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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Oguchi Onyewu 1 (Getty Images)

 

By FRANCO PANIZO

There were several noteworthy performances from the Americans Abroad contingent this weekend, but none was better than the match put in by Oguchi Onyewu.

Onyewu was the only American to find the back of the net this past weekend, as he hit the winner in Sporting CP's 1-0 victory over CD Nacional de Madeira. The goal came on a leaping header following a free kick and was Onyewu's second of the season. Onyewu started and went the distance in the match.

Brad Guzan also had a notable showing. In his first ever start in the Premiership, Guzan helped Aston Villa defeat Bolton Wanderers by making six saves. Aston Villa is currently in ninth place in England's top flight.

Fabian Johnson delivered another noteworthy outing, setting up two goals with his left foot in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's 2-0 victory against FC Nurnberg. Johnson sent in a beautiful cross from the left flank in the first half, and followed that up with a pinpoint low cross in the second.

Johnson may have shone, but that match also provided one of the low points of the weekend. Timmy Chandler was shown a straight red in the game, leaving Nurnberg a man down for more a half.

Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made 2 saves in Everton's 1-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.

  • Marcus Hahnemann did not dress for Everton.
  • Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and had a penalty kick saved in Fulham's 2-0 loss vs. Swansea City on Saturday.

  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made 4 saves in Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 loss vs. Stoke City on Sunday.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made 6 saves in Aston Villa's 2-1 win vs. Bolton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj did not dress for Aston Villa. He is recovering from a hip injury.
  • Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 2-1 loss vs. Aston Villa on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Zak Whitbread started and played 83 minutes in Norwich City's 4-2 win vs. Newcastle United on Saturday.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City's 2-1 win vs. Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

  • Conor Doyle did not dress in Derby County's 2-1 win vs. Bristol City on Saturday.
  • Robbie Findley dressed but did not play in Nottingham Forest's 1-0 loss vs. Crystal Palace on Saturday.

  • Daniel Potts did not dress in West Ham United's 3-0 loss vs. Reading on Saturday.

League One

  • Frank Simek did not dress in Carlisle United's 2-1 win vs. Scunthorpe United on Saturday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
  • Anton Peterlin came off the bench and played 6 minutes in Walsall's 1-1 draw vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Brentford's 2-1 win vs. Hartlepool United on Saturday.

SCOTLAND

Premier League

  • Maurice Edu started, played 88 minutes and received a yellow card in Rangers' 2-0 win vs. Hibernian on Saturday.
  • Carlos Bocanegra started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card for Rangers.
  • Alejandro Bedoya did not dress for Rangers.

First Division

  • Dominic Cervi started and played 90 minutes in Greenock Morton's 2-1 loss vs. Partick Thistle on Saturday.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Chievo Verona's 2-1 loss vs. Udinese on Sunday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04's 2-1 win vs. Hertha Berlin on Friday.
  • Steve Cherundolo dressed but did not play in Hannover 96's 0-0 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
  • Timmy Chandler started, played 43 minutes and received a red card in FC Nurnberg's 2-0 loss vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday.

  • David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen's 0-0 draw vs. Hannover 96 on Saturday.
  • Alfredo Morales did not dress in Hertha Berlin's 2-1 loss vs. Schalke 04 on Friday.
  • Fabian Johnson started, played 90 minutes and had TWO ASSISTS in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's 2-0 win vs. FC Nurnberg on Saturday.

 

  • Danny Williams came off the bench and played 24 minutes for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Terrence Boyd did not dress in Borussia Dortmund's 1-1 draw vs. Kaiserslautern on Sunday.

Bundesliga 2 

  • Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play SpVgg Greuther Furth on Monday.
  • Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Karlsruher SC's 3-1 loss vs. MSV Duisburg on Friday.
  • Edson Buddle did not dress in FC Ingolstadt 04's 1-0 win vs. St Pauli on Sunday.
  • Bobby Wood did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 3-0 win vs. Eintracht Braunschweig on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Matt Taylor came off the bench and played 1 minute in SC Paderborn 07's 2-0 win vs. Hansa Rostock on Friday.

FRANCE

  • Quentin Westberg dressed but did not play in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 2-1 loss vs. Toulouse on Saturday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Jozy Altidore started and played 90 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 4-0 win vs. De Graafschap on Saturday.

PORTUGAL

  • Oguchi Onyewu started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Sporting CP's 1-0 win vs. CD Nacional de Madeira on Saturday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 2-1 loss vs. Mechelen on Friday.

MEXICO

  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Tigres UANL's 3-1 win vs. Santos Laguna in the second leg of the Mexico Apertura Liguilla final on Sunday. Tigres UANL won on aggregate, 4-1.

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What do you think of these performances? How smart a move was it for Onyewu to join Sporting CP? Which of Johnson's assists did you like better? How impressed were you by Guzan in his first EPL start?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. danny,

    The US has had many fine defenders and it’s hard to compare them all since many of them played in different eras and under many different circumstances. At his best Gooch is certainly somewhere in the conversation.

