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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Jozy Altidore Sunderland (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Jozy Altidore may not have found the back of the net against Fulham, but his Sunderland debut and return to the Premiership were impressive all the same.

Altidore enjoyed a strong first game with the Black Cats on Saturday, showing little to no semblance of the young forward that struggled with Hull City in the Premiership in 2009-10. Altidore kept opposing defenders busy throughout the 90 minutes with quality hold-up play and several aggressive dribbling runs, but unfortunately for him and Sunderland, that was not enough, as they were beaten at home, 1-0, by the Cottagers.

One player who was on the successful end of his season opener was Brad Guzan. The 28-year-old goalkeeper helped Aston Villa grab a shocking 3-1 victory at Arsenal on Saturday, making three saves in a game that saw the Villans go down early before responding with three straight goals.

There were also three different goal-scorers this weekend, as Aron Johannsson, Sacha Kljestan and Paul Arriola all netted in their respective matches. Johannsson extended his scoring streak to four games across all competitions with the opener in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 win over RKC Waalwijk, Kljestan made it two straight weeks in which he scored the first goal in a lopsided victory for RSC Anderlecht, and Arriola buried a clinical equalizer for his first professional goal before Club Tijuana conceded late to fall to Monterrey.

Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started and played 90 minutes in Everton’s 2-2 draw vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 1-0 loss vs. Fulham on Saturday.
  • Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 1-0 loss vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
  • Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Aston Villa’s 3-1 win vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win vs. Crystal Palace on Sunday.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector did not dress in Birmingham City’s 1-0 loss vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
  • Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from a leg injury.
  • Tim Ream dressed but did not play in Bolton Wanderers’ 3-0 loss vs. Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
  • Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Leicester City’s 1-0 win vs. Derby County on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 3-0 win vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Reading’s 3-3 draw vs. Watford on Saturday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Fabian Johnson started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 5-1 win vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-STtvV89KM?feature=player_detailpage]

  • Joe Gyau did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Timmy Chandler came off the bench, played 32 minutes and received a yellow card in FC Nurnberg’s 2-2 draw vs. Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
  • Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Augsburg’s 1-0 loss vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04’s 4-0 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96′s 3-0 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • John Anthony Brooks came off the bench and played seven minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 2-2 draw vs. FC Nurnberg on Sunday.

2. Bundesliga

  • Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-0 loss vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Sunday.
  • Andrew Wooten started and played 83 minutes in Kaiserslautern’s 2-1 win vs. FC Erzgebirge Aue on Saturday.
  • Bobby Wood came off the bench and played 22 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 1-0 win vs. FC Ingolstadt on Sunday.

FRANCE

  • Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and played 38 minutes in FC Nantes’ 2-1 loss vs. Lorient on Sunday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Aron Johannsson started, played 73 minutes and scored a GOAL in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 win vs. RKC Waalwijk on Saturday.

https://dailymotion.com/video/x139djx

RUSSIA

  • Eugene Starikov dressed but did not play in FK Tom’ Tomsk’s 1-0 loss vs. PFK Samara Kryliya Sovetov on Sunday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in RSC Anderlecht’s 3-0 win vs. Waasland-Beveren on Sunday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJzb9eWxwAw?feature=player_embedded]

DENMARK

  • Conor O’Brien started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland’s 2-1 win vs. Aalborg BK on Saturday.

AUSTRIA

SWEDEN

  • Brian Span did not dress in Djurgarden IF’s 1-1 draw vs. BK Hacken on Sunday.

NORWAY

  • Mix Diskerud started and played 70 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 0-0 draw vs. Valerenga on Saturday.
  • Josh Gatt did not dress in Molde FK’s 1-1 draw vs. Odd on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Ethan Horvath did not dress for Molde FK.
  • Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 1-0 loss vs. Sandnes Ulf on Sunday.

MEXICO

  • Michael Orozco Fiscal started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 4-2 win vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Sunday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes for Puebla.
  • Jose Torres started and played 90 minutes in Tigres UANL’s 3-0 loss vs. Santos Laguna on Friday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.
  • Joe Corona started and played 85 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 2-1 loss vs. Monterrey on Saturday.
  • Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Greg Garza came off the bench and played nine minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Paul Arriola came off the bench, played five minutes, received a yellow card and scored a GOAL for Club Tijuana.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cR_ina_icmM?feature=player_detailpage]

  • Herculez Gomez did not dress for Club Tijuana. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Joaquin Alonso Hernandez dressed but did not play in Monterrey’s 2-1 win vs. Club Tijuana on Saturday.

