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Altidore scores his first goal in Europe

Jozyaltidore_ap

You knew it would come eventually, but Jozy Altidore’s first goal in Europe came on Saturday.

The U.S. national team striker came on in the 90th minute of Villarreal’s match against Athletic Bilbao and finished off a perfect pass from Santi Cazorla just seconds later. The goal came six days before his 19th birthday.

Here is the goal, which should be the first of many in Europe for the top American prospect:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-62GfQlOis&hl=en&fs=1]

Comments

  1. The best thing about Jozy’s goal was how he was mobbed by all his teammates afterwords. It seemed like everyone made a point to go over there and congratulate him, it brought a smile to my face.

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  2. Thing about Jozy is that he combines two kinds of strikers. The dribbling type(Donovan,Dempsey,Johnson) and the strong in the box striker(Ching, Twellman, Razov). Fast, but strong. Dribbles with the ball, but shoots well with it too. Unique player, very unique.

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  3. With the disaster that is RBNY right now, this makes me very happy. I loved watching Jozy at Giant’s stadium, and always wish the best for him.

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  4. Nic D,

    The “Anelka bird thing,” as you referred to it, is a gesture that indicates when a player has scored his first goal; put differently, when a player has broken his duck. Hence the bird-like gesture.

    best,

    duckman

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  5. Go on son!

    Awesome to see this. Came out, not on the field for a minute and he slots one home. Credit does go for getting the pass, but Jozy made the great run, good touch, clinical finish.

    Makes my day to see him succeed. Perhaps he really is our future.

    By the way, now that it seems he’s found his home, for now, where do I go to find a villareal #24 kit? =)

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  6. Woo Hoo!! Go Jozy!!

    The reaction from his mates was just as cool. You can tell he’s a pretty popular kid with the rest of the team.

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  7. Way to go JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOZY

    Holy Heck! Don’t do that Nic Anelka bird thing. Don’t want any of that dude’s mojo to rub off on you.

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  8. Rossi has scored plenty of times 🙂

    Before that, Tab Ramos scored, but for Real Betis in a lower division.

    Posted by: RK | November 02, 2008 at 11:29 AM

    =========================================

    Razov also scored a bunch of times, but in the second division.

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  9. He’s going to be big… I hope he gets loaned somewhere similar to an everton in England when rooney first started… he will dominate and then either break first team and we’ll have an all american frontline for Villareal or a big English team, or Madrid will buy him… I actually think he would fit in well as a Van-roy type striker at Real.

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  10. Does anyone know if Atletico plays a man-marking defense, or if they rely on spacing and play an offside trap?

    It looked like they were relying on stepping up to keep Jozy offside, and got surprised by a great pass. That’s crummy defending. But Jozy’s first touch (outside of the boot!) was perfect, and the finish was clinical. My biggest concern about him is making the right first touch when he has little room to work. He had lots of room to receive that pass, but the execution was absolutely perfect.

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  11. It’s the first goal by a US international. But, does anybody know what happened to the mid-week game where they were trounced 5-0 by a 3rd league team? I think Jozy played 90 min. in that game.

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  12. Best translation I can do without a lot of effort in looking up the references these guys mention:

    3 men in the booth

    Announcer #1: (talking about something else) …I wzs with large and important stars and an extraordinary team, but that is done and its been a few years”

    Announcer #2: OK, lets continue with that in a moment

    Announcer #3 A natural switch a #9 for a #9, here comes Altidore, the American, born in Livingston I suppose, (laughter)

    Announcer #2 It always speaks well when the stories told are this is earned

    Announcer #3: The form in which he has made his argument after the disaster that was the Copa speaks well of him.

    Announcer #2: and that form is what has led to this victory today its been a great effort today. Another coach may have thrown anything at their players but he has not done it.

    Announcer #3: He debuts in his 3rd league game, more information on this North American (Spanish for someone from the United States), he was born in New York, in pura sexta comma, Pass through forward to ALTIDORE, goal, goal, goal goal, goal, , goal for Jozy Altidore. Altidore I say, Altidore scores, the American scores. Elected by the Perrigrinin(?Coaches name) in the last few seconds, Athletico 1 Villareal 4.

    Announcer #2 What did he have 10 seconds on the pitch, no more, but truly I’m more impressed by the pass from Hahn, impressive. The first American in the league.

    Announcer #1 He shoots it well, very well. He shoots for the far post and makes it.

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  13. Kenny is right. The real question is why wasn’t Kenny Cooper playing for Villareal? Its really a crime against humanity. He probably would have scored 3 goals in that minute. In fact, he is the only player I can think of who can score from the bench.

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  14. He made it look easy. He timed his run perfectly, and was fortunate to get a perfect pass in. Altidore’s first touch was tricky, because he almost put the ball in the path of the retreating defender, but it also pulled the keeper toward the far post and got his momentum moving away from the near post, where Altidore slotted his shot. That’s clinical finishing, but we all know players who could take that golden opportunity and lay a very non-golden egg with it.

    VAMOS JOZY!

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  15. I find it funny that he scores his first goal in his third appearance for his national team, and his club. But did you see that finish? It would take Ching like 10 tries to get that right. The thing i love the most is that when Jozy plays against top notch players, he makes it look like he’s playing a a bunch of 6 year olds.

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  16. It is great to see that big smile on his face. It is amazing watching an 18 year old US player scoring a goal for one of the best clubs in the world.

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  17. Even aside from the fact that he just got in the match, that was a pretty nice goal. Good job finding space, nice first touch, and good job job pulling the shot inside the post while running. So often you see that shot missed wide or the pass not controlled. Well done, indeed. NorteAmericao Marca!

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  18. JOZY JOZY JOZY JOZY JOZY JOZY JOZY JOZY JOZY JOZY

    ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE ALTIDORE

    WHAT A BEAST

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  19. At last the opportunity – Jozy took the goal well. Great to see how the Villareal players reacted – hopefully the start of a great career. Real pleased for him, and prospect for US team.

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  20. Actually, it’s very good to get the monkey off his back early. With these occasional sub appearances, a guy can go months without scoring, even if he plays well. Good for him!

    18 years old….sigh…I feel old. 🙂

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  21. They said he impressed in the disastrous copa del rey match and how it’s probably why he was getting some minutes in. That it was his 3rd appearance and then “GOL”. They mentioned the beautiful pass and how Jozy just finishes it solidly. No fuss, no muss basically.

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