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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Aron Johannsson AZ (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

If Aron Johannsson keeps this up, Jozy Altidore’s record of goals scored in a European season by an American will be in serious danger.

Johannsson notched his sixth goal across all competitions on Sunday, converting a game-winning penalty kick that he drew in AZ Alkmaar’s 3-0 triumph against Go Ahead Eagles. Johannsson still has plenty of work to do to come anywhere near Altidore’s 31 goals from last season, but the AZ forward’s start the season has given him as good a chance as any, especially when considering that there are still more than eight months of the season to play.

Two other Americans in good form found the back of the net this weekend. Sacha Kljestan scored the second of RSC Anderlecht’s five goals in a shutout victory over KV Mechelen on Saturday, giving him five on the season across all competitions. Terrence Boyd made up for a missed penalty kick in Rapid Vienna’s 4-0 win vs. FC Wacker Innsbruck on Saturday by netting a second-half insurance goal that raised his season total to five across all competitions as well.

Jozy Altidore had apparently joined in on the scoring fun on Saturday, but he had an impressive equalizing goal taken away from him by the referee in Sunderland’s 3-1 loss to Arsenal. Altidore did well to fight off defender Bacary Sagna, who was draped all over him, before slipping a shot over the goal line from a tight angle. It did not count, however, as main official Martin Atkinson surprisingly chose not to play the advantage and whistled for a free kick instead, a decision that helped Arsenal put the game out of reach with an insurance goal from Aaron Ramsey.

On the other side of the spectrum, Tim Howard helped lead Everton to a surprise win over Chelsea on Saturday. Howard put in a good shift in goal in the match that gave the Toffees their first win of the season, recording his third straight cleansheet of the campaign with six saves in the 1-0 triumph at Goodison Park.

Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Everton’s 1-0 win vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore started, played 90 minutes and had a goal negated by a late foul call in Sunderland’s 3-1 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
  • Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 0-0 draw vs. Manchester City 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 started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Aston Villa’s 2-1 loss vs. Newcastle United on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 2-0 win vs. Norwich City on Saturday.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Birmingham City’s 1-0 loss vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
  • Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from a leg injury.
  • Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-0 loss vs. Leeds United 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 2-0 win vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 3-2 win vs. Barnsley on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams started and played 90 minutes in Reading’s 0-0 draw vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley and AS Roma play Parma on Monday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 2-1 win vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
  • Joe Gyau did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Timmy Chandler started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in FC Nurnberg’s 1-1 draw vs. TSV Eintracht Braunschweig on Sunday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF0_pUWoeT4]

  • Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Augsburg’s 2-1 win vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Schalke 04’s 1-0 win vs. Mainz on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96′s 2-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • John Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 1-0 loss vs. VfB Stuttgart on Friday.

2. Bundesliga

  • Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-0 loss vs. FC Union Berlin on Sunday.
  • Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Kaiserslautern’s 1-0 loss vs. SV Sandhausen on Saturday.
  • Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich’s 0-0 draw vs. VfR Aalen on Friday.

FRANCE

  • Alejandro Bedoya started and played 75 minutes in FC Nantes’ 1-0 win vs. Sochaux on Saturday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Aron Johannsson started, played 81 minutes and scored a GOAL via a penalty kick in AZ Alkmaar’s 3-0 win vs. Go Ahead Eagles on Sunday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eT2E9v-Z7Vw]

RUSSIA

  • Eugene Starikov did not dress in FK Tom’ Tomsk’s 2-2 draw vs. Anzhi Makhachkala on Sunday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in RSC Anderlecht’s 5-0 win vs. KV Mechelen on Saturday.

https://dailymotion.com/video/x14puib

DENMARK

  • Conor O’Brien started and played 90 minutes in Odense BK’s 2-1 loss vs. Brondby IF on Sunday.

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd started, played 83 minutes, had a penalty kick saved and scored a GOAL in Rapid Vienna’s 4-0 win vs. FC Wacker Innsbruck on Saturday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULKYo-eDq94?feature=player_embedded]

SWEDEN

  • Brian Span and Djurgarden IF play Malmo FF on Monday.

NORWAY

  • Mix Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 1-0 loss vs. Tromso on Sunday.
  • Josh Gatt did not dress in Molde FK’s 3-1 win vs. Aalesund on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Ben Spencer did not dress for Molde FK.
  • Ethan Horvath did not dress for Molde FK.
  • Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 1-0 loss vs. IK Start on Sunday.