BRAZIL

  • Freddy Adu did not dress in Bahia’s 0-0 draw vs. Santos FC on Sunday.

—–

What do you think of these performances? How do you rate Altidore’s Sunderland debut? Which of this weekend’s goals impressed you the most, or was Kljestan’s ear celebration better than all of them combined?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

    • My understanding is that he is getting MX citizenship so as not to count as a foreign player for his club. Heard him interviewed and he had no inclination to play for MX as he has loved his time in the US youth setup.

      Reply
  1. I believe Lichaj had an assist and Williams had a hockey assist. JAB gave up the foul that led to the equalizing free kick in stoppage time.

    Reply
  2. That second Anderlecht goal was sweet: caught up to the long ball, spun a cheeky little header off the ground to himself for an inside-out lefty kiss off the near post, all at a full gallop!

    I need to get out more.

    Reply
  3. I really think Geoff Cameron should start at RB in the next WCQ. He starts and plays there with his club which is in the EPL. So what he had a bad game against germany. Brad Evans doesn’t even play RB with his club and Cameron plays in a much tougher league.

    Reply
    • Cameron started at RB this past weekend, but he is not the first choice RB at Stoke. He is pretty much a filler for wherever they need a body, sort of like he is with the USMNT.

      Stoke’s 1st choice back 4:
      Wilson Shawcross Huth Pieters

      So hold off on judgements after 1 game.

      Reply
      • You sure about that, Drewbies? It seemed to me that last season he played RB for Stoke about 2/3rds of the time. I agree, though, that Cameron’s fate on the USMNT will be highly influenced by where he ends up playing regularly for Stoke. I saw the second half of Stoke’s weekend game and thought Cameron defensively at RB was excellent. I mean top notch and possible better then Cherundolo. Offensively, he was okay, but still has a lot of room for improvement and maybe he can do that under Mark Hughes. Stoke was actually playing some nice soccer and they were tough against a good Liverpool.

      • I have no idea where he will be. I am eager to see where he ends up, RB or CB, and I hope it is not the bench. I rather doubt it will be.

      • Cameron’s best and worst asset is his versatility in my opinion. As a RB crosses are not one of his strength but he is good with more direct or short passes. Personally, I like to see him as a DCM.

      • wilson has not been playing RB at all. nor did he play their last year. cameron had been starting RB entire preseason and wilson has been at CM.

        not sure what intel you are using…

    • The problem with Cameron at RB for the US is he’s not the kind of RB Klinsi likes. He wants a RB who can bomb up field and attack as much as he defends. That’s why Chandler from two years ago was a perfect player for us. Sadly, since then not only has he fallen off our map, but his club’s as well.

      I think Cameron is a capable RB. I just don’t think he fits in our system.

      Reply
  4. Glad to see so many players get the start and have impact to the matches.
    Looking forward to all the “Recovering from injury” reports to start falling off….and all of our players gain more and more minutes.
    Ives would be good to get updates (if possible) as to how players are progressing from their various injuries….
    Shea
    Edu
    Dolo
    Packwood
    Gomez
    Gatt

    Reply
    • Packwood is training again. He’s like three months ahead of his schedule according to one of his Tweets from a week or so ago.

      Reply
    • Great video, thanks for the link. It’s really amazing how often he had to try to get long balls with his back to the goal and defenders shoving him around. Looks like Sunderland desperately need a good attacking midfielder.

      Reply
    • good clip.. after watching the game i thought Jozy played very strong and aggressive.. it just always seemed like he was going in by himself vs four or five Fulham defenders. idk how fulham won that game.. Sunderland should be a decent team this year, and Jozy looks primed for a huge year.

      Reply
    • He got the assist for Hoffenheim playing left back. If that is where he ends up playing regularly for Hoffenheim that is where he should play for the USMNT and compete for the starting spot against Edgar Castillo. It would be foolish of Klinsmann the Tinkerer to dink around with Fabian and put him in the USMNT midfield, where have better attacking options.

      Reply
  5. After this first weekend I have to say that I’m not too thrilled with NBC compared to Fox Soccer. With FSC they would show up to 4 different games per day and repeat games. When you live on the West Coast and some games start at 4:30, 5:30 a.m. and other ridiculous hours, this is a great help that they would repeat early games. So far, NBC doesn’t repeat anything. Instead they show things like motorcycle racing or yachting, etc. There was a repeat of Liverpool Stoke listed for Saturday night but instead they showed a review show and it conflicted with the Galaxy game anyway which I wanted to watch. Also, according to one report, the extra games were supposed to be on two different channels on Direct TV. I couldn’t find them anywhere on Direct TV and I have a premium sports package. So far the only benefit I see is that the Premier League telecasts are being given a lot of promotion on the various NBC channels, which should increase viewership and then improve coverage.

