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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Michael Bradley 5 (Getty Images)

by FRANCO PANIZO

When November began, Hull City and Borussia Moenchengladbach were two European clubs entrenched in their respective relegation zones after poor starts. The tide has turned for both teams as each club capped undefeated Novembers with the help of a pair of young Americans.

Michael Bradley played the full 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchgladbach's 1-0 victory against Schalke 04 on Saturday, a win that extended Moenchengladbach's unbeaten streak to five and pushed the club to 11th place in the Bundesliga.

Jozy Altidore played 73 minutes for Hull City, which earned a valuable road point against Manchester City in a 1-1 draw on Saturday. Hull moved four points clear of the relegation zone with the draw, a draw that pushed the Tigers unbeaten streak to four matches.

While Altidore and Bradley helped their clubs score valuable points, two other Americans made rare league appearances for their teams. Marcus Hahnemann received his first career start for Wolverhampton Wanderers in their 1-0 defeat to Birmingham, while Freddy Adu made a 10-minute cameo in Belenenses' 2-2 draw vs. Maritimo.

Here is a rundown of how the rest of the Americans Abroad did this weekend:

England

PREMIERSHIP

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Everton's 2-0 loss vs. Liverpool on Sunday.
  • Jozy Altidore started and played 73 minutes in Hull City's 1-1 draw vs. Manchester City on Saturday.
  • Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-1 draw vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Eddie Johnson dressed but did not play in Fulham's 1-1 draw vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham's 5-3 win vs. Burnley on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday.

  • Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-0 loss vs. Birmingham on Sunday.

COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Jay DeMerit did not dress in Watford's 3-0 loss vs. Crystal Palace on Saturday. He is recovering from an eye injury.
  • Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday's 4-0 loss vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.

LEAGUE ONE

  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Millwall's 1-1 draw vs. Staines Town in Round 2 of the FA Cup on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Mike Grella started and played 71 minutes in Leeds United's 1-1 draw vs. Kettering Town in Round 2 of the FA Cup on Sunday.
  • Jemal Johnson dressed but did not play in Milton Keynes Dons' 4-3 win vs. Exeter City in Round 2 of the FA Cup on Saturday.

Scotland

  • Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 1-0 loss vs. Aberdeen on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • DaMarcus Beasley did not dress in Rangers' 1-0 loss vs. Aberdeen on Saturday.
  • Dominic Cervi dressed but did not play in Celtic's 3-1 win vs. St Mirren on Saturday. 

Italy

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 2-0 win vs. Catania on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA

  • Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 1-0 win vs. Schalke 04 on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96's 3-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Sunday.
  • Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 3-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 1-0 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.

BUNDESLIGA 2

  • Kenny Cooper did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-2 draw vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play Arminia Bielefeld on Monday.
  • Matt Taylor did not dress in FSV Frankfurt's 1-0 loss vs. Hansa Rostock on Friday.
  • David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in TUS Koblenz's 2-1 loss vs. Karlsruhe on Friday.

France

  • Carlos Bocanegra started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Stade Rennes' 1-1 draw vs. Lyon on Sunday.

Portugal

  • Freddy Adu came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Belenenses' 2-2 draw vs. Maritimo on Sunday.
  • Kamani Hill dressed but did not play in Vitoria de Guimaraes' 2-0 win vs. Olhanense on Friday.

Denmark

  • Benny Feilhaber started and played 90 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 1-0 win vs. Brondby on Sunday.
  • Jeremiah White came off the bench and played 7 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 1-0 win vs. Brondby on Sunday.
  • Danny Califf did not play in FC Midtjylland's 2-0 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
  • Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-0 loss vs. Silkeborg IF on Saturday.
  • Marcus Tracy started and played 74 minutes Aalborg's 1-1 draw vs. Esbjerg on Saturday.

Mexico 

  • Michael Orozco dressed but did not play in San Luis' 1-0 loss vs. Toluca in the Apertura quarterfinals on Sunday.

