By FRANCO PANIZO
Wolves have been flirting with the drop zone all season long, but against fellow relegation-threatened Burnley, Marcus Hahnemann did his best to improve Wolves' chances of staying another year in England's top flight.
Hahnemann made his 16th consecutive start for Wolves and had one of his busiest days of the year, making a season-high eight saves en route to a 2-1 victory that ended a four-game losing streak. The win places Wolves three points above the relegation zone with 27, and might serve as a boost in confidence as the team enters a stretch of three league games in eight days.
Landon Donovan didn't get a win this weekend, but he is likely high in confidence right now as he closed out a successful ten-week loan with Everton. In what was likely his last game with the club, Donovan came off the bench and played 23 minutes in a 2-2 draw against Birmingham.
Donovan may have said bye to Everton, but there was one American who was saying hello to a new league. Chris Rolfe made his debut for Aalborg BK, coming off the bench for a 20-minute cameo in a 2-0 loss to FC Midtjylland.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Landon Donovan came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Everton's 2-2 draw vs. Birmingham on Saturday.
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Everton's 2-2 draw vs. Birmingham on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore started and played 83 minutes in Hull City 's 2-1 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 72 minutes in Fulham's 3-0 loss vs. Manchester United on Sunday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham's 4-1 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Aston Villa's 0-0 draw vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
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Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 0-0 draw vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
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Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2-1 win vs. Burnley on Saturday.
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Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 4-0 win vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
- Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 1-0 loss vs. Peterborough United on Saturday.
- Frank Simek dressed but did not play in Sheffield Wednesday's 0-0 draw vs. Swansea City on Saturday.
- Kenny Cooper dressed but did not play in Plymouth Argyle's 1-1 draw vs. Coventry City on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Norwich City's 3-1 win vs. Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
- Mike Grella did not dress in Leeds United's 1-0 loss vs. Southampton on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson did not dress in Stockport County's 0-0 draw vs. Gillingham on Saturday.
- Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 1 minute in Wycombe Wanderers' 2-2 draw vs. Oldham Athletic on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Rangers' 3-3 draw vs. Dundee United in the sixth round of the Scottish Cup on Sunday.
- DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench and played 5 minutes in Rangers' 3-3 draw vs. Dundee United in the sixth round of the Scottish Cup on Sunday.
- Dominic Cervi dressed but did not play in Celtic's 3-0 win 
;vs. Kilmarnock in the sixth round of the Scottish Cup on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 1-0 win vs. Chievo Verona on Sunday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 4-0 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
- Steve Cherundolo came off the bench, played 35 minutes and received a yellow card in Hannover 96's 2-1 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
- Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 2-1 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-1 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Friday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
- Ricardo Clark dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-1 loss vs. Hannover 96 on Saturday.
- Daniel Williams came off the bench and played 15 minutes in SC Freiburg's 2-1 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 4-1 win vs. Energie Cottbus on Sunday.
- Matt Taylor did not dress in FSV Frankfurt's 2-0 win vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
- David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in TUS Koblenz's 2-0 win vs. Ahlen on Friday.
France
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Stade Rennes' 2-0 win vs. Valenciennes on Sunday.
- Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 4-1 loss vs. Paris Saint-Germain on Saturday. He is recovering from multiple injuries.
Portugal
- Gale Agbossoumonde did not dress in Sporting Braga's 1-0 win vs. Rio Ave on Saturday.
Greece
- Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Aris Salonika's 2-0 win vs. PAOK Salonika on Sunday.
- Eddie Johnson came off the bench and played 3 minutes in Aris Salonika's 2-0 win vs. PAOK Salonika on Sunday.
Denmark
- Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play Silkeborg on Monday.
- Michael Parkhurst dressed but did not play in FC Nordsjaelland's 0-0 draw vs. Randers FC on Sunday.
- Marcus Tracy did not dress in Aalborg BK's 2-0 loss vs. FC Midtjylland on Sunday.
- Chris Rolfe came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Aalborg BK's 2-0 loss vs. FC Midtjylland on Sunday.
Sweden
- Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro BK play Atvidabergs FF on Monday.
Norway
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 2-0 win vs. Sandefjord on Sunday.
- Hunter Freeman started and played 82 minutes in IK Start's 2-0 win vs. Sandefjord on Sunday.
- Mikkel Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek's 3-2 win vs. Odd Grenland on Sunday.
