By FRANCO PANIZO
Trailing against 10-man Bolton, Blackburn scored a late equalizer that looked to have sealed a result for the Rovers.
No one told Stuart Holden that.
Just seconds after Blackburn had pulled level at 1-1 through a Mame Biram Diouf finish, Holden got on the end of a headed pass, controlling the ball with his chest before smacking home a game-winning left-footed volley in the 88th minute. Holden's heroics came right after kickoff and in his first game back after missing the past couple weeks with a thigh injury. The goal was Holden's second this season (both game-winners).
Eric Lichaj also had a memorable game, as he received his first start in the Premier League in Aston Villa's 2-1 victory over West Bromwich Albion. Lichaj went 90 minutes in the win with a performance that could warrant him some more playing time.
Not all was good news this weekend. Jose Torres, Herculez Gomez, Marco Vidal and Pachuca were defeated, 1-0, in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World by African champs TP Mazembe. Torres started and played 72 minutes, Gomez came off the bench and played 17 and Vidal dressed but did not play. Pachua will play in the fifth-place match against host club Al-Wahda on Wednesday.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, and made two saves in Everton's 0-0 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 0-0 draw vs. Sunderland on Saturday.
- Eddie Johnson came off the bench and played 18 minutes for Fulham.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Aston Villa's 2-1 win vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play for Aston Villa.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes for Aston Villa.
- Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-0 win vs. Birmingham on Sunday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham United's 3-1 loss vs. Manchester CIty on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Bolton Wanderers' 2-1 win vs. Blackburn Rovers on Sunday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Conor Doyle came off the bench and played 4 minutes in Derby County's 2-0 loss vs. Bristol City on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Norwich City's 2-0 loss vs. Portsmouth on Saturday. He is recovering from a calf injury.
LEAGUE ONE
- Frank Simek started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Carlisle United's 2-0 loss vs. Dagenham & Redbridge on Saturday.
- Mike Grella came off the bench and played 21 minutes for Carlisle United.
- Anton Peterlin did not dress in Plymouth Argyle's 2-0 win vs. Exeter City on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson did not dress in Milton Keynes Dons' 2-0 loss vs. Notts County on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 1-1 draw vs. Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Dominic Cervi and Celtic's match vs. Kilmarnock on Saturday was postponed due to the weather.
Spain
- Jozy Altidore dressed but did not play in Villarreal's 1-0 loss vs. Getafe on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 3-0 win vs. Bologna on Sunday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 23 minutes in Hannover 96's 2-1 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Friday.
- DaMarcus Beasley did not dress for Hannover 96.
- Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 3-0 loss vs. SC Freiburg on Sunday.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 1-0 win vs. Mainz on Sunday.
- Ricardo Clark dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt's 1-0 loss vs. FC Cologne on Saturday.
- Daniel Williams did not dress in SC Freiburg's 3-0 win vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Kenny Cooper dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-1 draw vs. FC Ingolstadt 04 on Sunday.
- David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made one save in MSV Duisburg's 0-0 draw vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Saturday.
- Luis Robles started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Karlsruhe's 1-0 win vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Friday.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress in FC Ingolstadt 04's 1-1 draw vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
France
LIGUE 1
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in St Etienne's 2-0 win vs. AS Monaco on Sunday.
- Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 1-0 loss vs. AS Nancy Lorraine on Saturday.
LIGUE 2
- Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard did not play this weekend.
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 57 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 0-0 draw vs. KSC Lokeren on Sunday.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started and played 72 minutes in Pachuca's 1-0 loss vs. TP Mazembe in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Club World Cup on Friday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 17 minutes for Pachuca.
- Marco Vidal dressed but did not play for Pachuca.
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What do you think of these performances? How impressed are you by Holden's goal? Think a transfer is inevitable if he continues to play like this? What did you think of Lichaj's first EPL start? Do you see Gomez and Torres returning to Pachuca next season?
Share your thoughts below.
Could Holden’s strike be considered “Goal of the Year”?
What exactly does Altidore do at Vilareal?
Jones
Holden
Edu
Bradley
Diskerud
I respect your opinion but I don’t think BB “loved” him…more like “liked” him. I got the feeling that he wanted to make him a wide mid rather than a central. I wonder why?
Apparently was a PK. He tweeted that he had his ‘best game yet’ and went the total 90, which is pretty cool. Would be nice for him to get some run-of-play goals, but a winning strike is a winning strike; any confidence boost helps right now.
dude, he was barely in shape for the WC. Had just come back from a broken leg; nowhere near as sharp as he is now (well maybe not today having come off a two week layoff), but you know wut i mean.
Any video? Was I a nice goal and news on how looks playing.?
CD9 with a goal in a reserves friendly fixture.
He was also in England before going to Bolton and was badly attacked outside of a nightclub–just really bad luck. He’s also had a tough few years family-wise, so it wouldn’t be surprising to me if he had made it known that he wanted to stay around Houston.
he was also beaten outside a bar when he was with sunderland
No, it wasn’t about his form. And yes, Jones probably as some (if not the) best skills out of the USMNT. However, soccer is a team spot and therefore attitude goes a long way in determining how well you play. One of the USMNT’s greatest strengths is their group dynamic–they all seem to like each other, and that shows when they go out and put everything into a game. That’s something that can easily be ruined by an attitude problem. I’m sure that Jones was on his best behavior in the October Friendlies. It’ll be interesting to see if he keeps it that way.
