By FRANCO PANIZO
Michael Bradley has wasted little time settling in with Italian club Chievo.
The U.S. men's national team midfielder earned his second straight start in a week, going a full 90 minutes and having a hand in both goals in Chievo's 2-1 win vs. Genoa on Sunday. Last Wednesday, he made his Serie A debut, becoming the first U.S. national team player since Alexi Lalas to play in Serie A. He helped Chievo post a 1-0 upset win vs. Napoli. The two wins now have Chievo in third place in Serie A four weeks into the season.
In Mexico, Herculez Gomez scored his fourth goal of the season for Estudiantes Tecos with a picture-perfect header after a long ball was whipped into the penalty area. The goal was the equalizer for Estudiantes Tecos, but Pumas went on to win the game 2-1. Gomez started and played 64 minutes in the loss.
Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu also scored this weekend, netting early goals to help set the tone for Rangers 4-0 win over Dunfermline Athletic. Bocanegra opened the scoring with a header minutes before Edu took advantage of some lax marking to rifle one home from distance. Both players started and went the distance while teammate Alejandro Bedoya was subbed on to play the final 17 minutes.
Jozy Altidore did not find the back of the net, but he did start and play 69 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 2-1 win versus Feyenoord Rotterdam. The victory improved Alkmaar to 6-1-0 on the season and raised the club to first place in the Eredivisie with 18 points totaled through seven games.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made 5 saves in Everton's 2-0 loss vs. Manchester City on Saturday.
- Marcus Hahnemann did not dress for Everton.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 0-0 draw vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made 2 saves in Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 win vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
- Eric Lichaj did not dress for Aston Villa. He is recovering from a hip injury.
- Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 3-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Sunderland on Monday.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector started and played 56 minutes in Birmingham City's 1-1 draw vs. Barnsley on Saturday.
- Conor Doyle dressed but did not play in Derby County's 3-0 win vs. Millwall on Saturday.
- Robbie Findley started and played 73 minutes in Nottingham Forest's 1-0 win vs. Watford on Saturday.
League One
- Frank Simek did not dress in Carlisle United's 1-0 win vs. Stevenage on Saturday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
- Anton Peterlin dressed but did not play in Walsall's 1-0 loss vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
- Mike Grella did not dress in Brentford's 2-0 win vs. Oldham Athletic on Saturday.
SCOTLAND
- Maurice Edu started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Rangers' 4-0 win vs. Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday.
- Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and played 17 minutes for Rangers.
- Carlos Bocanegra started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL for Rangers.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 2-0 win vs. Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday.
ITALY
- Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes, and helped set up two goals in Chievo Verona's 2-1 win vs. Genoa on Sunday (goals at 2:10 and 2:42).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FdAGRwSCLs]
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Jermaine Jones did not dress Schalke 04's 4-2 win vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday.
- Steve Cherundolo dressed but did not play in Hannover 96's 0-0 draw vs. FC Augsburg on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg's 1-0 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
- David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen's 3-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday.
- Alfredo Morales did not dress in Hertha Berlin's 2-1 loss vs. Werder Bremen on Sunday.
- Fabian Johnson did not dress in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's 2-0 loss vs. FC Cologne on Sunday. He is recovering from a neck injury.
- Daniel Williams dressed but did not play for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Bundesliga 2
- Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play Dynamo Dresden on Monday.
- Luis Robles did not dress in Karlsruher SC's 1-1 draw vs. Hansa Rostock on Sunday.
- Edson Buddle came off the bench and played 45 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04's 4-1 loss vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Friday.
- Bobby Wood did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-0 loss vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Sunday.
- Matt Taylor dressed but did not play in SC Paderborn 07's 4-1 win vs. FC Ingolstadt 04 on Friday.
FRANCE
- Quentin Westberg did not dress in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 4-2 loss vs. Caen on Saturday.
NETHERLANDS
- Jozy Altidore started and played 69 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 2-1 win vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam on Sunday.
PORTUGAL
- Oguchi Onyewu started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Sporting CP's 3-0 win vs. Vitoria Setubal on Saturday.
RUSSIA
- Eugene Starikov did not dress in FC Tom' Tomsk's 4-0 loss vs. Zenit St Petersburg on Saturday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 3-2 win vs. Germinal Beerschot on Sunday.
DENMARK
- Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-0 loss vs. AGF Aarhus on Saturday.
- Marcus Tracy and Aalborg BK play Lyngby on Monday.
- Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play Lyngby on Monday.
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in Brondby IF's 2-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Saturday.
- Brad Rusin did not dress in HB Koge's 0-0 draw vs. SonderjyskE on Sunday.
- Conor O'Brien started, played 78 minutes and received a yellow card in SonderjyskE's 0-0 draw vs. HB Koge on Sunday.
SWEDEN
- Ryan Miller started and played 90 minutes in Halmstads BK's 1-0 loss vs. Syrianska FC on Saturday.
- Samuel Petrone dressed but did not play in Mjallby AIF's 2-1 win vs. Elfsborg on Saturday.
NORWAY
- Mix Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF's 1-0 loss vs. Stromsgodset on Saturday.
- Josh Gatt started and played 90 minutes in Molde FK's 0-0 draw vs. Viking on Friday.
- Sean Cunningham did not dress for Molde FK.
MEXICO
- Jose Torres did not dress in Pachuca's 1-1 draw vs. San Luis on Saturday. He is out with a foot injury.
- Herculez Gomez started, played 64 minutes and scored a GOAL in Estudiantes Tecos' 2-1 loss vs. Pumas UNAM on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo and Club America play Club Tijuana on Sunday evening.
- Sonny Guadarrama dressed but did not play in Atlante's 3-2 win vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Tigres UANL's 1-1 draw vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes Puebla's 2-1 loss vs. Santos Laguna on Sunday.
- Adrian Ruelas did not dress in Jaguares de Chiapas' 1-1 draw vs. Tigres UANL on Saturday.
- Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in San Luis' 1-1 draw vs. Pachuca on Saturday.
——–
What do you think of these performances? Should Klinsmann call in Gomez? Whose goal did you like better, Edu's or Bocanegra's? Surprised Altidore and Alkmaar are in first place of the Eredivisie?
Share your thoughts below.
The only way someone plays over Holden is him being injured
Based on your list, I think you would have to call Bradley a lock…
Edu < Bradley and missed a large chunk of games due to injury.
Holden – seems to be injured more than he is healthy.
Jones – was also injured for a large amount of games and is now out of favor at Schalke.
I suppose there was a small window when they were all healthy and Bradley was not playing at Aston Villa, but I am not convinced that Bradley would not have gotten the majority of the minutes under a different coach as his ability to stay healthy is a big asset for continuity/ chemistry purposes.
Yeah, right. He only started because Bob Bradellini is the coach!
+1
I am a MB hater, by that I thought he was prematurely a lock on the NATS, not that he was poor. He is one of our best midfielders, but when Donovan Dempsey Holden, Jones and Edu are playing well, he shouldn’t be a lock.
BTW – anyone with a kid knows you CANNOT be objective with your kid. That was always my gripe, which is now moot.
there’e probably more pressure to stay in the top flight for relegation teams than title competitions…much more money at stake for a team to stay in top flight, or be relegated and sell off assets
They probably can’t find a way to criticize him without complimenting…
ALEXI LALAS
I thought he was only okay, tbh, but the clutch-ness of his assist+hockey assist should count for something.
Bolton has opened with a very tough schedule. After starting with an easy win over QPR they had: Man City, Liverpool, Man U, Norwich and Arsenal in a row, with Chelsea this coming weekend.
So they were heavy underdogs in all but 2 of those games, though the loss to Norwich at home wasn’t a good showing by any means. I suspect they’ll look better when they start getting more games against mid-table and lower-half teams.
It was one of those hockey assists. He had the pass that lead to the assist. It was a perfectly hit ball out wide to the wing from about 30 yards. That ball was crossed in for the goal. IMO, Bradley played well. He broke up a fair amount of plays and connected pretty well with his teammates. He doesn’t always run back though and I could see where he might get some heat for not getting back fast enough. All in all it was a solid game for Bradley in what was a mostly very, very boring game.
Not a Bradley hater, but did he assist on the 2nd goal? Was it one of those hockey assists?
Thanks for the link.
The silence of the MB haters is deafening.
Happy for all who participated in the matches. I am not surprised that Jonathan Bornstein have not dressed for his club matches in a while. That, itself, is the proof enough that he was never good enough for anything beyond MLS.
Here’s the link to Chievo-Genoa highlights, directly from Chievo’s website:
http://www.chievoverona.it/it/video/highlights-chievo-genoa-una-vittoria-di-carattere-0
Unfortunately, we don’t get to see MB90’s assist on the 2nd goal, so all of the haters can say it never really happened.