MEXICO

  • Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 1-1 draw vs. Toluca on Sunday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started and played 64 minutes for Puebla.
  • Jose Torres started and played 90 minutes in Tigres UANL’s 1-0 win vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.
  • Edgar Castillo started and played 79 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 2-2 draw vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Sunday.
  • Joe Corona dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
  • Greg Garza came off the bench and played 11 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Paul Arriola came off the bench and played nine minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Herculez Gomez did not dress for Club Tijuana. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Joaquin Alonso Hernandez did not dress in Monterrey’s 1-0 win vs. Pachuca on Saturday.

BRAZIL

  • Freddy Adu did not dress in Bahia’s 2-2 draw vs. Coritiba on Sunday.

—–

What do you think of these performances? Do you see Johannsson coming anywhere near Altidore’s scoring total from last season? What do you make of Atkinson’s decision to negate Altidore’s goal vs. Arsenal?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. JK does not want to lose either of these qualifiers. He will call in a team he believes is well-suited to winning both games. I think that means he will call in players without much regard for where they are playing their club soccer (one could argue also without regard to where, positionally, they play, but that is another topic.)

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  2. Joe Gyau needs to move. Kid has the most potential of all our American youngsters, and he is buried deep on the roster. He could be starting somewhere in Scandinavia, Holland, Belgium, or France.

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  3. Best news: 90 for Chandler and Williams.

    Poor news: Corona still in exile, Parkhurst still not dressing, Wood losing his starting role under his new coach, and Jozy getting a goal chalked off. He needs to break that BL scoring funk soon. I think it’ll raise not only his confidence, but the team’s.

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    • Not Altidore’s fault he did not score. He was grabbed, held and probably kicked at before puling free and getting to the area and beating the keeper. That non-goal was on the referee for not playing advantage.

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      • Oh yeah, Jozy had the ball was going toward goal and it was the last defender who fouled him. A good call would have been advantage, a proper call by the referee might have to played advantage and then issued a red card for trying to deny an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, certainly at least a yellow card for a tactical foul.

  4. Man, after looking so good in the Gold Cup,I thought Joe Benny was going to have a breakout season with Xolos but lately he’s not even sniffing the pitch.

    SBI, can you please post the time of the goals/ assists in the videos? Sometimes we have to search through a nine minute, blurry clip for ten seconds of footage. Thanks.

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  5. Benny on the bench and Adu not dressing after having a great game in cup game, no bueno. But on the brighter side, AJ is a beast. Forget the PK, the whole game this dude is on point causing problems for the defensive back line especially the LB. AJ would have definitely caused major problems for Mexico would he had played. Either way, good weekend for our boys

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  6. Howard made some good saves but also had a horrendous blunder that almost led to a goal. Granted he would start for many national teams, but with Guzan doing so well, one has to wonder if Guzan should get a chance.

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    • The only way Howard isn’t our keeper in Brazil is if he looses his starting job at Everton. Guzan is a great back up to have but he has had some mistakes as well.

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    • I agree: Guzan is tit for tat with Howard at this point for club. For country, Howard’s experience keeps him the number one. But in October’s qualifiers, I expect Guzan to start and make his case for consideration.

      I like Howard as our keeper. But bar the Mexico game, for the last few games, I’ve felt at least one goal he could have done better. I think he tends to get amped up and play in the moment, instead of keeping his cool. It was a common complaint while he was with United.

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    • the questions about replacing Howard are ridiculous to even think about. In the past calendar week he’s shutout arguably the most talented team in Concacaf, and one of the best teams in Europe. It’s not that Guzan isn’t good, its that Tim Howard is A) our starter and B) has done nothing to even remotely consider replacing him. Additionally, with a still relatively young backline, do you really want to swap a veteran keeper with Guzan?

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    • It is hard to think of him as an American when he has no interest. Will he get the same treatment as Donovan did when he took time off? Atleast Donovan was always pro USA

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      • Chandler has had the same treatment. He’s lost the fans’ support and Klinsi ignored him during the last set of qualifiers even when Chandler was earning game time.

        Chandler has come out and said he knows he’s messed up and needs to work himself back in. I think he’s maturing.

        And when was Chandler ever anti-USA? From his own accounts, he’s followed the team and stayed in contact with Klinsi and players.