He tweaked his knee and had to come out. I dont know the details.
J jones cannot play out wide internationally and M bradley won’t be used properly. If you switched bradley and holden, it would be far more palatable
Did Cherundolo get injured? Didn’t even make it 30 minutes?
Way to go Stuey! Tremendous. That’s how to become a hometown hero. And congrats to Eric as well. Great to see him finally get a start. He deserves this.
If you think the demotion was all about his form, you’re the idiot. Sorry to be harsh, but, your word.
So this is how I deal with the midfield problem:
Dempsey
Bradley
Jones-edu-Holden-Donovan
Ponce-boca-Goodson-solo
Howard
Bradley played A bit as a withdrawn striker with heerenven
Sure, but I wouldn’t be betting on either teams chances of staying up right about now, especially if they were to sell the players in question in January.
He had some injury issues. He had them a few times in the MLS and suffered one right before the Sweden game. Obviously there was the one in the Holland game and most recently. He has a knack for them, but he seems to get back and play just as well as before he goes down. Great player that Stuart.
It’s nice to be at a point where a player getting starts for a moderate quality European league champion and Champions League participant (Kljestan) is on the fringe of team USA. Of course midfield is our strongest area, but still, wasn’t always like this.
At least making the bench on game day indicates the manager thinks a player is good enough to take the field for his team if the situation warrants.
LOVE the goal from holden. perfectly timed run, and then to chest and volley it that in one motion while at full speed.. awesome. the kid can play.
What a goal by Stuey. To take that down at full speed and and blast it accurately with his next stride: such skill. I’m not sure if I’ve seen a settle and shot like that by an American at a high level since Mathis in the World Cup.
The thing is: I’ve always loved Holden since he was in the Olympics. It seemed pretty clear then that he was the real deal. He is so well rounded and skillful. Why did it take this long for him? I feel like he should have been in Europe and a Nat fixture 3 years ago.
its a locker room damnit. USA USA
+1
That’s a pretty brilliant goal by Stu Holden. I can’t stop watching it.
Bradley’s club has a better chance of getting relegated than Deuce’s club.
What career? He barely had time to settle in before he screwed up his ankle/knee or whatever joint it was.
Soccer isn’t like American football. It’s much harder to play effectively with injuries, particularly knee and ankle injuries.
Well, it’s sort of like Fulham with Dempsey. If either club were to move either player in January wouldn’t that be surrendering to relegation?
Whatever money they made on them, it’s hard to imagine it would make up for going down.
What I have to say about Holden’s goal, which was well taken, is K. Davies is a hell of a targetman.
Gratz?
Does that mean congrats OR congratulations?
I’m pretty sure they will be able to sell Bradley if they get relegated. It’s kind of win/win for him.
Of course, even better might be if he could leave in the transfer window.
… except maybe Spector!
Jones is certainly our top defensive mid.
bradley needs to get out of ‘gladbach i’m afraid they are doomed for relegation. i could see him fitting well in the premier league.
also, hopefully lichaj can get some consistent starts under his belt, so much promise in this kid and he is a joy to watch
Bravo Stu! What a great goal!! Here is to many more for Bolton and the USMNT!!!
hmmm…Jones? The guy that just got demoted to the reserves? Cant recall too many instances where this has happened. He must be in really great form. Idiots.
brilliant.
Lots of “dressed but did not play”s. Just once I want to see a “played but did not dress”!
How DARE you, sir. Common sense and logic and NOT welcome here. We would have won the FIFA World Cup if Stuart Holden had started.
Fore Bradley! Holden for President!
Seriously, Holden’s goal was amazing and I think very highly of him, but the silly speculation and Monday morning quarterbacking is tedious.
When will people just drop this type of bullsht
Every single post has re explained that holden was no more than a few weeks cleared to play after breaking his leg at the time of the WC
When healthy, it was pretty clear BB loved Stu
Also, who to start in the midfield matters little if your defense is terrible and your forwards cant finish
Gratz to Holden I know he will be getting better as he continues to play in Europe.
I agree he was very good in MLS, but his career in Europe has been on the rocks.
“The head scratcher: many minutes did Coach Sweats give him down in South Africa?
Were things happening today, I’d take Mr. Jones and Mr. Holden in central midfield. ”
Hindsight is great isn’t it? And if the World Cup were being held right now, Jones, Agudelo, Bunbury, Mix, Ream, Gonzalez and Lichaj might all be on the roster instead of some of the guys who let us down.
And Spector might have been tearing it up in midfeld for us.
But the World Cup was six months ago, an eternity in pro soccer terms and Holden is a much better player now than he was then as are all the other players I named. Too bad, huh?
typo: swap the words Holden and because and place the word “he” between because and was and this reads better
Coach Sweats didn’t play because Holden was recovering from a broken leg courtesy of Mr. De Jong in a friendly against Holland. He made the squad but wasn’t all the way back.
Good to see Cooper made the bench. I guess that means he’s healthy again — it’s such a shame how badly things have gone for him in Europe.
Stuart Holden is having a marvelous season. Hats off!
The head scratcher: many minutes did Coach Sweats give him down in South Africa?
Were things happening today, I’d take Mr. Jones and Mr. Holden in central midfield.
Hopefully the former sorts thinks out with old Magath or moves on to greener pastures.
Ha, the interviewer poked fun at Stu Holden saying “locker room” instead of “dressing room” on Match of the Day…
Great goal by Holden, not sure what the celebration was though.