By FRANCO PANIZO
Sacha Kljestan has had less than two months to adjust to life in Europe and with new club RSC Anderlecht, but he is already making his presence felt.
In his first UEFA Champions League start on Tuesday, Kljestan opened the scoring in the first leg of the third round qualifying fixture against Welsh club The New Saints. Kljestan netted in the seventh minute, paving the way for a 3-1 Anderlecht victory at Racehorse Ground in Wrexham, Wales.
Kljestan and Anderlecht will host the second leg at Constant Vanden Stock Stadium in Brussels on Aug. 3.
Here is some more Americans Abroad news from Tuesday:
Cherundolo named Hannover captain
Steve Cherundolo has spent all his 11 professional seasons with Hannover 96, and for the first time in his career he has been appointed the team's captain.
Hannover head coach Mirko Slomka appointed Cherundolo as captain during the team's training camp this week after the spot was left vacant due to Hanno Ballitsch's departure for Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer.
Cherundolo, Hannover's longest-serving player, agreed to a three-year contract extension in late June. He has served as deputy captain for the club in the past.
Peterlin signs with Plymouth Argyle
United States college product Anton Peterlin is set to sign with Championship club Plymouth Argyle on a one-year deal. A former Cal Poly SLO product, Peterlin will have a chance to make his European debut with Plymouth after impressing the club's new manager Peter Reid.
Peterlin was under contract with Everton last season but failed to make a first-team appearance. The 23-year-old midfielder was released by the club in June.
———
What do you think of Kljestan scoring in a Champions League qualifier? How do you see Cherundolo faring as captain? Think Peterlin will succeed at Plymouth Argyle?
Share your thoughts below.
everyone seems to forget that humans have the ability to LEARN and GROW. even sacha kljestan. no need to write him off, he’s still young. moving to europe is what he needed.
all the haters wish the usmnt well but at the same time laugh at everyone young player who doesnt play like donovan out of the womb. take it easy guys.
To all that answered, thanks! I don’t feel sheepish, I’m actually kind of proud. I wondered if Reyna ever captained City, and McBride isn’t that big of a surprise (he could probably run for public office).
You didn’t get it right. Andrlecht is hardly a top European side.
Yelling Welch? Grape Juice lovers, are they?
Let’s hope.
Wishful thinking EA. SK had ample opportunity to show he was ready for SA.
Next you’re gonna tell me Heath Pearce should have made the plane, too.
Good for him. But if trading players was an option in the NT I wouldn’t hesitate to trade him to Canada! he could be solid at times, but his ability to see the game on the field is WACK! And for that person who compared him to Chuck D in the game where Sasha scored 3 goals is far from knowing the game. Sure Sasha scored 3 goals, but Chuck D knows where to be both defensively and offensively and knows exactly how the temple is going during a game. Sasha on the other hand wouldn’t even notice Bin Landed chasing him on the field. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy he is playing over in europe, but let’s no get to carried away now. For now, I don’t want him close to a US jersey point blank. Too many chances given to him and he couldn’t prove himself similar to lazy EJ.
TELL EM!
Haven’t seen any. Stream was only audio…
MLS=League 1
Well, with all its MLS struggles, DC United did quite well in the international friendlies, beating AC Milan and Portsmouth this year. I don’t think that the Welsh team would do well against DC United. They might do OK against the likes of Charleston Battery or Richmond Kickers.
It can beat Russia from its house.
+1 (now back to zero)
Funny how no one spoke like this when he scored for Chivas. All I kept hearing was “Mickey mouse” this…”MLS sucks” that.
Oh and I’m not knocking Kljestan. I just think scoring against The New Saints is less than scoring against Bruce Arena’s Galaxy.
Jeez guys…when did internet forums become the foundation for spell-checking and grammatical perfection?
Regardless, you’re insane if you think the Welsh league could remotely compete with The Crew OR The Galaxy.
Great news for Dolo. Best RB the US has ever produced. I wouldn’t count him out for 2014 just yet. He just signed a 3 year extension with Hannover and if he can stay in good shape and get playing time, he could certainly be in the mix in 2014. I consider this highly likely especially if Spector is hurt, not getting playing time, or just playing badly like he was last season, and if the Sean Franklin/Eric Lichaj/Frank Simek/Kevin Alston crop of Right Backs nevers turns out.
