By FRANCO PANIZO
Maurice Edu had to wait a month in between appearances for Rangers after an ankle injury kept him out of action, but that didn't stop Edu from helping the Scottish giants continue towards their ultimate goal of a domestic treble on Wednesday.
In a replay against St Mirren in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup, Edu started for just the second time this season, and he helped Rangers preserve a cleansheet with some timely tackles and good possession play. Edu did have moments in the 1-0 victory where he would drift out of the game, but that might be expected of a player just returning from injury.
Freddy Adu also enjoyed success in his club's domestic cup match, as he made a second consecutive start and scored a goal in Aris Salonika's 3-0 Greek Cup quarterfinals win over Skoda Xanthi. The goal was Adu's second in as many games.
Herculez Gomez also netted his second goal of the season during the midweek, scoring the lone goal in Puebla's win against San Luis with just three minutes left in regulation.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared on Tuesday and Wednesday:
ENGLAND
EUROPA LEAGUE
- Landon Donovan started and played 90 minutes in Everton's 2-1 win vs. Sporting Lisbon in the third round on Tuesday.
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Everton's 2-1 win vs. Sporting Lisbon in the third round on Tuesday.
PREMIERSHIP
- Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 0-0 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Wednesday.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
- Jay DeMerit and Watford's match vs. Queens Park Rangers on Tuesday was postponed.
- Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday's 2-0 loss vs. Doncaster Rovers on Tuesday.
- Kenny Cooper came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Plymouth Argyle's 1-1 draw vs. Swansea City on Tuesday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Mike Grella came off the bench and played 30 minutes in Leeds United's 2-1 loss vs. Walsall on Tuesday.
SCOTLAND
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes in Rangers' 1-0 win vs. St Mirren in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup on Wednesday.
- DaMarcus Beasley did not dress in Rangers' 1-0 win vs. St Mirren in the fifth round of the Scottish Cup on Wednesday. He started, played 70 minutes and scored a GOAL in Rangers reserve team's 2-1 win vs. Kilmarnock's reserve team on Tuesday.
Italy
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 3-2 loss vs. Manchester United in the first leg of the round of 16 on Tuesday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
Greece
- Freddy Adu started, played 65 minutes and scored a GOAL in Aris Salonika's 3-0 win vs. Skoda Xanthi in the Greek Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday.
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- Eddie Johnson came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Aris Salonika's 3-0 win vs. Skoda Xanthi in the Greek Cup quarterfinals on Wednesday..
Mexico
- Jose Francisco Torres started and played 76 minutes in Pachuca's 1-0 loss vs. Guadalajara on Wednesday.
- Marco Vidal started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 7-1 loss vs. Atlas on Wednesday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench, played 27 minutes and scored a GOAL in Puebla's 1-0 win vs. San Luis on Wednesday.
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What do you think of these performances? Is Edu ready to permanently return to Rangers' lineup? What do you think of Adu's goal? Impressed by Gomez's finish?
Share your thoughts below.
For those that are debating which league is better, here is my two cent.
The Mexican league is the best league in the Americas, there is no doubt about that. Look at it in a “competitive” aspect and “financially”, no league in the Americas comes close to it. Sure watching Boca vs River is much more exciting than watching American vs Chivas, but not by much. Brazil league??lol Any of you guys ever been to a Brazilian stadium or a training facility?.. lets just say it’s not the prettiest thing to see.
Mexican teams are not far away from winning Copa libertadores, they have come close. Those comparing the MLS to the Mexican League are just being silly.
1.Mexican
2.Argentina
3.Brazil
4.Chile,MLS,Peru,etc.. take your pick
historically “bigger”. and everton is just the first team that popped into my head. the real question i was asking is does Dempsey move on or stay? granted, if he didn’t get injured and continued playing well this question may be more relevant, but I can see him doing well for Aston Villa, Everton, or Tottenham. Each of which I would consider “bigger” than Fulham.
you (dudeinho) should work on your reading comprehension, i wasnt saying anything about the Mexican league, just pointing out that the statement “but I would rate scoring regularly in the Mexican League as more impressive than in MLS” cant be said because he wasnt scoring regularly in the MLS in the first place and we arent comparing him to someone who does…
If he wants to move to a “bigger” team he needs to look farther up the table. Everton is only 1 point ahead of Fulham. He is a good fit at Fulham and I hope to see him stay there where is on the field and contributing week in and week out. Hopefully, he’s back in soon.
great goal by gomez by the way
poor vidal losing 7-1 but he played full 90 so that means it wasnt majorly his fault?
This will not happen.
good to see my favorite mexican team make SBI…soy poblano, soy poblano, llevo a méxico y puebla en el corazón…
Ives, what are the chances of Dempsey heading to a team like Everton? Not saying I would want this…but it seems like Dempsey was playing well enough to possibly move to a “bigger” team.
We just look rotten in head to head competition with Mexican teams. I think that probably overally, their best is better and our worst is worse, but the gap is and will slowly close.
Hurculez. Hurculez. Hurculez.
