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Americans Abroad: Weekend Preview

Brek Shea Barnsley (Stoke CIty)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Two players who have raised their stocks in recent weeks will have another chance to do so this weekend.

Against one another.

Oguchi Onyewu and Brek Shea are set to square off in a match between Sheffield Wednesday and Barnsley that has plenty of relegation implications. Onyewu and the Owls are only three points clear of the Championship’s drop zone, but Shea and Barnsley will be looking to pick up a big road victory as they attempt to close the five-point gap that separates them from safety. Given where Onyewu and Shea have been playing, the two should see plenty of each other on Saturday.

In another intriguing Saturday matchup, Tim Howard and Brad Guzan square off in a battle of Premiership goalkeepers. Guzan and Aston Villa are surely still buzzing from their 4-3 victory against West Bromwich Albion earlier in the week and will try to carry that momentum into the clash against Howard and Everton, which is aiming to rebound from Tuesday’s embarrassing 4-0 loss to Merseyside Derby rivals Liverpool.

If you are wondering what other matches you should keep an eye on, look no further than Friday’s tilt between Besiktas and Erciyesspor and the FC Utrecht-Ajax game on Sunday. Jermaine Jones could make his Besiktas debut in the Super Lig match against Erciyesspor, while Agudelo will attempt to help Utrecht snap a four-game losing streak in the Eredivisie against the Dutch powerhouse.

Here is who the Americans Abroad take on this weekend:

FRIDAY

Jermaine Jones and Besiktas play Erciyesspor.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Lierse SK.

SATURDAY

Jozy Altidore and Sunderland play Newcastle United.

Sebastian Lletget and West Ham United play Swansea City.

Tim Howard and Everton play Brad Guzan and Aston Villa.

Clint Dempsey and Fulham play Cody Cropper and Southampton.

Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play Hull City.

Geoff Cameron and Stoke City play Manchester United.

Jonathan Spector, Will Packwood and Birmingham City play Zak Whitbread and Derby County. (Spector is out injured.)

Tim Ream, Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Ipswich Town. (Ream and Holden are out injured.)

Gboly Ariyibi and Leeds United play Duane Holmes and Huddersfield Town.

Danny Williams and Reading play Millwall.

Oguchi Onyewu and Sheffield Wednesday play Brek Shea and Barnsley.

Fabian Johnson and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Hamburg SV.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 play Borussia Moenchengladbach.

Alejandro Bedoya and FC Nantes play Sochaux.

Aron Johannsson and AZ Alkmaar play FC Groningen.

Jonathan Bornstein and Atlante play Club America.

DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Orozco and Puebla play Veracruz.

Alonso Hernandez and Monterrey play Jose Torres and Tigres UANL.

SUNDAY

Eric Lichaj and Nottingham Forest play Yeovil Town.

John Brooks and Hertha Berlin play Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg.

Juan Agudelo and FC Utrecht play Ajax.

Herculez Gomez, Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo, Greg Garza, Paul Arriola and Club Tijuana play Pumas UNAM.

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Which of these matches are you most looking forward to? How do you see Shea and Onyewu faring against one another? Do you see Agudelo getting significant playing time against Ajax?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. This is so sad to me, that we so quickly went from having a midfielder at a tip team in Italy and a prolific striker in Holland to being excited about 2 guys playing in the lower English divisions.

    Reply
    • Aww lo siento. If bradley knew how disappointed you’d be at his decision to play a children’s game in canada instead of italy I’m sure he’d have reconsidered.

      Also, don’t we still have a prolific striker in holland? Or did you not see that long list of names?

      Reply
  2. If this US team does not win by more than or equal to four goals, then there will be people who will say that the MLS pales in comparison to the Mexican League.

    If the US wins by four goals or more, then people will say that they should have done better because the USMNT is supposed to be better than Mexico.

    Reply
    • the MFL is way better than the MLS and mexican players are more talented no one can deny that, if they can play as a team it is a different history.

      Reply
  3. After the match Saturday, Klinsmann needs to get on a plane and start watching all these Championship guys. For example Reading is destroying teams but is Williams playing much of a role in that? I’m sure he has scouts watching them but hard for us to really know how they are doing.

    Reply
      • I don’t know if he’s been a beast but he is getting playing time. Also Shea when healthy was pretty good in MLS.

      • Donovan looked like a beast during his Everton loan. That did not have anyone saying that that proved the EPL wasn’t better than MLS at all.

        There are at least 576 players in the Championship.

        I’m pretty sure that one of them going into beast mode for a few games doesn’t proves anything other than the fact that Shea is feeling it.

        Luis Suarez went into beast mode with Liverpool. That does not mean the EPL is not better at all than the Erediviese.

  4. The US team is going to win depending on whom Klinsmann starts and who sits on the bench. It takes people who are really focused. South Korea seems to be pretty fast; but they lacked a reliable goal scorer. Still they had some chances. It just wasn’t their day.

    Reply
    • I think its on Saturday. And its not tomorrow unless you sir are in Asia. In that case never mind. =(

      I say we win. I don’t think we will put up a 4 – 0 though.

      Reply
    • Costa Rica almost had no offense against them. Mexico took their chances well. I’ll be at the game. I’m going with a repeat of the last US game I went to there, a 1-1 win against Chile. Bunbury stole Agudelo’s penalty for the win. I like that boon-boo-reeeee!

      Reply
      • My bad guys. Got to excited about the game…The thing about the game now is that if we don’t blow them out Mexican fans will be like oh look U.S.A sucks at soccer, silly Americans thinking they are better than us. But the result does hang on who starts for this game. It’ll be interesting to see who gets these starts and who gets some quality minutes during the game.

      • I think the Mexico result just puts some more pressure on those fringe players to make a statement. There won’t be alot of room for excuses for guys like Feilhaber, Magee, and Wondo if they don’t produce.

      • It’s going to be hard for us to repeat what Mexico did, I’m sure the SK coach is revamping their defense so it doesn’t happen again. SK “B” team looked good in transsition but weak on defense and the final third.

      • This is actually a fun comparison for this game. This is basically the best from the K-League who have just taken on Mexico’s domestic players. We’re using our USMNMLST.

        The guys out there should be fired up for this. This is there chance to prove themselves for the WC team, and now have a bar set for them to go after.

      • Just remind Mexican fans of the results of the hex. Don’t forget, Mexico is in the World Cup only because the US scored a late goal against Panama in a meaningless game for us.

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