, I can’t see him getting on the pitch. It’s too bad that he didn’t get to move to Liverpool because I think pairing with Suarez would have boosted his career.

    Reply
    • Dempsey wante CL soccer. Liverpool are about 5 years away from that, whereas Spurs are having a proper go. He’s not good enough for City or United, nor could he compete with Arsenal’s starters. Spurs was his best bet to still play and maybe get into the CL. He has had a poor season, but with a proper preseason under his belt, he’ll do better next season.

      Reply
      • Yeah…not sure you can put the Spurs move on JK. I don’t think Dempsey does anything he doesn’t want to do.

      • Yes, your point is well noted and I understand why he ended up there, but mostly because Spurs was willing to pay more. I just feel that Liverpool would have been a better fit. Neither Spurs or L’pool are currently in the CL, so that’s not a big issue but Spurs is definitely closer. Hopefully Bale returns soon so he actually does have a shot at the CL next year but I unfortunately think that they won’t finish in the top 4 and therefore Bale will leave and then the whole CL deal becomes a big quesiton all together. At that point, Liverpool may be closer to the CL than Spurs. Of course, Suarez could leave too. Anyway, I think his chances of playing time for the Reds would have been a little better.

      • If I recall Liverpool and Fulham reached a deal for Dempsey but that deal included Jordan Henderson moving to Fulham and he didn’t want to move to Fulham. Watching Fulham’s central midfield this year I really wish he had come over instead of the cash from Spurs; but I don’t blame a 22 year old for not wanting to take a step down.

    • Hawk,

      So you want the US team to be full of players who never take risks? As someone else said if you think JK could talk Clint into doing something he did not want to do then I have a great deal on a mortgage for you.

      You want US players to just get to a comfortable level with mediocre clubs where maybe there is no competition but they are good enough to get regular playing time and a good steady paycheck for several years.

      God forbid they should go to a club where they might be pushed to get better and God forbid they should fail. Stay in some crap league like Austria, Norway or Sweden where they know they will be able to look good. That’s how you develop players to win the World Cup.

      You want a US team full of guys who will settle for just good enough, guys who will be happy with the Bronze Boot in a competition, which is for THIRD place in the scoring race, but hey that’s good enough.

      Clint wasn’t happy with it, and if you are then I guess you’ll be happy if the US just qualifies for the World Cup.

      If you think Clint hasn’t always wanted to test himself at the highest level he could possibly get to then you really haven’t been following him too closely.
      Just for the record, I think Dempsey is a very good striker, one with a knack for scoring really important goals but is an otherwise unremarkable player, except for his incredible toughness and never say die attitude. He is proof that if you can score important goals then there will always be a place for you.

      Reply
      • Love the last paragraph, well, your whole post really, but spot on with Dempsey. I saw him playing most games last year and quite a few this year. Tough describes him best, and he does score huge goals consistently over the years for all teams that he has played or does play for.

      • GW,

        Sorry for the delayed reply but I obviously don’t keep the late nights you do. As I stated, it’s my opinion so you’re certainly welcome to disagree. You’re right that Clint certainly isn’t going to do something he doesn’t want to do. However, I believe that it was well documented that JK pushed him to go to a better club and he ultimately did. Would he have gone ahead and forced Fulham’s hand as he did without outside intervention? Probably, because he has always stated his desire to play in the CL, but you can’t argue Klinsman’s influence. It’s also well documented that there weren’t a lot of suiters and that his deal with Spurs happened at the last minute.

        At his age, it may have been the perfect time for a move but I personally believe that not having a proper preseason is the biggest reason for his struggles this year. Why did he not have preseason? … Because he wasn’t able to secure a move in a timely manner. So the question is not whether I think people should just settle, however, the comfortabilty has more to do with the familiarity of the system and proper time to train. He may have been poised for an even better year at Fulham but is instead mostly a bit player on a better team.

        In response to challenging oneself, I’m pretty sure Fulham and Spurs play the same teams. Yes, day to day competition to battle for a spot is a good thing but sometimes the right fit is even better. He went from a place where his manager and club had confidence in him and appreciated is “toughness” to a side that sees him as a role palyer. Sometimes “comfortability” with the surroundings allows one to reach their full potential. I love Clint as a player but I’m also realistic. So if he’s not good enough to play at Spurs, I believe he would be better off getting regular playing time at another club. There’s not a lot of time left to discover himself at the club level before the WC begins. Playing time is more important in the short term.

