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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

FBL-EUR-C3-RAPID-VIENNA-PAOK-THESSALONIKI

By FRANCO PANIZO

If Jozy Altidore’s injury prevents him from suiting up for the U.S. Men’s National Team next week, then Terrence Boyd might be in line for a call-up, especially after his performance on Sunday.

Making his return from a shoulder injury, Boyd got back to his scoring ways in Rapid Vienna’s 1-1 draw vs. Red Bull Salzburg. The 22-year-old striker netted a second-half equalizer in his first appearance for the club since Aug. 11, and the goal now gives him four across all competitions this season.

Sacha Kljestan also found the back of the net on Sunday. Kljestan scored for the third time in his last four league games by netting the opener in RSC Anderlecht’s wild 4-3 loss to Zulte-Waregem. Kljestan nearly had a brace in a match that saw three players get sent off, but his second-half shot was denied by the crossbar.

Some more good news came out of Norway, as 18-year-old forward Ben Spencer made his professional debut. Spencer came off the bench and played the final 14 minutes of Molde FK’s 4-0 victory over Valerenga on Sunday, a brief cameo that will surely not be forgotten by the U.S. Under-18 Men’s National Team pool player.

Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Everton’s 0-0 draw vs. Cardiff City on Saturday.
  • Geoff Cameron started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Stoke City’s 1-0 win vs. West Ham United on Saturday.
  • Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City. He is recovering from a sports hernia.
  • Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City.
  • Brad Guzan and Aston Villa did not play this weekend.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Sunday.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 1-1 draw vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
  • Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from a leg injury.
  • Tim Ream did not dress in Bolton Wanderers’ 4-1 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • 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 2-1 loss vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 loss vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams came off the bench and played 52 minutes in Reading’s 1-0 win vs. Yeovil Town on Saturday.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley came off the bench and played 18 minutes in AS Roma’s 3-0 win vs. Hellas Verona on Sunday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 6-2 loss vs. VfB Stuttgart on Sunday.
  • Joe Gyau did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Timmy Chandler came off the bench and played six minutes in FC Nurnberg’s 1-0 loss vs. FC Augsburg on Saturday.
  • Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Augsburg’s 1-0 win vs. FC Nurnberg on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones came off the bench and played 12 minutes in Schalke 04’s 2-0 win vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96′s 4-1 win vs. Mainz on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • John Anthony Brooks started, played 90 minutes and conceded a penalty kick in Hertha Berlin’s 2-0 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.

2. Bundesliga

  • Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-1 draw vs. Dynamo Dresden on Sunday.
  • Andrew Wooten and Kaiserslautern play Energie Cottbus on Monday.
  • Bobby Wood came off the bench and played 45 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 2-0 loss vs. SV Sandhausen on Friday.

FRANCE

  • Alejandro Bedoya started and played 90 minites in FC Nantes’ 0-0 draw vs. Stade de Reims on Saturday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Aron Johannsson came off the bench and played 19 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 1-1 draw vs. Vitesse Arnhem on Sunday.

RUSSIA

  • Eugene Starikov dressed but did not play in FK Tom’ Tomsk’s 2-1 loss vs. Spartak Moscow on Sunday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in RSC Anderlecht’s 4-3 loss vs. Zulte-Waregem on Sunday. You can watch the goal here.

DENMARK

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd started, played 77 minutes, received a yellow card and scored a GOAL in Rapid Vienna’s 1-1 draw vs. Red Bull Salzburg on Sunday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyqWvoDJnE8?feature=player_embedded]

SWEDEN

  • Brian Span did not dress in Djurgarden IF’s 2-1 loss vs. Elfsborg on Sunday.

NORWAY

  • Mix Diskerud started and played 82 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 2-1 win vs. Aalesund on Saturday.
  • Josh Gatt did not dress in Molde FK’s 4-0 win vs. Valerenga on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Ben Spencer came off the bench and played 14 minutes for Molde FK.
  • Ethan Horvath did not dress for Molde FK.
  • Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 1-1 draw vs. Tromso on Sunday.

MEXICO

  • Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 1-0 win vs. Atlante on Sunday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes for Puebla.
  • Jose Torres started, played 84 minutes and received a yellow card in Tigres UANL’s 1-1 draw vs. Veracruz on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.
  • Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 3-1 loss vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
  • Joe Corona dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
  • Greg Garza came off the bench and played 28 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Paul Arriola started and played 13 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • 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 0-0 draw vs. Atlas on Saturday.

BRAZIL

  • Freddy Adu did not dress in Bahia’s 4-2 loss vs. Portuguesa de Desportos on Saturday.

—–

What do you think of these performances? Would you like to see Boyd called in if Altidore is unable to play? Impressed with Kljestan’s start to the Pro League season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If it counts for anything, I scored yesterday! 😉

    Sooo Parkhurst gets the call instead of a few other options we possibly could have gone with. Hopefully we clinch this month so we can see others come into the fold in October

    Reply
  2. Can we add Shawn Parker at Mainz, Jeremy Toljan at Hoffenheim? I know they’re not in the American fold yet, but I would like to keep up with them until they are gone for sure,

    Alvarado and Emilio Garcia, etc. in Mexico?