Mexico
- Jose Francisco Torres started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca's 3-0 loss vs. Santos on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Tigres UANL's 1-0 loss vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Marco Vidal started and played 90 minutes in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 4-1 loss vs. Estudiantes U.A. de G. on Friday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench, played 36 minutes and scored a GOAL in Puebla's 1-1 draw vs. Monterrey on Sunday.
Argentina
- Michael Hoyos did not dress in Estudiantes La Plata's 2-0 win vs. Newell's Old Boys on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Are Hahnemann and Wolves going to avoid relegation? Do you ever see Donovan returning to Everton? Think Rolfe should have come on earlier against FC Midtjylland?
Share your thoughts below.
Sad. Makes the group easier for the US, maybe, but it’s no pleasure to see a major player knocked out of his last chance at a WC.
Ditto Nesta. Possibly an opportunity for Gooch, but he’s been such a fixture for so long… The Cup will be missing something with these guys not playing.
No the league just has players that create better service. League is still Loads stronger than MLS.
Well, the question with Freddy is whether he has learned to let his play do the talking and keeping his mouth shut afterwards. He seems to have always been TOO vocal about how much he SHOULD be playing and there are plenty of coaches that will sit you down because of that. I don’t KNOW this has happened, but it has been a pattern for Freddy in the past.
Adu rides another pine…nough said!!!!
His last game played he saved a goal going in when he was playing defense for Aris..you know the “hustle” part…. the thing that was considred his weakness.
I think im rolling with the fishy thought as well. its almsot like a pattern…do good for a month.. help create, score a goal or a few and than bench time for the rest of the decade(lol).
How come Zak Whitbread hasn’t played since his move from Milwall? What gives there? Also, when will Grella begin getting minutes?
In a game that can turn on 1 player hitting the back of the net out of up to 28 on the field that day, it’s an insult to the other 27 to assume scoring’s the only measure of a player’s contribution. While Freddy finishing a couple of gimmes is better than shanking them, it might be they’re looking for something more out of him.
Gomez scoring every week in Mexico-maybe the Mexican league is not that strong.
I’m with you on this, I don’t get it at all. The kid comes over gets some action and puts a few in the back of the net. Next thing you know he’s riding pine?! What’s the deal? I thought the whole point of him going here was to get some burn. It seems like there is more than meets the eye with Freddy, the same thing happened when he first went to Benfica, he came over scored 2 goals in the 11 games he saw action then he gets the cold shoulder. Fishy, fishy, fishy…
Quien es?
In order for Findley to become a good footballer is easily by playing in Europe so he can get the experience over there playing with the best players in the world. Sure he scores in MLS but MLS is no where near intense than playing in Europe also in Mexico they do have good teams and players over there and it is hard to play over there due to their fans
Disekrud hasn’t really established himself as a starter in past seasons so he hasn’t gotten a look very promising player though he definetly has a future with the U.S
yeah but davies was a rookie gomez has been around for a while
Diskerud with a pretty good game. Wish Bob would have called him up. He us 19 years old playing for the a top 3 norwegian team, starting and helping set up a goal and nearly get one himself in a win. Norways league is rated higher than swedens. No offense to our great Swedish players.
what up, y’all.
que casualidad, but i live in Puebla, and read this blog everyday. I learned about Gomez when he came to town, so i don’t know about his Wizards days. I’m impressed with him: he’s tall, athletic, hustles, and seems to have a nice touch. I’m not saying he’s Wayne Rooney, but he seems to fit in rather nicely with Puebla, a good team in need of a good striker. He seems to be our man. Now if we could just start winning. Hey Ives, you want me to do a PBR? (not Pabst Blue Ribbon).
The old phrase is “form is fleeting, class eternal” but since the US is desperately short of class at forward, I’ll take form anyday.
Same as Davies did last year. He was slogging along in where? Sweden? and then something clicked and he became the Terminator….for a time. Sometimes it just happens.
And for the record, I’m not agreeing that either CD or Herc were ever crap….just working themselves into form.
Cheers,
If anything, Gomez deserves a look at our weak Forward spots right now…..Before anyone gets all huffy and puffy, who the hell else do we have? I pray Charlie gets back, but who knows…..Findley isn’t ready, EJ, well..it’s EJ, Ching could be decent, but I say it’s time to try a Black and Brown party on top (maybe for the two friendlies?)….I mean, it couldn’t hurt……hehe, I also find it funny that our US Latino’s (Bedoya, Gomez) are pushing Bradley’s hand late in the game….
