By FRANCO PANIZO
Tim Howard has made a career of coming up big when his team has needed him the most, and he did so once again this weekend with a heroic performance.
Facing a stacked Chelsea squad in a road FA Cup match, Howard helped Everton defeat the Premiership heavyweights 4-3 in penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes of play. Howard, who made eight saves in the game, stopped a Nicolas Anelka spot kick and watched Ashley Cole blast one into the stands as Everton advanced to the Round of 16.
Howard may be receiving rave reviews from the Everton faithful, but he isn't the only one getting praise from his club's fans. Playing in his first club game in about nine months, Freddy Adu debuted for Rizespor by starting, playing 84 minutes and delivering an assist in the club's 3-0 triumph over Orduspor.
It wasn't all good news this weekend. Starting in his second match for Bursaspor, Jozy Altidore was substituted after 32 minutes due to an ankle injury. Altidore suffered the knock to his right ankle when he planted his foot after being on the end of a clumsy challenge.
Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made eight saves in Everton's 4-3 (1-1) penalty kick win vs. Chelsea in the FA Cup on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-0 loss vs. Bolton Wanderers in the FA Cup on Sunday.
- Brad Friedel and Aston Villa did not play this weekend.
- Michael Bradley and Aston Villa did not play this weekend.
- Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-1 draw vs. West Bromwich Albion on Sunday.
- Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Burnley in the FA Cup on Monday.
- Stuart Holden started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Bolton Wanderers' 1-0 win vs. Fulham in the FA Cup on Sunday.
- Jermaine Jones and Blackburn Rovers did not play this weekend.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Conor Doyle dressed but did not play in Derby County's 0-0 draw vs. Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread started and played 90 minutes in Norwich City's 2-2 draw vs. Leeds United on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Hull City's 1-1 draw vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
- Mike Grella did not dress in Leeds United's 2-2 draw vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes for Leeds United.
- Robbie Findley did not dress in Nottingham Forest's 2-1 win vs. Cardiff City on Saturday. He is recovering from a thigh injury.
- Eddie Johnson started and played 55 minutes in Preston North End's 1-1 draw vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United's 1-0 win vs. Swindon Town on Saturday.
- Anton Peterlin and Plymouth Argyle did not play this weekend.
Scotland
PREMIER LEAGUE
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes in Rangers' 3-0 loss vs. Celtic on Sunday.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 3-0 win vs. Rangers on Sunday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 3-0 win vs. Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley did not dress for Hannover 96.
- Ricardo Clark did not dress in Eintracht Frankfurt's 3-0 loss vs. FC Nurnberg on Friday. He is recovering from a fractured cheekbone.
- Daniel Williams did not play in SC Freiburg's 2-1 win vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Timothy Chandler started and played 90 minutes Nurnberg's 3-0 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in MSV Duisburg's 1-0 loss vs. FC Union Berlin on Saturday.
- Luis Robles started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Karlsruhe's 2-1 win vs. FSV Frankfurt on Sunday.
- Edson Buddle started and played 66 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04's 2-0 loss vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Friday.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress for FC Ingolstadt 04. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-0 loss vs. FC Augsburg on Friday.
- Alfredo Morales and Hertha Berlin play Energie Cottbus on Monday.
France
LIGUE 1
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in St Etienne's 2-1 loss vs. Marseille on Saturday.
LIGUE 2
- Quentin Westberg dressed but did not play in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 1-0 loss vs. AC Ajaccio on Friday.
Netherlands
- Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Twente Enschede's 1-1 draw vs. NEC Nijmegen on Sunday.
Turkey
SUPER LIG
- Jozy Altidore started and played 32 minutes in Bursaspor's 4-1 loss vs. Gaziantepspor on Saturday.
BANK ASYA 1. LIG
- Freddy Adu started, played 84 minutes and had an ASSIST in Rizespor's 3-0 win vs. Orduspor on Sunday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8Yx0UZkan8]
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 45 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 2-0 loss vs. KVC Westerlo on Sunday.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca's 4-1 loss vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez started and played 65 minutes for Pachuca.
- Edgar Castillo dressed but did not play in Puebla's 1-0 win vs. Chiapas on Sunday.
- Sammy Ochoa did not dress in Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G.'s 1-0 loss vs. Atlante on Friday.
- Sonny Guadarrama dressed but did not play in Atlante's 1-0 win vs. Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. on Friday.
- Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play in Tigres UANL's 0-0 draw vs. Monterey on Saturday.
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What do you think of Howard's performance against Chelsea? Surprised by Adu's showing in his debut? How do you think the ankle injury will affect Altidore?
Share your thoughts below.
Adu had a decent game for a second league turkish team…..It’s not the second commign of Christ, he still sucks in leagues that acctually matter.
Still won’t be able to cut it in any other main league he tries, he’s a good second league player and that is it.
Enjoy it for now untill he flames out of the Turkish second league as well.
Club appearances (league and cup)since 2008:
Adu
Monaco 11
Beleneses 4
Aris 11
Riza 1
Total 27 appearances( not always full games)
Compare that to a guy like Mikkel Diskerud who in the same time period has 60 for his club Staebek.
Or Dempsey who has about 157 appearances for Fulham.
That’s why.
That is a lot of missed games for a guy who, as far as we know,wasn’t hurt.
Yes, I realize that. But I would never compare the Turkish 2nd division to the Championship. About the only thing they have in common is the fact that they’re second division leagues. MLS is not on par with a whole lot of second divisions in Europe, but I’d say that it could have a fighting chance against the Turkish second division.
Bank Asya 1. League is the second level of the Turkish football league system. Like the championship teams in the English football system. With that said turkish league ranks 11th in UEFA ranks (portugal 9th, Netherlands 10th, Scotland is 16th, Belgium 14th) and the top 3 Bank Asya 1 League teams move on to the Süper Lig, so to say MLS is at par with these teams technically is ludacris.
MLS is up and coming but not there yet. When players that retire are too sacred to come here (or can’t make the cut) then we’re half way there
Can we start adding Isaac Acuna to this list for players playing in Mexico? He’s a midfielder from California who scored this past weekend for Queretaro over Santos. Which basically got their coach fired. hehe.
because that woudl throw some water on the spreading freddy adu fire, and he needs to be hyped AT ALL COSTS BRIAN. Seriously though, he also played in scrimmages/reserve games at Randers too
Yes and yes. I believe he can play both right wing and right back, which is interesting.
I’m anticipating a nice bit of competition between him and Lichaj once Cherundolo leaves (unless one of them–Lichaj?–moves to LB or even CB).
I’m way late here but just had to say I’m happy for Adu. Just hope he keeps starting, playing and contributing. The rest will take care of itself.
I second this. MLS isn’t a top league yet, but I think that it deserves more credit than it usually gets.
Also, all of those examples are of Championship teams (which, yes, is arguably a better league than MLS), not Turkish 2nd division. Not too helpful for that particular argument…
Stu just keeps getting better. If you really love soccer for the way that it is played (as opposed to flashy goal counts, which he admittedly doesn’t have), he’s a fun player to watch.
And having seen the foul, it was Holden, Dempsey, and a wide open Bolton half in front of them. Although he got a card, grabbing Dempsey’s shirt might have saved Bolton a bit of trouble by stopping the play. Clint Dempsey + open space is not a combination you want to have, not with the way that he has been playing.
Why do people keep saying that Adu hasn’t seen the field in forever or 1 1/2 years? He was with Aris (which he played consistently) through the end of last season which went through May. He only missed half of a season in the fall