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Americans Abroad: Weekend Preview

JozyAltidoreSunderland2-CarlisleUnited (Getty)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Time is winding down on many of the European seasons, and that means a good chunk of the focus will turn towards relegation battles.

Jozy Altidore and Sunderland are involved in one of the more interesting ones, and they will need a big performance in order to keep themselves in the safety zone. The Black Cats visit Old Trafford to take on Manchester United in their third-to-last match of the season, and only a surprise three points will be enough to guarantee that Sunderland do not fall back into a relegation spot. Altidore’s role in the match is unknown, but he showed a few weeks ago that he can come off the bench and make an impact despite his ongoing scoring woes.

Another player in the midst of a fight against relegation is Timmy Chandler. FC Nurnberg have two games left in their Bundesliga campaign to steer clear of the drop, and are set to play their last home match of the season against Hannover on Saturday. Chandler will surely be hoping to help Nurnberg grab a victory and build on his 45-minute return performance from last week in order to improve his World Cup chances with the U.S. Men’s National Team.

While Altidore and Chandler try to keep their clubs afloat in their respective top divisions, Club Tijuana’s American contingent will attempt to keep their Liga MX playoff dreams alive. Xolos will play the second match of the two-legged series against Toluca on Sunday, and that short turnaround could thrust reserve players like Greg Garza and Herculez Gomez into prominent roles.

Here is who the Americans Abroad face off against this weekend:

SATURDAY

Sebastian Lletget and West Ham United play Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur.

Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play Hull City.

Jozy Altidore and Sunderland play Manchester United.

Geoff Cameron, Brek Shea and Stoke City play Fulham.

Cody Cropper and Southampton play Swansea City.

Tim Howard and Everton play Manchester City.

Tim Ream, Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Jonathan Spector, Will Packwood and Birmingham City. (Holden is out injured.)

Oguchi Onyewu and Sheffield Wednesday play Ipswich Town.

Zak Whitbread and Derby County play Leeds United.

Eric Lichaj and Nottingham Forest play Brighton & Hove Albion. (Lichaj is out injured.)

Danny Williams and Reading play Burnley.

Duane Holmes and Huddersfield Town play Watford.

Gboly Ariyibi and Tranmere Rovers play Bradford City.

Fabian Johnson, Joe Gyau and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Borussia Dortmund.

David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play Eintracht Frankfurt.

Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg play Hannover 96.

John Brooks and Hertha Berlin play Werder Bremen.

Aron Johannsson and AZ Alkmaar play Feyenoord Rotterdam.

Juan Agudelo and FC Utrecht play Vitesse Arnhem.

Jermaine Jones and Besiktas play Kasimpasa.

Michael Farfan and Cruz Azul play Dennis Flores, Miguel Palafox and Club Leon.

SUNDAY

Andrew Wooten and FSV Frankfurt play Arminia Bielefeld.

Alfredo Morales and FC Ingolstadt 04 play SV Sandhausen.

Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich play VfL Bochum.

Alejandro Bedoya and FC Nantes play Toulouse.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Club Brugge in the Pro League playoff.

Terrence Boyd and Rapid Vienna play FC Wacker Tirol.

Babajide Ogunbiyi and Viborg FF play SonderjyskE.

Herculez Gomez, Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo, Greg Garza, Paul Arriola, Alejandro Guido, Fernando Arce Jr and Club Tijuana play Toluca.

Zarek Valentin and FK Bodo/Glimt play Stromsgodset. (Valentin is out injured.)

Mix Diskerud and Rosenborg BK play Josh Gatt, Ethan Horvath and Molde FK. (Gatt is out injured.)

MONDAY

Conor O’Brien and Odense BK play AGF Aarhus.

Michael Stephens and Stabaek IF play Valerenga.

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Which of these matches are you most anticipating? Think Altidore and Sunderland get a result vs. Manchester United? How do you see Chandler faring this weekend?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Franco, Ives et al.,

    You know what would be helpful? If you folks could provide the game times ( not US time zones, but locally where they play) and broadcast information as well as the match-ups.

    It might be a bit more work on your end, but it would be a great resource for the AA fans.