So he underperformed in KC (I believe he did score some goals in LA in 06 or 07) but right now he is scoring goals in bunches in Mexico. I can’t pretend like I am watching lots of Puebla matches, but if he continues to score he must be considered for a spot ahead of Findley or Ching.
Seriously though, he couldn’t crack the Wizards lineup last season, and has scored all of one goal in 34 appearances for them (according to wiki). Yes, he finishes ok when given time and space, but so does Findley, and based on their MLS performances I would have to say Findley is better at creating time and space than Gomez is.
Goodson should be on the plane to SA so it’s good to see him continuing to dominate.
I rather have Gomez over Findley and Ching for the World Cup team any day please make the right choice Bradley this guy can be Davies replacement if he doesn’t play in the world cup
goodson booked his ticket after being after his man of the match performance in front of bradley
I’m glad I have been able to watch our boys play day in and day out in europe lately. I still can’t explain myself why would you continue to put EJ over Adu on the Aris lineup every week. Adu would serve better as a striker than EJ can ever do. I guess the kid can’t get a break even when he shines.
Beckham not in W.C is very depressing. I was looking forward to him playing against us in June.:( Give MILAN hell MLS!haha
It’s looking bleak for Freddy Adu. He was starting and scoring and then gets benched out of nowhere.
how did gomez go from being crap to scoring for fun?
If only we can get Bradley to take a look at Gomez…
It is his 6th in 8 games
He has scored a goal in 5 straight
Most of the Americans did pretty well in the sky sports player ratings as well. Good news. We are playing more and they are doing better. The big exception this week was Spector who got a 4 and they said something to the effect he was “terrorized by Maluda”….well…guess it it good experience…certainly better than anything Borenstein is getting.
you right… it is 6 goals… they corrected their numbers.
Is it 6? The guys on ESPn said 5 but in any case, I agree with you that BB needs to take a look at this kid. He’s on fire.
I’m pretty sure it’s his 6th goal in 10 games. Bradly has to give a look, he’s on fire right now!
*Herculez*
Hercules Gomez just scored his 5th goal for Puebla.
Gol Herculez Gomez!!!
galaxy should def go after milan. just like they did for gooch. becks should retire and start up the 20th mls team
Did Marcus Tracy not dress due to whatever injury it was that forced him out of that USMNT camp early?
wow Beckham out of the World Cup….interesting….
Galaxy should go after Milan hard on that one…just as Milan went after USMNT on Gooch’s injury even though he never played. Berlesconi should pay through the nose for this one.
On an unrelated note – Beckham is out of the World Cup.
thats what tabbed browsing’s for.
Diskerud is half Norge and half American and played on the U-20 world cup team and Freeman was on the Olympic team.
While I am a big fan of Yura, he’s still not an American citizen, so no need to post about him on AA.
The list grows longer every month!
Who are Diskerud and Freeman?
COuple of observations:
-Diskeruud. I almost forgot about this youngster. Lets see how he develops.
Good-Solid outing in terms of playing time for americans in the EPL and Bundesliga. Boca and Spector are now getting solid playing time. Dolo is slowing coming back!
Bad-Your father screwed you over big time Cooper. Turns out the loan to the Greek club didnt turn fruitful afterall for our duo.
Two points:
1) Yura Movsisyan (green card holder?) started for Randers and got sent off on a straight red late in the match against Parkhurst’s team. (http://ekstrabladet.dk/sport/resultater/livesportoversigt/match/?extraid=1059846)
2) Kamani Hill is on loan at Aves (Portugal 2nd division). He entered in minute 57′ in the 3-0 win against Covilha. (http://www.lpfp.pt/liga_vitalis/pages/jogo.aspx?epoca=20092010&jornada=23&jogo=6112)
Took this from another board – posted by Soccerman
Juryen har kåret Goodson til dagens Startspiller.
Bob Bradley in attendance for Start’s match today and Goodson was named Start’s “Man of the Match” for their win.
Watch here: http://www.ikstart.no/tv_default.aspx?m=257&amid=492824
18 players in “the top 4 leagues” in Europe. Our Americans in Mexico have been tearing it up lately, playing consistent time.
Franco,
Thanks for the update on American Abroad. Could you also list the points and the current standings for the teams these players are on? I end up going one by one to each league to see how the teams these players are on are doing.
Thanks