    Reply
    • No? Dempsey is probably going to try and work his one loan spell with a team playing for a UEFA Cup, EJ is not Premiership quality, and I really don’t think Donovan is comfortable with his current status/lifestyle and not really looking to add to his workload.

      Reply
      • I was only thinking of this year. I fully expect many MLS NAT players to seek a loan spell somewhere, to keep in form for Brazil 2014….

      • Dempsey is only allowed 1 loan spell for the four year contract he signed with the Sounders, can’t see him using it to go to Everton when they should be solidly middle of the table with or without him.

        Everton wouldn’t want Johnson unless their reserve squad needed depth.

        Doubt we’ll see Donovan take a loan, he’d rather be rested for the World Cup than adding a slew of matches I think, he’s not as young as he used to be.

      • I believe Donovan already stated that he wasn’t going to go on loan anywhere this next year during the upcoming WC cycle..

    • Cause Dempsey is lighting up the MLS and all of Europe is hoping to get him on loan? Zero offense Everton isn’t looking for a, to date, zero offense MLS’r.

      Reply
  3. hey, lets all follow JK’s lead and continue to ignore sacha kljestan. its worked so far! beyond bradley and jones (neither of whom started this weekend) we have beckerman – hes an MLS all star! and diskerud – he has never done anything special in a pretty strong norwegian league (at LEAST top 30 league in europe) but he was clearly average to above average against some VERY strong gold-cup competition.

    were set! i dont even think it matters if sacha lights up the champions league – he has proven he is a bum

    Reply
    • At the elite international level (i.e. outside of CONCACAF) he has proven to be a bum. Bum is a bit harsh — he’s obviously a very good player — but not quite good enough for elite international competitions and I wouldn’t want him in my starting lineup in, say, a World Cup match.

      IF he lights up the champions league, we’ll all have something new to consider, but in his first 27 years of life he hasn’t shown he’s the type of prodigious talent that could shine amongst the Real Madrid’s and AC Milans of the world.

      Reply
    • Kljestan has proven to be valuable for his club team but I’m tired of watching him disappear anytime he touches the field for the USMNT. Did you watch the Belgium game?

      Reply
      • Not sure it’s completely fair to judge him since he’s almost always playing out of position for USMNT but he definitely hasn’t lit the world on fire when he’s been on the field. The last few appearances when he’s been in the middle he’s looked good, though nothing special.

    • i see, so people didnt realize that sacha has 1 start for USMNT in last 2 years (since JK took over) and that he is competing beckerman and diskerud for a spot, not some nebulous “international quality / Real Madrid-level” competition.

      but sure. go on thinking a guy who has never done anything above norway/mls/gold cup is going to flourish at WC level.

      that pretty much always works out

      Reply
  4. don’t tell me we have a RB problem we have Cameron, Lichaj, Spector, Morales, Yedlin, Williams, Chandler, Orozco all playing this week.. oh ya and Parkhurst – did not dress.

    Reply
    • Yeah… let’s go ahead and take Yedlin off that list for now. Did you see his U-20 WC? He’s got some defensive position skills to learn.

      Reply
    • To provide a less snarky response, though:

      Spector, Morales, and Danny Williams play in the MF.

      Yedlin is too much of a liability to play against the two best CONCACAF opponents.

      Still, you’d think we’d be covered between Cameron, Lichaj and Orozco (who was quite good in the GC, albeit at CB).

      Reply
  5. Kljestan certainly seems to have lifted his game and Boyd looks like he could fill in for Altidore if needed. I thought the card for Cameron was pretty harsh. I saw much of the Tijuana game but missed the first half hour. Was Arriola injured? Not the best week for Americans abroad, but a pretty good week.

    Reply
    • Didn’t watch the game, but checked Medio Tiempo for what information I could find. A central defender was sent off at the 2″ mark and the sub for Arriola was a defender, so I’m guessing it was a tactical sub forced by the red card. Would someone who watched the game like to shed more light?

      Reply
  6. Watched most of the second half of the Puebla game. Michael Orozco at left back, had one bad mistake that almost cost a goal, but was an important part of the build up to Puebla’s goal. Dribbled down the left flank and found Alfredo Moreno in the middle with a nice pass on the ground, Moreno then hit Alustiza for a well taken volley.
    DaMarcus was OK, nothing special going forward, helped cover back a lot. Frightening to see him defending 1v1 at the far post when a cross comes in though. Has neither the springs nor the strength to do much there.

    Reply
    • He’s probably their #5 midfielder if Roma picks up another striker, which they probably will today. Their starting 3 is set as De Rossi, Strootman, Pjanic. In Roma’s formation, Florenzi can play either MF or F. If Roma picks up a striker, Florenzi is probably their top sub at MF and F. Bradley is the next option an MF.

      Yesterday, Florenzi started at F, and Bradley was the #1 sub in the midfield.

      Reply

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