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What do you think of these performances? Encouraged to see Bradley and Altidore help their teams to valuable points? Do you consider Hahnemann the U.S. national team's no. 3 goalkeeper? Glad to see Adu get minutes with Belenenses?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. hey! i AM one of those crazy adu fans! i dont know about about starting, but i do think think he should get a call-up. he should have been called in for the 2 friendlies when donovan was out. adu should consider a loan to MLS next year if he is not playing that much. i would love to see him play LM with donovan in a CAM/CF role.

    Reply
  2. I’ll agree with Beckster. MH has been playing longer and better than BG in a far tougher environment. BG can only hope to be as good as MH someday in the future when he is actually getting game minutes. With MH between the pipes I’m comfortable – with BG not so much.

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  3. I watched most of the game – looked to me like MB (and others, but he was clearly the defensive mid) got the order to hang back as soon as they got the lead and he did what he was told. Not saying he was impressive, just doing what he was told trying to hold on to a lead against a top tier club.

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  4. Saw Grella play for the first time. Surprised when he got the start. My impressions are that he was pretty good on the ball, linked up well in his passing, and possessed good quickness. He was in a supporting striker role and this seemed to suit him well. He rarely made himself a target for crosses into the box and would often drift away from the action. I think he was pulled not for poor play but his fitness is still a little iffy.

    All in all I think Mike could factor into the next cycle. I don’t see him as the type of forward who can impose his will on the game. He strikes me as most dangerous with the ball at his feet.

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  5. About Adu, what makes you think he will play any more here than in Europe?

    The MLS is a very physical league and Freddy is a weak, short, slow, puny guy. The main reason he would get playing time here is because he makes so much money they would HAVE to play him. Whch may be why it won’t happen unless he takes a pay cut.

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  6. Who are these Adu fans? I haven’t seen anyone claiming he should start for the US in months. Every tinme his name comes up I read posts about how “Adu fans will now say this or that”. The thing is, they don’t. I’m not even sure they exist any more.

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  7. Ives..

    I find it hard to believe that Adu can not find time in Portugal..whats going on. Does the coaching staff even comment on him?

    Why cant we get answers? Is he out of shape? What position did he sub?

    I cant believe that he dropped off so badly. Last I saw of him was against the Italian club, and he was tearing it up!!!

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  8. good to see kamani get on the bench, he was a great talent at wolfsburg before the new coach. Hopefully will add depth to the US in the future.

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  9. Didn’t watch Bradley but he gets consistent minutes for what is beginning to be a mid-table bundesliga team. He must be doing something right although when playing against Schalke I am not surprised that he looks unimpressive. As long as he keeps getting PT he will continue to improve. Remember Bradley is only 22.

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  10. Ives, Spector probably had the best weekend. He drew a penalty with nice overlapping run and move inside the box. It turned out to be the game winning goal. Might want to include that

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  11. Supsam – Beasley will be in Europe as long as he can make more $$ there. We won’t see him back in MLS before the 2014 qualifying cycle

    Reply
  12. Freddy didn’t get to do much, but did make a great pass to set up a potential game winner in stoppage time that Lima missed just wide.

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  13. First time I’ve ever seen Bradley play for Gladbach and I was NOT impressed. I watched the game from minute 46 until minute 85 and he touched the ball once. He was consistently in the wrong place at the wrong time. He was rarely within 10 yards of someone to defend and was basically not doing what I would think that his job is…

    Perhaps I’m wrong but that’s what I observed.

    Reply
  14. lets not get out of control here. Brad Guzan has been on fire every time he gets the nod from either club or country. His performances in the time since the gold cup has really solidified his position as #2

    Reply
  15. I saw part of the Wolves game and Marcus looked pretty good for someone who hasn’t seen playing time since last May. McCarthy said he wasn’t happy with the overall play and that the changes he made didn’t seem to work so it will be interesting to see if Hahnemann stays between the pipes. If he does, then I’d say not only is he #3 but regular playing time in the premier league ought to put him in contention for #2.

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  16. Great news about Freddy. I love the kid but seeing him on the bench pains me. It’s also worth noting Boca’s 90 minutes for Rennes as they hold Lyon 1-1.

    Reply
  17. I wanna see Jozy start scoring!!!! I think Phil needs to start playing with a 4-4-2, maybe the winter Transfer Window will open up the door for this, cuz Jozy can’t play alone up top just yet

    Reply

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