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Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

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photo by Perry McIntyre/ISIphotos.com 

By FRANCO PANIZO

St. Etienne will hit the road on Saturday for the second time this season, but for Carlos Bocanegra the match against Stade Rennes will be somewhat of a homecoming.

After failing to make the game-day roster last week, Bocanegra will likely suit up to play against his former club and teammates as Saint Etienne looks for a second consecutive victory. Coming off a 3-0 victory, Rennes currently sits in third place of the French League, and could use a win to remain near the top of the table in the early part of the campaign.

Another match to keep an eye out for will be Bolton Wanderers at West Ham United. Against the Hammers, Stuart Holden will aim to replicate the type of performance he had in the season opener, where he played 90 minutes and had a shot hit off the post. The U.S. national team midfielder could go up against Jonathan Spector should the right back make his first appearance of the season.

That's not the only potential American battle we could see this weekend. Tim Howard and Everton host Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers in a duel between two of three goalkeepers to make the United States' World Cup team.

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

FRIDAY

Matt Taylor and FSV Frankfurt play Arminia Bielefeld

Sammy Ochoa and Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. play Edgar Castillo and San Luis. 

SATURDAY

Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers.

Tim Howard and Everton play Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Conor Doyle and Derby County play Coventry City.

Mike Grella and Leeds United play Millwall.

Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Swansea City. (Whitbread is out injured.)

Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Milton Keynes Dons.

Anton Peterlin and Plymouth Argyle play Walsall.

Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play Nurnberg.

Daniel Williams and SC Freiburg play St Pauli.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 play Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt.

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Hamburg SV.

Amaechi Igwe and FC Ingolstadt 04 play FC Ausgburg. (Igwe is out injured.)

Carlos Bocanegra and Saint Etienne play Stade Rennes.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play KSC Lokeren.

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

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

Sonny Guadarrama and Atlante play Chivas de Guadalajara.

SUNDAY


Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Newcastle United.

Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson and Fulham play Manchester United.

Maurice Edu and Rangers play Hibernian.

Dominic Cervi and Celtic play St Mirren.

David Yelldell and MSV Duisburg play VfL Osnabruck.

Luis Robles and Karlsruhe play SpVgg Greuther Furth.

Charlie Davies and Sochaux play Lille.

Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Mikkel Diskerud and Stabaek IF.

Clarence Goodson, Hunter Freeman and IK Start play Viking.

MONDAY

Kenny Cooper and TSV 1860 Munich play VfL Bochum. (Cooper is out injured.)

Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play FC Midtjylland.

Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play AIK.

Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK play Malmo FF.

———-

Do you see Bocanegra getting a warm reception when Saint Etienne visits Stade Rennes? Think Holden and Spector will start for their respective teams this weekend? How many goals combined will Howard and Hahnemann surrender this weekend (if any)?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Conor Doyle with the start for Derby. Hasn’t seen much of the ball in the 1st half, but has looked decent when he does.

    Reply
  2. If he had gone to Marseille he’d have started alongside Argentina’s Gabriel Heinze would have helped lead OM to a Ligue 1 title and would now be playing Champions League football this year.

    I really believe the jump from Belgium to AC Milan was a bit too much too soon.

    Skipping steps never works.

    Reply
  3. it’s crazy how many of these cats playing in europe haven’t seen a nats callup–hat’s kinda cool to see how big the pool is getting.

    @ d.r.d. if Rico were to die suddenly it would be a damn shame and your sh*t would be all f*cked up, watch what you say cause karma can be a b*tch.

    Reply
  4. I would love a 4-5-1.
    Jzy may not seem ready to play alone up top but our strikers biggestd issues in general is possession lost in the midfield and being given few opportunities. Look at the Brazil friendly we started playing attack football and had some very good looks but that all fell apart because we lost the battle in the midfield which is where We have the most depth.