There weren’t any live feeds of it earlier, so we might be hard pressed to find video. But here’s a shot of Sacha celebrating his goal.
http://picture.belga.be/belgapicture/picture/21440443.html?citemId=2296217-63
Alaska has its own international team? Nuts…
Looks like the MLS didn’t screw up too bad on Peterlin.
I lol’d quite hard when Sacha wound up on the cover of FIFA ’10, but I really do hope this leads to the re-birth of Sacha Kljestan
pretty sure Wolfsburg was in the Bundesliga 2 back then
I hope Sacha can rediscover his form. He has been dreadful lately. I’ll have more confidence when he’s scoring goals against teams that can actually beat any of the teams in the Los Angeles Park District’s league. (don’t laugh, the Red Hot Chili Peppers field a side and they are tough!)
As for Cherundolo that is awesome news. Hannover are a good sized club and well respected in Germany. It’s a big deal for an American to captain a side in a top league like Bundesliga IMO. Well deserved as well IMO.
Any link for his goal?
lolWiki says Reyna has the title as the first American to captain a Eurpoean team, with Wolfsburg in 1997, though it’s not clear if it was while Wolfsburg was in Bundesliga or B2.
Agreed.
Couldn’t agree more.
You should have taken away more than one that is.
+1 You should have more than one, but that’s just nitpicking. The ignorance of some people is amusing though. EA, Kljestan was no good last year, if he steps up his game in Belgium or wherever he will get more call ups. Bob Bradley knows what he is doing, hell Sir Alex Ferguson even backs him for the Fulham job. Now I’m sure you in you vast array of knowledge know more about soccer than SAF but that’s still a big backing right?
Claudio reyna? I think he captained a couple teams in europe, including Man City
The Crew of the Galaxy sounds like a new command for Captain Kirk in the next Star Treck Film.
-1
didn’t catch the “big four” part.. but ya..
So, here we have a young American central midfielder who’s scoring in Champions League qualifiers and starting for a top European side, and he can’t even make the World Cup team!
C’mon Bob Dumbley! What are you doing???? Your leading scorer plays in MLS, your #1 forward didn’t even score a goal last year!
Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuughhhhhhhhhhhh!
–
–
–
–
–
Did I get it right?
Do I need to practice some for when Bornstein is starting in Mexico?
and wasn’t DeMerit cap’t of Watford..
yep, sure was. boca captained fulham for ab it too.
nice..any video??
I am fairly certain that Brian McBride was full time captain for Fulham at some point.
Wales sucks at soccer. They are ranked like 70 in the world right? Next to South Africa and Alaska.
This has to be the first time an American has captained a big four team, right?
Good Job Kljestan. 🙂
He has. He was the deputy captain or something like that for a while, taking over when the captain was unavailable.
Good for Sacha, so what if the New Saints are trash. Scoring and playing well is still a way to get noticed by the staff and force a way into the first team/starting XI.
Vice Captain
Hm. I could have sworn Stevie had captained Hannover before. Oh well. Good for him. He deserves it.
im looking for tix to the Crew of the Galaxy vs. New Saints game. hope Sasha can score again!
good news all around tho!
I disagree. Kljestan was, at the very least, going to become a good player for the USA untiil his ankle injury before the Mexico game and slump in confidence due to MLS not accepting Celtic’s offer. I mean, he had a hat trick in the same game where Charlie Davies royally sucked, yet look where the two are now. He was tearing up MLS at one point and has the potential to achieve similar, if not better form. Anybody would have called up a midfielder in the kind of form Sacha was in, at least for the USA. He’s on his way back.
Of course, that’s just my opinion.
The lads from Llansanffraid-ym-Mechain don’t mess about. The Crew of the Galaxy (whoever the hell that is) would be so frightened of the 1000 seated fans at the New Saints home ground yelling Welch at them they would shite their pants and be easily defeated.
Nothing ever to get excited over with Kljestan. He is a good club player but royally sucks for the national team. Maybe this move for him will help him get better. And your right the Welsh team might have a good run at a team like DC United or someone at the bottom of the MLS.
First, let me say that all items of this Americans Abroad update are much needed improvements for the three parties.
However, I’ve been hearing quite a few people getting excited over Sacha’s recent form. Maybe it’s me, but I don’t see The New Saints beating the Crew of the Galaxy. The Welsh League (despite whatever rankings) is < MLS. Nevertheless, I hope to see this form regularly throughout all competitions. Good luck Sacha.