By FRANCO PANIZO
Jozy Altidore received a rare 90-minute outing with Villarreal on Wednesday, but perhaps more importantly, he found the back of the net.
Altidore netted Villarreal's lone goal (his first across all competitions this season) in a 1-1 draw with Club Polideportivo Ejido in the first leg of the fourth round fixture in Copa del Rey. Altidore gave Villarreal the lead just before halftime, but the hosts pulled level in the waning moments of the match.
There were other positives to take away from Tuesday and Wednesday as several Americans Abroad had games. Eric Lichaj enjoyed an 120-minute performance for Aston Villa in a 2-1 extra-time win against Burnley in the Carling Cup, while Maurice Edu contributed to Rangers reaching the semifinals of the CIS Insurance Cup.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed on Tuesday and Wednesday:
England
- Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 3-2 loss vs. Manchester United in the fourth round of the Carling Cup on Tuesday.
- Brad Friedel started, played 120 minutes and made six saves in Aston Villa's 2-1 extra-time win vs. Burnley in the fourth round of the Carling Cup on Wednesday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 120 minutes for Aston Villa.
- Jonathan Spector did not dress in West Ham United's 3-1 win vs. Stoke City in the fourth round of the Carling Cup on Wednesday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes in Rangers' 2-0 win vs. Kilmarnock in the quarterfinals of the Scottish CIS Insurance Cup on Wednesday.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 3-2 win vs. St Johnstone in the quarterfinals of the Scottish CIS Insurance Cup on Wednesday.
Spain
- Jozy Altidore started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Villarreal's 1-1 draw vs. Club Polideportivo Ejido in the first leg of the fourth round of the Copa del Rey on Wednesday.
Germany
- Daniel Williams started and played 45 minutes in SC Freiburg's 2-1 loss vs. Energie Cottbus in the second round of DFB Pokal on Tuesday.
- Jermaine Jones started and played 77 minutes in Schalke 04's 1-0 win vs. FSV Frankfurt in the second round of DFB Pokal on Tuesday.
- Michael Bradley started, played 120 minutes and scored in the penalty kick shootout in Borussia Moenchengladbach's win (1-1 draw, 5-4 in penalties) vs. Bayer Leverkusen in the second round of DFB Pokal on Wednesday.
- Ricardo Clark did not dress in Eintracht Frankfurt's 5-2 win vs. Hamburg SV in the second round of DFB Pokal on Wednesday.
- David Yeldell started and played 90 minutes in MSV Duisburg's 3-0 win vs. Hallescher FC in the second round of DFB Pokal on Wednesday.
- Kenny Cooper did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 3-0 loss vs. FC Cologne in the second round of DFB Pokal on Tuesday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress in FC Ingolstadt 04's 1-0 loss vs. TSG Hoffenheim in the second round of DFB Pokal on Wednesday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan started, played 120 minutes and scored in the penalty kick shootout in RSC Anderlecht's win (2-2 draw, 4-1 in penalties) vs. URS Centre in the sixth round of the Beker van Belgie on Wednesday.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started and played 68 minutes in Pachuca's 3-2 loss vs. Tigres UANL on Tuesday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 21 minutes for Pachuca.
- Marco Vidal started and played 90 minutes for Pachuca.
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What do you think of these performances? Do you see Altidore scoring more often now? Impressed by Lichaj's performance? Think Edu and Rangers will retain the CIS Insurance Cup?
Share your thoughts below.
Yeah that surprised me as well. Maybe the new manager wants to win some hardware (even if only a secondary cup) in his first season at Villa?
Saloman Kalou nutmegged Hahnemann in Chelsea’s victory over Wolves last weekend. Does that make his goal count less? BTW, Kalou’s finish was slick so..
Good for Jozy and hope this helps him improve his game.
Saloman Kalou nutmegged Hahnemann in Chelsea’s victory over Wolves last weekend… does that make his goal count less too? It was a slick finish by Kalou so…
Good for Jozy and keep it up
I’m cobfused, they went to penalties before they scored the goal??
Wait, are we talking about a Thierry Henry “hand in the goal” or…?
Anyone wanting to see Jozy’s goal:
http://www.plus.es/futbol-plus/videos—resumenes/videos-copa-del-rey/?ctn=Div_coleccionpage_11_caja_3_8840&aP=modulo%3DESPColeccionV3%26params%3Dmedio%253Dplus.es%2526section%253Dvideos—resumenes%252Fvideos-copa-del-rey%2526page%253Dindex.html%2526path%253Dvideo_listado_grande_798_12839609152419%252Fcontainer_0%2526id%253D20101028pluutmftb_8.Ves%2526tipo%253DVIDEO%2526especial%253Dfutbol-plus%2526destacado%253Dsi
So I’m geussing the most-recent World Cup winners aren’t top tier?
As a West Ham fan I really don’t want to see that happen.
10 more goals and Jozy can call this season a success and may earn a permanent spot at Villareal
Come on dude. Give him credit for the goal. He looked good with the ball at his feet. Juked around one defender, then a nice finish with the left foot.
Seriously it’s like we all criticize him for not scoring, then when he scores we criticize him for the manner in which he scored. Would you rather it was with his head? Or perhaps his right foot? A back heel goal? A goal is a goal. Be happy he scored.
He got injured?
Nah. Spector will make it out just fine in the Championship next season
http://www.plus.es/futbol-plus/videos—resumenes/videos-copa-del-rey/
Save the trash talk rubbish boy. Congrats to Altidore.
Seems like you’re turning into a bit of a troll doesn’t it, Todd?
No start for Guzan?
The same 3rd division team that spanked villareal 5-0 last year.
No game is easy, and a goal is a goal.
way to go jozy. Now go score against a top tier team.
How do you know this?
Yet Villareal ended up tying that 3rd division squad.
Video highlights of Gladbachs win over Leverkusen can be found here:
http://sport.zdf.de/ZDFsport/inhalt/0/0,5676,1700000,00.html?dr=1
Scroll down until you see Gladbach.
until i see video im going to assume that he didnt score.
Than did the goal happen?
Cervi and Spector both should be leaving their teams next oppurtunity.
Hate to burst everyone’s Altidore bubble, but….
The team Villareal played is not even in La Liga. They are in the 3rd division.
Don’t get all excited, he’s still rubbish.
Altidore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Any word on Jones Injury?
Jozy nutmegged the keeper…he should try aiming away from him one day.
Glad to hear Altidore finally scored. Hopefully he can keep it up.
There weren’t even feeds available — I’m not sure if it was even televised.
Just to throw this in there, Bradley scored one of the penalties and then had a slight hand in the goal.
Good. Now we’ll see if Jozy can go on a streak, assuming he even gets minutes.
good stuff alti….hope this is the beginning of a good run of games and form cuz lord knows he needs it!
any chance theres a vid out there of altidore’s goal?