    I would like something like
    ——————Jozy
    Donovan torres/Benny. Dempsey
    ——–Bradley/Jones Edu
    I know ill probly get some flame for sayingng Bradley or Jones and notboth together but I just don’t see Bradley as a sure starter in a deffensive mid role. He loses possession too easially

    Reply
  5. Considering that he didn’t even sniff the bench before, maybe once or twice. This is really good. Also, I heard he had a good shot on goal that took a spectacular save from the keeper. I don’t think he would be getting minutes if they didn’t intend on keeping him.

    Reply
  6. For some reason I like Goodson. He’s a decent player and a star in the Norwegian league. Maybe he can make the move up to a decent team in Holland or Germany. Hoping he gets to play in the Gold Cup but with Gonzalez emerging, that might limit his chances. But no more Parkhurst and Califf for him to compete for a spot.

    Reply
  7. I wonder if in 5 or 10years will there be more Americans heading to Scandinavia to play. MLS is arguably on the same level as Norway/Sweden but slightly below Denmark and most definite miles above Finland. I read Davies was promised $150,000 to sign with MLS his first season, but I believe Hammarby in Sweden offered him like $250-$300,000. I read Danny Califf was making around $300,000 or so his last season in Denmark, which was more than double he was making while in MLS.

    So will more college aged players head to Scandinavia? Surely our youth team players should head to Germany or England or Holland.

    Reply
  8. So some online bloggers demanding we switch to 4-5-1? What do you think? Will we? Should we?

    Is Altidore ready to play up top alone. Surely Findley has shown that he is a flop. Gomez is a super sub at best. Buddle is pretty good but getting too old. Until Charlie Davies is healthy, 4-5-1 is the way to go. Plus we have so much depth in midfield, we need to use it.

    Reply
  9. Glad to know that Bocanegra aka Captain America is for sure a starter at St.Etienne. Sucks that he couldn’t stay with Rennes, he was a ROCK for them in the 08-09 season. Remember when he was at Fulham and he scored 5 goals in the 06-07 and was captain when McBride was out.

    O/T but I downloaded Avatar the Last Airbender and I’m just wondering what is the point of this film? Huge budget but looks like a complete kid’s story.

    Reply
  10. i think this year is going to be a big year for holden. he is really maturing his game and finding his style and he fits well into the system at bolton. im excited

    Reply
  11. Charlie Davies has only played in reserve matches which isn’t good. It tells us all how much more work he needs in order to return to his previous form. He’s behind a few forwards one of which has just played for France’s U19 team which just beat Spain last month in the U19 European Championship Final. Sochaux’s a small club and if doesn’t pan out there, they will move him. They can’t afford to not have him in the Senior side.

    Reply
  12. Greall for the January camp? He needs to be playing more than 4-5 minutes to be called into a camp. He should be going out on loan soon as he is at the bottom of the pecking order for Leeds.

    Ironically Davide Somma (green card holder) is ahead of him after he had an impressive spell with Lincoln last season. With Somma returning from suspension and a few other strikers from injury I doubt Grella will even make the bench.

    He did score 2 in a reserve game this week. I’m still not sure about international level but you never know. From what I hear from Leeds fans he is kinda slow and he likes to do a lot of fancy tricks that usually end up in Leeds losing possession. But you never know, but a loan is really what he needs right now.

    Reply
  13. in preseason he played with the reserves and found the back of the net in a friendly exhibition but i don’t believe he has found the first 18 yet for Sochaux since the accident.

    Reply
  14. Noticed that – coach came out with some comments that bordered on complimentary. Hopefully, if he gets the chance he takes it by the scruff as not too many 18 year old strikers get that opportunity.

    If he continues to get minutes in the CC, I think he should be brought into the January camp. That camp shouldn’t be for starters, we need to introduce young talent, especially young talent that has the option to play for another country.

    Hope to Grella and Brek Shea there as well as Lichaj.

    Reply
  15. As far as I remember, Boca was not in the line up because he was going to be playing the international friendly. Not because he wasn’t able as the article implies.

    Reply

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