    Thanks

    Reply
  2. Xolos played tonight, 0-0 draw with Toluca. Castillo went full 90′. Joe Benny & Herc got 10ish minutes at end. Xolos had a ton of chances and looked the better team but couldn’t put one in. Castillo looked good to me.

    Reply
  3. My friend is going to be in Cleveland Ohio for the first USA world cup match. What are the best soccer bars?

    Reply
  4. So, Fernando Arce, current El Tri & Xolos midfielder, has a son, 16 years younger than him, who also plays for Xolos And he is eligible for either El Tri or USMNT…

    I remember Ken Griffey Jr & Senior playing together for the Mariners but if we get this kid on the US vs his dad on El Tri that would be unreal!

    Reply
    • woudln’t be that weird, if he isn’t good enough for Mexico he will accept any call he receives from USSF like it happened with Castillo, Corona, Benji Joya and Daniel Cuevas, Joya even did an interview were he said he was mexican but only played for the US because it was easier to make it to the squad and they offered him the chance to play international tournaments.

      Reply
    • Why is SBI headlining Jozy for Mericans’ abroad? We all know that Wickham has the keys at this point. He’s not even worth mentioning until US camp and friendlies begin. That’s when we’ll see him in action.

      Personally, more interested in Ream for Wanderers and Howard’s Man City clash and CL fight.

      Reply
      • Oops didn’t see Voice’s post. For once I agree with the Arbiter of reason, as clearly stated.

  5. Why is there a picture of Jozy on this post? He’s going to sit on the bench or in the press box and admire Connor Wichkam putting the ball in the net.

    Reply
  6. This is not rhetorical question: Why is SBI on the weekly Americans Abroad article not including Julian Green, who many think will make the final 23-man roster for Brazil. If he is good enough to go to Brazil, then he is good enough to be listed on this story. Does not make sense to exclude him. So here goes:

    Julian Green and the FC Bayern Junior Team will play FV Illertissen on Saturday. (Green has been out injured since early April)

    http://www.fcbayern.de/de/spiele/junior-team/fcb-2-spielplan/

    Reply
    • By this point, we are all aware of your feelings on this topic, biff. Perhaps your feelings will be vindicated after the upcoming Camp and the friendlies. Perhaps young Mr. Green will surprise you. In either case, those are future developments which none of us can portend without a time machine or, at the very least, a Ouija Board. But this is not the future, it’s the present. So could you maybe, for the next two weeks or so until camp begins, give it a rest?

      Reply
      • My point on the post has nothing to do with whether or not I feel he merits USMNT call-ups. Klinsmann obviously feels he does, so that means that Green is now an official member of the senior team player pool and that makes him an American who is playing abroad. Why shouldn’t Julian Green be included with his US teammates on the list who also are Americans Abroad? Do you think he should be excluded from the list? Just seems odd.

      • a serious answer to your non-rhetorical question: ives doesn’t post every usmnt player in every league in the world, just the “top” leagues. it is weird to me that he lists some of the english lower leagues, but i think it’s just good old-fashioned english bias.

      • Yes, I understand that, grammatically at least, that is the question that you asked. Perhaps it was the reference to the Bayern “junior” team (not the first time you have harped upon this status) and the trouble you went to in order to find out who the “junior” team was playing and post a link. All of your information was, strictly speaking, factual. I must have erroneously read a sarcastic undertone into your comments that really was not intended. My apologies, sir.

      • Indeed, Biff does have his ways, but no matter what, he will, to the end, defend them. You know, I do believe the boy thinks he is the smartest one in the room.

    • Because the German fourth division is just not important enough and unless the team needs somebody that costs us goals, falls down an injures himself and can’t beat anybody 1 on 1 then Julian Green is not going to Brazil.

      Reply
      • Makes sense if you judge him on his first minutes against our biggest rival…for sure it was his fault that the field was slick and he fell…and he deserves no credit for playing on with a partially dislocated shoulder. You are right that he didn’t beat anybody one on one…technically he didn’t beat those two guys because he was fouled(maybe not a PK but definitely a foul) and finally Bayern Munich is a terrible judge of talent and you possess the wisdom of Solomon.

    • Green had stated in March that he wasn’t going to train with the first team for the rest of the season. So playing in reserve games doesn’t really warrant a mention here regardless of if he’s going to be included in a camp.

      Reply

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