        I can certainly see your side of things but I don’t think I ever mentioned he should play in Austria or Sweden and for that matter, I don’t think I ever mentioned supporting the US team. Good points on your behalf, maybe I’m the only one who takes this point of view on his move but I may also be the only one being realistic.

  4. Were those slightly visible Am. football lines and endzone graphics or rugby lines or something else on the pitch in the Rapid Vienna-FC Wacker Tirol game?

    Reply
  5. Altidore, Boyd and Gomez. Thats our striker roster for the WC. Since we are weak there we provavly will play with 1 striker up top or perhaps a false striker with Dempsey in that role

    Reply
    • We could see Dempsey or Donovan in that withdrawn striker role or attacking central midfielder. Altidore/Boyd or Altidore/Gomez does look good as a pair. If either two play as a pair where does Donovan and Dempsey play? Dempsey as withdrawn striker or Donovan? Donovan on the wing or Dempsey on the wing?

      I think it could make a lot of sense to have Dempsey play as a forward with Donovan as a ACM or withdrawn striker. Dempsey would be the playmaking forward paired with Altidore.

      Going with three forwards this could look good: Donovan—Altidore—Dempsey

      speculating is fun

      Reply
      • I’m not sure Boyd is better than Johnson at this point. He may very well be by the time the WC rolls around, but by then who knows where Agudelo’s at… anyway. Yeah, speculating is fun.

    • I’m not sure we know what the forwards can do considering the mediocre offensive midfield support they’ve been receiving.

      Reply
  6. odds on Dempsey leaving Spurs this season? He makes around 50-60 K a week. Only Man City and Liverpool could afford that and might be interested in him. maybe Dempsey could head to a CL club in Italy or Spain.

    only 8goals in like 35 appearances. Thatd decent but hes had many average to bad matches this season. If theyre in the CL next season, will he be staying?

    Reply
      • Dempsey stays. With all the injuries that Spurs are carrying right now, he is roll playing. Be careful not to confuse this year with the last couple.

      • a) where in there does it say he makes 95k a week
        b) tottenham is well known to not pay any of their players that much money
        c) lol at using goal.com as a source for something

    • And I wonder how much Adebayor is making. He has scored only 3 goals I believe, took his time getting back from the African Cup of Nations and rarely seems to be putting all out. He’s only about 10 months younger than Dempsey and Dempsey can play, left, right, or center mid as well as striker while Adebayor is only a striker who hasn’t produced hardly at all. If I am manager, it would make a lot more sense to keep Dempsey and unload Adebayor for a young promising striker. Only Bale and Defoe have scored more goals than Dempsey, who got a late start and Defoe hasn’t scored yet in 2013. All this talk on this website seems to ignore facts.

      Reply
    • nato,

      In his last five years at Fulham, Clint averaged 42.6 appearances and 11.8 goals across all competitions.

      Clint has 33 appearances across all competitions for Spurs and has 5 league goals and 3 FA Cup goals for a total of 8 across all competitions.Spurs have 6 more games. The best he can do 39 appearances in all competitions. If he can get four more goals he would finish with 39 appearances and 12 goals across all competitions.

      This isn’t too bad compared to his average Fulham numbers and given his injuries and the turmoil of a move. Of course, Spurs may have expected more.

      Defoe has 38 appearances and 14 goals across all competitions but the key difference is he has 10 league goals which are more important to Spurs.

      Adebayor has 28 appearances and 6 goals.

      If Spurs do get into the Champion’s league and they keep Bale I doubt all three come back but who knows which of these three if any will be back. All three are about 30 and my guess is Spurs would like at least one younger, better striker.

      Reply
      • probably a more accurate sampling would be goals/minutes, since he’s been used off the bench at spurs, and was regularly starting at fulham. can’t score on the bench.

  7. As always, some good, some bad in Americans abroad news. I also saw Aaron Johannson subbed on for AZ Alkmaar today. It will be interesting if that coach can push him like he did Bradley and Altidore. Said he would have a hard time denying a USA call up. Every time I see the Packwood injury it makes me diss appointed all over again. He was really starting to get his career going.

    Reply
  8. Watching the video of Boyd. Glad he scored and he was the only one I cared about but man that was some really poor finishing.

    Reply
    • He almost had a brace… I’m pretty sure that’s him getting denied by the crossbar on the header around 2:03.

      Reply
      • He’s dynamic in the air. Haven’t seen him take many great shots in any highlights. Hope he begins to develop that part of his game.

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