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Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

Sacha Kljestan 2 (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Sacha Kljestan scored his first goal in Europe during the midweek in a UEFA Champions League qualifier, and he will look to follow that up in Anderlecht's season opener this weekend.

Anderlecht hosts recently-promoted Eupen on Saturday, a club that will be playing its first ever match in Belgium's top division. Kljestan would start his second game in five days if he were to be announced in Anderlecht's starting eleven.

While their season may have already started, Pachuca's trio of Jose Torres, Herculez Gomez and Marco Vidal will be aiming for a win against Toluca to keep their early lead atop Group 2 intact. Pachuca is coming off a 3-0 win over America in its season opener.

Here is a rundown of who the Americans Abroad will be playing this weekend:

SATURDAY

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Eupen.

Marcus Tracy, Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play FC Copenhagen. (Rolfe is out injured.)

SUNDAY

Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Randers FC.

Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Odd Grenland.

Mikkel Diskerud and Stabaek IF play Tromso.

Edgar Castillo and San Luis play Puebla.

Jose Torres, Herculez Gomez, Marco Vidal and Pachuca play Toluca.

MONDAY

Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play Atvidabergs FF.

Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK play Trelleborgs FF.

Clarence Goodson, Hunter Freeman and IK Start play Valerenga. (Goodson and Freeman are suspended due to yellow card accumulation.)

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How do you see Kljestan faring in his debut? Expect the trio of Torres, Gomez and Vidal to play against Toluca? 

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Read the article on him in SI.com. All those morons who blasted Bradley for leaving CD9 off the World Cup squad should worry about Charlie’s future in France, period.

    Well there is always the good old MLS.

    Reply
  2. Calm down.

    A hat trick against anyone is nice but, it was against Chelsea’s reserves and other than Scott Sinclair, I didn’t recognize one name on the team.

    Besides, you saw how much all those goals in pre-season did for Donovan at Bayern.

    Reply
  3. (I think) No Short Corners blog reported a little while back that negotiations are still on the table but haggling over wages. If Goodson doesn’t move this summer, I’m betting he’ll have a new club in the winter as the Norwegian season wraps up in October. Denmark or Germany would be good destinations.

    Reply
  4. 2 Goals:
    The first one was a free kick by Gale threading it thru the wall.
    The second one was a nice blast from outside the 18 by Agudelo (can’t tell if it was deflected by a defender though).

    Reply
  5. Word is that he’s traveling to Trabzonspor (4th best team in Turkish league) on Mon or Tues to check out the city/club in person before agreeing to go on loan there. Terms are apparently already agreed between the clubs.

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  6. That’s a nice thought, but once all of Europe gets going, there are going to be a lot of teams to keep track of and I would rather these guys be working on things that I can’t google for myself.

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  7. To do that means he would probably have to alter his Benfica contract in some way.

    He was on a 2 year loan deal with Aris but I don’t know how much time is left on the original Benfica contract. Until the entire contract runs it’s course he remains a prohibitively expensive proposition for an MLS team. Especially when you compare him to other DP’S. A lot of money for very little product.

    This is likely to be the last big money contract he will ever get so from a financial standpoint if he waited until the end of it he would still be fairly young and then could play for $40,000 a year or whatever the MLS is willng to pay him.

    He’s going to need that financial cushion because life is going to be hard for a 22 year old washed up pro of limited accomplishment with a proven “clubhouse cancer” attitude.

    Reply
  8. Hi Franco,

    It would be useful to know the standings of the teams and the league they play in. For example, adding a statement such as “Aalborg is currently 6th out of 15 teams in the Danish league”.

    For some of these teams, I’m not even sure what league they are in and I was surprised that Benny’s team from last season was relegated. I thought they were doing well.

    Thanks!

    Reply
  9. No, but there’s a long list of players (most not of his hyped status) who have given up by now…and moved home….played PDL…..joined my pick up league…gone back to school.

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  10. Say what you want about Freddy Adu, but so far he has convinced people to pay him lots of money to live in Portugal, Monaco, Greece, and apparently now Switzerland. Sounds like quite a career so far. Who isn’t envious? Well, not counting the soccer, that is…

    Reply
  11. I would actually like to see Jozy stay on at Villareal. Hopefully he can impress enough to get minutes off the bench and maybe a few starts

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  12. Scott Sinclair, so yes it was all reserves and youth but the youth kids have had success in the past year.

    I’m a big Pittman fan and I’m hoping at some point in his career he can get a cap, even just one.

    I believe the 4 minute hattrick is some kind of record.

    Charlton, Preston, and Leeds were all interested in him at various points last season in League One. Sheffield are interested now apparently.

    Reply
  13. against all reserves. di santo, cork, and someone else were the only one’s with first team experience. still think we should take a look at this guy though.

    Reply
  14. I wonder if you will look back at that post and wonder what you were thinking posting it. We all know his mustache is beautiful. Just ask his hot a#$ girlfriend.

    Reply
  15. There’s an article up on Yanks-abroad about his situation.

    Basically, the new manager (who apparently coached the reserve team while Jozy was there a couple of years ago) says they want him for this season, but they don’t know if they can afford his wages.

    In the same article Jozy says he wants to stay in Villareal this year, for what that’s worth.

    Reply
  16. He played for England C but he isn’t cap tied. England C doesn’t mean anything, not fifa sanctioned and never will be. He is fine and has expressed his desire to someday play for the USA.

    Sheffield United are interested in him apparently.

    I know its pre-season but he has 7 goals in 6 games, Wycombe’s first game is August 7th.

    Reply
  17. haha i love that there is a yank playing abroad with the same name as the guitarist (well, ex-guitarist) from Def Leppard

    Reply
  18. how about a look behind, YURA MOVSISYAN scores a brace in europa qualifying on thursday

    (soon to be passport holder, keep your fingers crossed…)

    Reply
  19. Adu needs to cut his losses and return to MLS. If a mid table Swedish team isn’t willing to take you, something’s extremely wrong.

    Reply
  20. Got give Adu props for being persistent.

    Never give up.

    Refuses to quit.

    Keeps getting slapped down and rejected and continues to get up and move on.

    What’s not to like about the guy.

    Reply
  21. Was he not capped by one on England’s teams already? don’t think it was the MNT but I want to say one oftheir youth teams…Maybe he wil lnot fall unde r te americans abroad, much like Rossi??

    Reply
  22. He is healthy again. Fit is another story. He is working back very slowly to aviod the tendenitis injuries of last season.

    I believe Ives’ mention of Marcus is just an indication that he is back with the team.

    Reply
  23. Yanks Abroad

    “Freddy Adu will not be joining Swiss Super League club FC Sion, the team confirmed on Friday afternoon, leaving his future for the approaching season still in limbo.”

    SAD

    Reply
  24. I’ve read that Borussia M’gladbach is playing Liverpool in a friendly on Sunday, so I guess Bradley might be involved, unless he’s not yet training with the team after the WC.

    Reply
  25. Is the Stabaek game streamed anyplace. I would like to see how Mix does since he only played less than a half last time out/ I doubt Pachuca wins- beating to good teams in a row is tough.

    Reply

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