Dudeinho, nothing against the Mexican league, but teams from a few other countries (Argentina, etc) might dispute the runner up title that you just bestowed on Mexico. Let’s first see how well Mexican teams do in Copa Libertadores before crowning Mexican league as the second best league in Americas.
defending is not a strong point in the mexican league. also , to say the mfl is the 2nd best league in the americas is just plain dumb. just last week banfield(arg.) whooped a mexican team in the libertadores. yes mfl is good, but their defenders are not much better than in mls. now their attackers def. are better than in mls. then again there’s alot more money in mexico, so they raid all the other latin leagues.
You make this assertion after one week of him potentially playing. Give it some time and see what happens. If it is like this after a month, then yes, you can be concerned.
He’s cap-tied to the US cause the Copa America was a official tournament. And I doubt Mexico would even consider Gomez with all the talent they have at forward.
Even though he is someone I wouldn’t consider anywhere close to the forward radar for the USMNT, do you think his present performances along with our own dearth of options even puts him in the conversation?
Umm sure because MLS is miles ahead of the mexican league. A league that we arent able to beat in meaningful competition. Some people need to get the head out of the sand when it comes to the Mexican league. Id say its the second best league in the americas behind the brazilian. They may not close down on defence but at least they aren’t running like chickens with their heads cut off like defenders in MLS do.
Stu acutally did the the right thing by moving to Bolton. Training, coaching, playing, and compitition in general in the EPL are all supperior to that of the MLS. Granted Houston has a good coach but having to actually compete for PT at the age of 24 is a growth opportunity. If in a month he still hasn’t seen any game time with the first team…then maybe it was a mistake. Till then I’ll still consider it an intellegent move to improve his game and prospects for the future.
Looking like Stuey made the wrong move so far, I was hoping he would stay in Houston. He has tallent to play in the Prem but getting time is about so much more than tallent. He should have stayed where he was guaranteed PT leading up to the World Cup. MLS is much better than sitting on the pine (or running off to scandinavia for that matter).
Additionally, you may not rate goal scorers from the Mexican league very highly but you should take into consideration that they play a very different game down there and clearly some former MLS players talent applies better down there then in MLS. Ramon Nunez is another former MLS player who couldn’t cut it in MLS but is doing very well playing for Cruz Azul and regularly starting for Honduras. I think its about style of play and coaching the most out of players or just letting these guys play like they know how to. Sleep on the Mexican on you want but not only can MLS teams not beat them in a home and hoe series but the can hang with the best clubs South America has to offer and have come very close to winning the Copa Libertadores.
he needs to be closer to goal to really blow shots like that…..
Wow Herculez. You’ve already scored more goals for Puebla then you did in two seasons in Kansas City. Congrats anyway, I guess. For some the mexican league is just a better fit.
Gomez is likely a dual citizen which is why he has been able to play in Mexico before. (He played on some lower division teams and Puebla youth squards before coming to MLS years ago.) According FIFA rules if he played in a competitive match then he is cap tied. He did play in 1 or 2 games in the 2007 Copa America (those were not exhibition matches) so I don’t ppl need to worry about him ever playing for Mexico. To be fair he never really got a fair chance with the national team. Those Copa matches the whole team was pretty much thrown together and stuck out there on the field. He never had the benefit of being invited to a camp or playing in a friendly and being groomed for the national team.
Herculez has already played for the US in a Fifa tournament and I beleive he was over the age of 21, which makes it impossible for him to switch. If he starts games and is tearing up his league then we should consider him with the NATS but until then these goals are good for his confidence but does nothing for the nats. I still have a bad impression of him playing with KC and LA.
Well he couldnt score in the MLS even periodically, and he constantly mis-hit crosses. It nice he has found a good spot but you cant say that scoring in the Mexican league is more impressive than the MLS if he had trouble even finding the field (and for good reason) with a lower half MLS team.
Those Puebla jerseys are pretty sick for Mexican league.
Can’t wait until Holden isn’t a DNP..hopefully sooner than later.
Gomez probably isn’t a viable national team player by any means, but I think the point of this is to track Americans not playing in America and not to scout for the national team. Obviously the thinking here is that if you are good enough to play outside of America you probably can play for the national team. But I think it’s just important to see where some Americans end up playing and seeing how the game has grown in this country.
Yea! Gnarley bro!
I think Gomez already has a cap in the 2007 Copa America, so he would need to submit paperwork to switch to Mexico. Or does the cap in a FIFA tourney preclude him from switching at all? Somebody help me here…
Uh, Gomez has been capped by us already. So if he’s “leaning towards Mexico” it’s only because he has a balance disorder and happens to be in Puebla.
Gomez was a part of the 2007 US Copa America team. Most Americans have forgotten about that tournament though. =]
No Marco wants to play for the USA. He has his own thread on BigSoccer and is a frequent poster.
Adu= Nice goal from a nice one-touch.
Are Gomez and Vidal dual citizens leaning towards Mexico? I do not hear much chatter on the boards about them as potential contenders for the USMNT.
I wonder if Simek will start getting a look since he is healthy and starting…he has a reputation for being a very strong player.
Is Gomez even in consideration for a National Team appearance? Not implying he’s better than Davies or Altidore…but I would rate scoring regularly in the Mexican League as more impressive than in MLS.
Adu’s shot was really well taken. Just a great flick. I’m glad to see him doing so well.
Good Morning Franco!
first!
😀