    “Also, look at his world cup performances.”

    That would not be fair. Gooch was not completely recovered from his knee injury and was short of confidence,fitness and form. In retrospect he should not have been on the roster. Demerit should not have been there either He was also short of form and probably fitness. Saying Jay was better than Gooch is not saying anything. Gooch was non existent.

    However, as I recall, there wasn’t a whole lot behind them at the time.

    Reply
  2. With all due respect, dial up you tube and look at any of the large number of videos on penalty misses. You will find many players who are as you might say “great ball strikers” probably better than Dempsey, missing penalties.

    Dempsey has been a pro for about seven years, most of that time in the EPL. He has the necessary ball skills to make a penalty.

    The actual physical skill to do so is not that great. If you have played I’ll bet you could beat Tim Howard a few times on the practice field. But try it in a real game and I’ll bet you, me or most people on this site miss close to 10 out of 10 on Howard.

    Dempsey may not be a great dead ball guy but his problem with penalties is not about skill, it’s about what’s in his head. If it were just a matter of skill I’m sure Dempsey would have put in tons of extra time practicing that particular skill because

    it’s a serious flaw that can really hurt either the USMNT or whatever club he happens to be on at the time.

    Reply
  3. Dempsey is one of those great players who is also inconsistent. Usually it doesn’t matter since most shots aren’t goals. However, inconsistency is not a quality that you want in a penalty shot.

    Reply
  4. No way. He’ never been successful in a top league. Has lousy ball skills/ distribution, and poor positioning. Also, look at his world cup performances. I will give em the Confed. Cup where he was dominant. But Jay Demerit was also, and he was much better than Gooch at WC 2010. Bocanegra has played on better teams/leagues and done at least as well when it counted for the NATS. Not saying Gooch is bad- he’s had a great career, but lets be realistic.

    Reply
  5. As much as I like that we have clearly shown that we cannot score without a second striker up top making runs behind the defense and duece doesn’t normally make those runs

    Reply
  6. Clint relies on deception and unpredictability, not on ball striking. He’s not a great ball striker – period. He’s also not consistent. He’s a great player, but he’s up and down: magic on one touch and a whiff on the next. This is a great quality on the pitch where you often need a great play to score a goal and even if he pulls it off 1 out 5 times it makes him brilliant. On the penalty spot, however, you need consistency and ball striking which are not his hallmarks.

    Reply
  7. Gooch is the best defender the US has ever produced. It is good to see him come back in form. He still has a good WC cycle in him I believe.

    Reply
  8. he missed 1 last season and the 1 yesterday. He took 1 PK in late 09 and 1 in early 2010 and scored both. 50/50 ain’t bad. Considering he’s still a novice at it.

    Reply
  9. Say what? He was responsible for the second goal. Prior to that he had been injured for what seemed like months. He’s just not that good, plus he’s injury prone.

    Reply
  10. Isn’t it time we start looking at Whitbread? The guy is putting in some great performances against the best attackers in the world!

    Reply
  11. ————–Altidore————
    ————–Dempsey————–
    -Shea——-Bradley——Donovan–
    —————Jones—————
    -Johnson–Boca-Onyewu–Chandler- ————-Howard—————

    Reply
  12. shea has played lb a few games at the start of last season. i always thought you could play him at lb since hes left footed and has good defense. CB,LM,ST all make alot of sense too. Johnson just has more exp playing lb

    Reply
  13. I would switch Johnson and Shea. Why can’t shea be our LB, he’s showed he can defend, has good pace getting forward, and a lot of endurance. All he would need to do is work on his crossing and learn to play on the back line, which he’s young and has time to learn

    Reply
  14. Pardon me but as it relates to penalties the “pure and consistent ball striker” thing is hogwash. It’s all in his head.

    I’ve seen many players who are “pure and consistent ball strikers” miss penalties, David Beckham for one.

    Dempsey, like many players, from average to excellent, is just going through a period, admittedly a long one, where he just doesn’t do well with penalties.

    He should take them every chance he gets because (if they let him ) because sooner or later he may be forced to take one in a shootout and he better be over his slump by then.

    Reply
  15. Loved Gooch’s highlight…keeper hit a brick wall! But I couldn’t help but think during the celebration that the teammates need to get off his back and stop jumping on him.

    Reply
  16. Outside the handful of players still sidelined by injuries the minutes logged by Americans was nice to see. Glad to see Guzan’s 1st match was a win…should do wonders for his confidance as the villans starting keeper. Sorry to see Dolo still on the bench, but he is getting older, and seens to have lost a step. Anyone heard anything on Lichaj’s injury? I thought he was expected to be making it back around this time.

    Reply
  17. Probably not worthy of a yanks abroad mention, but several young American forwards are on a scoring spree for German reserve teams. Wooten, Goerge and I believe Boyd all scored this weekend.

    Reply

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