You can call Deportivo La Coruna Team CONCACAF.
Led by Canadian captain Julian De Guzman (above, left) and featuring Mexican winger Andres Guardado and striker Omar Bravo, Deportivo boasts a wealth of talent from the CONCACAF region. That group helped Deportivo pull off one of the upsets of the weekend, a 2-1 victory against Real Madrid.
It was the first full weekend in Europe, meaning most of CONCACAF’s top stars were on display. Some were not due to transfers (such as David Suazo and Nery Castillo) but most were in action and several enjoyed quality performances.
Here is a rundown of how CONCACAF players did in Europe last weekend:
CANADA
- Julian DeGuzman started and played 90 minutes in Deportivo La Coruna’s 2-1 win against Real Madrid on Sunday.
- David Edgar came off the bench and played two minutes in Newcastle’s 3-0 loss to Arsenal on Saturday.
- Michael D’Agostino did not dress in Blackpool’s 1-0 win vs. Southampton on Saturday.
- Rob Friend started, played 90 minutes and scored a goal in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 3-2 win vs. Werder Bremen on Sunday.
- Daniel Imhof started and played 77 minutes in VFL Bochum’s 1-0 loss to Schalke 04 on Saturday.
- Iain Hume started, played 90 minutes and scored a goal in Barnsley’s 2-0 win vs. Derby on Saturday.
- Patrice Bernier started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland’s 3-0 win against AGF Aarhus on Sunday.
- Issey Nakajima-Farran did not dress for Nordsjaelland. (Injury)
- Josh Simpson did not dress in Kaiserslautern’s 3-1 win vs. FC Ingolstadt on Friday.
- Kevin McKenna came off the bench and played 61 minutes in FC Cologne’s 2-0 win vs. Karlsruhe on Friday.
- Atiba Hutchinson started and played 90 minutes in FC Copenhagen’s 1-0 loss to Brondby on Sunday.
- Tam Nsaliwa did not dress in AEK Athens’ 2-1 win vs. Panathanaikos on Sunday.
- Marcel De Jong did not dress in Roda JC’s 1-1 tie vs. Twente Enschede on Saturday.
- Richard Hastings started and played 90 minutes in Inverness’ 2-1 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday.
COSTA RICA
- Bryan Ruiz started and played 90 minutes in KAA Gent’s 2-0 win vs. Royal Charleroi on Sunday.
- Alvaro Saborio did not dress in FC Sion Sitten’s 1-1 tie vs. Lucerne on Saturday.
GRENADA
- Jason Roberts started, played 90 minutes, scored a goal and missed a penalty kick in Blackburn’s 4-1 loss to West Ham on Saturday.
HONDURAS
- David Suazo did not play in Benfica’s tie vs. FC Porto.
- Edgar Alvarez did not play in Pisa’s 2-1 loss to Grosseto on Saturday..
- Julio Cesar Leon started and played 90 minutes in Parma’s 1-1 tie vs. Rimini on Friday.
- Maynor Figueroa started and played 90 minutes in Wigan’s 5-0 win vs. Hull on Saturday.
- Wilson Palacios started and played 90 minutes for Wigan.
JAMAICA
- Ricardo Fuller started, played 75 minutes and drew a yellow card in Stoke’s 2-1 loss to Middlesbrough on Saturday.
- Nyron Nosworthy started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
- Marlon King did not dress in Hull’s 5-0 loss to Wigan on Saturday.
- Ricardo Gardner started and played 90 minutes in Bolton’s 0-0 tie vs. West Brom on Saturday.
- Claude Davis dress but did not play in in Derby County’s
- Deon Burton started and played 68 minutes an and drew a yellow card in Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-1 tie vs. Swansea.
- Jason Euell did not dress in Southampton’s 1-0 loss to Blackpool on Saturday.
- Damion Stewart started and played 90 minutes in Queens Park Rangers’ 1-1 tie vs. Bristol City.
- Luton Shelton started and played 63 minutes in Valarenga’s 2-1 loss to Rosenborg on Sunday.
MEXICO
- Giovani Dos Santos started and played 59 minutes in Tottenham’s 1-1 tie vs. Chelsea on Sunday.
- Carlos Vela came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Arsenal’s 3-0 win vs. Newcastle on Sunday.
- Rafael Marquez started and played 90 minutes in Barcelona’s 1-0 loss to Numancia on Sunday.
- Guillermo Franco started and played 66 minutes in Villarreal’s 1-1 tie vs. Osasuna on Sunday.
- Andres Guardado started, played 90 minutes and set up a goal in Deportivo La Coruna’s 2-1 win against Real Madrid on Sunday.
- Omar Bravo came off the bench and played 18 minutes for Deportivo La Coruna.
- Pavel Pardo started, played 90 minutes and scored on a penalty kick in Stuttgart’s 2-0 win vs. Hannover 96 on Sunday.
- Ricardo Osorio started and played 64 minutes for Stuttgart.
- Carlos Salcido started and played 90 minutes in PSV Eindhoven’s 5-1 win vs. FC Utrecht on Saturday.
- Aaron Galindo started and played 90 minutes in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 2-2 vs. VFL Wolfsburg.
- Hector Moreno started and played 75 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 loss to NEC Breda on Sunday.
- Antonio DeNigris started played 72 minutes in Ankaraspor’s 2-0 loss to Gaziantepspor on Saturday.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
- Dwight Yorke dressed but did not play in Sunderland’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
- Kenwyne Jones did not dress for Sunderland and is still recovering from knee surgery.
- Darryl Roberts started, played 89 minutes and scored two goals in Denizlispor’s 3-2 win vs. Antalyaspor on Sunday.
- Stern John came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Southampton’s 1-0 loss to Blackpool on Saturday.
- Jason Scotland started and played 55 minutes Swansea City’s 1-1 tie vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
- Russell Latapy did not dress in Falkirk’s 2-1 loss to Inverness CT on Saturday.
If there are any players who you think should be included in the list please feel free to pass on their information and I will include them. Keep in mind that I will focus on top first divisions in Europe with the second divisions in England and Germany also being included (I will also look to add Serie B as well as the Spanish second division if possible). There may be players in very small leagues (like say Moldova or Poland) but my inclusion of players in those leagues is contingent on being able to find a reliable source of information on those leagues.
Feel free to share your thoughts on these performances in the comments section below.