You’re assuming the third team in portugal is better than the fourth best teams in the other top six leagues. Which is pretty silly.
He did graduate from Princeton… I think he will up for it….
I noticed this too, and am fairly excited about the growing list. Far as I can remember, this is the most Americans Abroad who have earned regular minutes for teams competing for titles overseas. None for the biggest leagues I know (Bradley aside), but still a significant step forward for US Soccer.
for as much grief as people give Bradley for sweats on the sideline, what is the deal with the knee-high socks from Coyle??
Very happy for Michael Bradley. His pass out wide that lead to the second goal was sweet. I’m hoping to catch the replay on ESPN3.
With Bob Bradley now the head coach of Egypt, is it time to begin an American Coaches Abroad? Just pile the work on your writers Ives, come on!
What’s your point?
So 3×7=21, x4 (# of defenders) = 84, meaning Gooch is among the 84 best defenders in Europe.
Somebody check my math.
Bolton really need Holden to come back strong. 5 losses in a row now. Hopefully by Xmas they’ll be mid-table or higher otherwise Owen might lose his job.
It will be nice to see Americans abroad actually competing under the pressure of title races instead of normally being in relagation battles.
Yanks Abroad Video Highlights has them. The link is under the SBI Blog Roll on the side of this page.
(although I guess you did say corners, but even then, the guy’s service has improved immensely…)
Tell that to Maurice Edu and Slovenia….
How could you make such a list and forget Gatt and Cunningham at Molde…
That explains why the ball kept popping out of the goal and going towards someone’s foot as they tried to run away from the goal.
Oh damn.
Senor Bradley has to learn Arabic, sheesh.
That’s a hard language.
You mean he must have learned what not to do from LD? LD usually has trouble getting it past the first defender on corners.
He never played in a league (Serie A) game.
I’ve been critical of him in the past for not showing a deep desire or ability to score when given a striker’s opportunity. However, I have been impressed with his passing. It’s nothing stellar, but he might fit in if we were to have a few attacking midfielders in the mix.
I think the key word is play, since Gooch didn’t actually play a game for AC Milan I don’t believe.
Several of the non-England, non-Germany Yanks Abroad are on good teams.
Altidore is on AZ Alkmaar — 1st place
Bradley is on Chievo — tied for 3rd
Onyewu is on Sporting — 5th place
Edu et. al. are on Rangers — 1st place
Klejstan is on Anderlecht — 2nd place ( 9 points ahead of Germinal Bee!)
Why do I keep hearing MB is “the first player since Lalas to play in Serie A”? Have we forgot about Gooch at AC Milan? What am I missing here?
I’m happy for him. And Gooch (though I haven’t seen him play, he must be making progress.) Here’s to MB and BB with stellar days. Cheers!
Bradley even looks Italian in that photo. Nicely done MB!!
MB90 sounds so much better than MB18.
Good job, coach’s son.
Anyone have the Rangers’ goals?
If you reverse a video you can upload it to Youtube and copyright doesn’t count. Weird huh?
Why was the video reversed?
Bob Bradley’s press conference and talk show interview.
http://nilesports.com/news/2011/09/24/video-bob-bradley-signs-3-year-deal-egypt/
Was about to comment on Bradley using his left foot so effectively… But the video is flipped.
I saw the Chievo highlights already, but I think I saw a different game, since both of Chievo’s goals were in the other direction! 😉
Nice to see quite a few “Started and played…” And, Yes, I would call in Gomez to a camp. Probably not a 2014 player but he busts his tail and seems like he would be a good mentor to the young bucks.
@Ken
It was a left footed cross too!!
(SBI-It was actually right-footed. The video highlights are reversed so everything is the opposite.)
Findley is playing well for Nottingham Forest, and is still young. Don’t write him off.
I watched the Chievo’s game. Bradley took all of their free kicks and corners. He must have learned from LD because they were dangerous most of the time, 1 of the goals was from a corner kick.
Gooch is starting on a top 3 team in a top 7 European football league. he is making his way back. Watch out Goodson
Sure hope everyone didn’t jinx Jozy. Finally he’s at the right place and he hasn’t scored in 4 league games.
way to go Yanks. what are the chances guys like Gomez and Buddle play a significant role in WC qualifying? I mean guys like EJ, Findley, Wondolowski completely flopped and our young guns Bunbury, Agudelo aren’t at that level yet.