    Reply
      • 491 to 495? The website I saw said two other channels and when I looked through the listings from the remote they didn’t show up on the channels you mentioned as I went through all those channels on my guide. Thanks, hope that works next weekend.

      • If you have Directv you have every game live as Paul pointed out. The Match of the Day program shows cut ups of every game Saturday and Sunday night recapping the days action. Replays of the big 4 clubs are available Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night (It may be too late for some by then). Also I believe that On Demand replays should be available next weekend via NBC Live Extra (either by the phone app or the website). Stay tuned…

      • There will be more online replays of certain games available next weekend. Also DVR is a good option if you like sleep.

    • I really do not like not having replay. What about those of us who don’t have DirectTV (I have Verizon FIOS). I also liked the sports wrap-up program that Fox Soccer had. Not to mention, they do not even have the online replay that ESPN does (or do they and I am just having hard time finding it). I tried watching the replay of Aston Villa v Arsenal and I could not find it.

      I might have to subscribe to BEIN

      Reply
    • I enjoyed their presentation. My problem is that their app was awful. I have all the NBC channels, yet when I downloaded their app, it said I needed to buy some package that included the Golf channel. I could watch the games on my computer, just not through their app.

      So yes it’s lazy, but instead of watching the game from the comforts of my bed, I had to get my lazy arse up and walk to the living room (the horror!). A bit criminal that they’d essentially make you pay extra to use their app.

      Reply
      • I was impressed by NBC Sports soccer coverage. When was the last time any network aired a European regular season league game live on broadcast TV? Watched the Swansea vs Man U game and Chelsea vs Hull game on TV and streamed the Sunderland vs Fulham game on the NBC Sports Exra Time app on the iPhone. Everything worked perfectly.

    • When it was announced, Spurs put out their official statement that Dempsey had transferred to MLS, they used his name and wished him well etc…

      When AVB later made a brief statement, he twice referred to him as ” the player”… wouldn’t even say his name.. not only shows the writing on the wall but a well deserved rep for a lack of maturity

      Everyone has taken the high road in this transaction, but it was obvious AVB wanted nothing to do with Deuce.. if he didn’t transfer he wouldn’t make the 18 most games I bet

      Reply
      • That is the way I read it, that Clint was surplus to Tottenham requirements and they were eager to offload him. That is why I thought it was crazy of MLS to pay a 9m transfer fee. Tottenham most likely would have sold him for much less. I still wish Clint would have stayed in Europe. I have no doubt some good teams would have signed him and I worry that he might lose form against mediocre MLS defenses.

      • That’s counter to what Dempsey said. Dempsey said he received a nice text from AVB that said he wished him well and that Dempsey was in his plans for this season. But that he understood why Dempsey left.

        Seeing as Siggursund (can’t spell it..) played, Dempsey would have found time as well if he tried.

  6. From what I have seen, Lichaj is playing really well for a defense that has let in maybe one goal this season thus far… So we called in Castillo and Ream? Any idea why JAB didn’t start? Good to see chandler play, hopefully he commits ASAP. I didn’t catch the Sunderland game, does it look like Altidore will be able to score some goals this season? I miss seeing Dempsey on this already. Great to see AJ score, I think he will replace Eddie Johnson on the roster.

    I think that’s all my points and questions.

    Reply
      • He did, we lost, and that was 6 months ago. Since stories have come out perhaps he doesn’t like flying. This added on to the long history of will he or won’t he before being cap tied. Perhaps its best for everyone to just moves on at this point.

      • That’s what xanex are for. Millions of people “don’t like” flying or get anxiety over flying or even full on panic attacks – but they go where they need to get to for their lives. The doesn’t like flying excuse is lame, these days we can get him an anxiety-comfort puppy to fly with him.

      • My guess is “That Guy”‘s use of commit isn’t in terms of picking a national team (US v Germany), but in demonstrating a commitment for playing for the USMNT.

    • I’d assume they didn’t start JAB because of his midseason game. He’s still young so you don’t want to push him too much with playing time this season. I’d expect him to start next week.

      Reply

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