    • he’s out for about a month it sounds like.

      forzaitalianfootball.com

      my guess would be for Roma to extend it a little longer so that he doesn’t play in the next US qualifiers and risk getting hurt again (especially since we have qualified already). But have no source to back that up… just a hunch

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      • With qualification in hand, and serious questions about who should round out the US midfield in Brazil, I wouldn’t expect Bradley to get called up again until the November Friendlies. Even if he’s 100% fit by Jamaica (which seems unlikely), my guess is JK would want to test Corona, Diskerud, Bedoya, etc… against A players from countries fighting for their WC lives

      • Even if Panama loose in Mexico they won’t be totally out of it. Might have to close a goal difference but will still be in it.

      • i doubt he’ll play, but you do know theres NOTHING Roma can actually do to prevent him from playing right? If he gets called in, accepts the call, and Klinsmann calls his name, Roma can’t do anything about it.

      • there is no way JK will call him. he wants him healthy and won’t risk it. so Roma shouldn’t have to worry about that. i don’t think any of us want to see him play.

  7. Although Will Packwood wasn’t in the 18, it should be noted that he played 90 for the BCFC U21 squad this week. It is an important step forward in his recovery from the potentially career ending injury suffered last year. Can only hope he is able to regain the level he had before the injury.

    Also, Spector considered by most BCFC supporters to be MOM in their loss. Should be noted that he was moved to RB in a 3-5-2 formation. Hum……

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      • You do remember that spector fell out of favor while playing RB, right?

        Not that I don’t like him but it wasn’t his best position….

      • he was a beast in many of the games he played for us at RB, which is why he kept getting called up to play there (and he could also fill in at LB if needed).

        he did go through a run of poor form for us, but i always thought it was kind of weird that he wasn’t really given another chance–maybe a lack of consistent playing time at his club? i haven’t really been tracking him.

      • injuries for the most part. but he’s been on a solid run for awhile now. he’s a guy i wouldn’t mind coming into camp.

  8. I would to see both Boyd and Kevin Bacon start upcoming games with Kjestan playing behind either of them. Maybe use Williams or Lichaj as rightback, Arriola as sub player, and finally get Brooks cap-tied.

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      • They don’t have a choice because it’s an official FIFA date. But, yeah, their coaches will be pretty angry but that’s the way it goes.

      • Sure, they would prefer not to, but they don’t have a choice. How is this different than a friendly?

        That doesn’t mean that JK won’t be open to some discussion, but clubs can’t stop players from going.

      • 1. FIFA dates, so the clubs’ leverage is not what it is for a friendly. The best they might negotiate is one game.
        2. If they want to eventually sell their players (part of the business for the lower tier leagues), they will want their players at the WC. If they never release them they will never make the national team.
        3. If clubs never release players for games, who is going to play?

      • If they’re dinged they have a say. There’s always a little push-pull on this, regardless of the FIFA mandate. But most clubs respect the matches inside the windows, at least.

      • even if hes injured, if a coutnry calls a player in, and he accepts, there’s nothing a club can do expect huff and puff

      • Conversation:

        Klinsi: “Brooks, I’m calling you up. If you want to play in Brazil next year, we need you starting games and establishing yourself.”

        Brooks to club: “I’m going.”

    • Lichaj? Lichaj?? Ha ha ha. JK play Lichaj, ha, that is hilarious.

      Parkhurst:
      Minutes with USA – 700
      Minutes with Club – 0

      Bizarrely, we can be the 13th best team in the world and have a RB that doesn’t PLAY for a club team.

      No really, I like Parkhurst and Lichaj. But you see why this makes me shake my head.

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    • My starting XI for October:

      ————Boyd—————
      ————Aron—————
      Arriola————–Bedoya
      ——Sascha-Mix———–
      Lichaj-Besler-Brooks-Chandler
      ————-Guzan————-

      Let’s see what they can do! Subs would include Castillo, Williams, Corona, Wood, Shea (who would get the start over Arriola IF he earns time between now and then).

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      • With the US qualified, I just REALLY believe JK will go with a predominately North American contingent. Granted, Jamaica’s still technically alive and Panama will be no matter what happens in their game vs. Mex. But, JK is most focused on the needs of the USMNT and I just don’t believe he’ll be too worried about bringing in players from across the pond for the Oct. games. I really think he’ll let them stay with their club, especially since it’s still pretty early in their season.

      • I like ur lineup but a couple of things. Doubt we see Lichaj at LB was not the best there with Villa, Castillo may get the nod. Would not be surprised not to see Corona there with no playing time, that could go to Aguedelo or Morales. Do not forget Fiscal he may have had a brutal game at RB but he gives flexibility off the bench plus can get forward.

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