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.
————
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.