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Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

Timmy Chandler 1 (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Timmy Chandler's future with Nurnberg may be up in the air, but the American is still likely to be relied upon by the club this weekend.

Even with Nurnberg handing him an ultimatum earlier this week, Chandler is likely to be in the club's lineup for its match against Werder Bremen on Saturday. If Chandler can help Nurnberg pull off an upset win against the fifth-best team in the Bundesliga, Nurnberg could jump into the upper half of the table should other results go their way. 

Another player who appears set to start this weekend is Jozy Altidore. The U.S. men's national team forward should return to AZ Alkmaar's lineup for their game against Heerenveen after incumbent Charlison Benschop was removed from AZ's Europa League game on Thursday with an injury.

Steve Cherundolo has recovered from a knock of his own and while him starting for Hannover 96 is less of a sure thing, all he needs is a cameo of more than 45 minutes to receive an automatic contract extension. Hannover plays Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.

Here is who the Americans Abroad square off against this weekend:

FRIDAY

Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich play FC Union Berlin. (Wood is out injured.)

SATURDAY

Stuart Holden, Tim Ream and Bolton Wanderers play Chelsea. (Holden is out injured.)

Clint Dempsey and Fulham play Queens Park Rangers.

Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Wigan Athletic.

Adam Henley and Blackburn Rovers play Manchester City.

Daniel Potts, George John and West Ham United play Crystal Palace.

Jonathan Spector and Birmingham City play Robbie Findley and Nottingham Forest.

Robbie Rogers and Leeds United play Portsmouth. (Rogers is out injured.)

Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Yeovil Town.

Anton Peterlin and Walsall play Preston North End.

Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Motherwell.

Alfredo Morales and Hertha Berlin play FC Augsburg.

David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play FC Cologne.

Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams, Joe Gyau and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play VfL Wolfsburg.

Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg play Werder Bremen.

Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play AS Nancy Lorraine.

Mikkel Diskerud and KAA Gent play RAEC Bergen Mons.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Lierse SK.

Adrian Ruelas and Jaguares de Chiapas play Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G.

DaMarcus Beasley and Puebla play Monterrey.

Jose Torres and Pachuca play Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL.

Michael Orozco Fiscal and San Luis play Atlas.

Sonny Guadarrama and Atlante play America.

Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo, Greg Garza and Club Tijuana play Toluca. (Garza is with the U.S. Under-23 men's national team.)

SUNDAY

Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play Arsenal.

Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Manchester United. (Whitbread is out injured.)

Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya, Carlos Bocanegra and Rangers play Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona play Cesena. (Bradley is out due to yellow card accumulation.)

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Bayern Munich. (Jones is serving an eight-week suspension.)

Terrence Boyd and Borussia Dortmund play Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96.

Luis Robles and Karlsruhe play FSV Frankfurt.

Matt Taylor and SC Paderborn 07 play Eintracht Frankfurt.

Charlie Davies and Sochaux play Toulouse.

Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar play Heerenveen.

Oguchi Onyewu and Sporting CP play Rio Ave. (Onyewu is out injured.)

Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna play Chivas de Guadalajara.

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Which matches are you most looking forward to? Expecting Chandler and Nurnberg to beat Werder Bremen? Think Altidore will start and score this weekend? Do you see Cherundolo getting that automatic extension on Sunday?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. I’d certainly rather see him starting, but I’m glad he’s at least getting playing time. Last year was kind of a wasted year for him. Adu got buried and rarely even dressed while EJ just never really developed technically in MLS. By the time he went to Europe, it was probably too late. Re: the manager’s statement about Jozy not progressing, I suspect he was referring to Jozy’s tactical progress rather than his technical progress, since the matches I’ve seen, Jozy has shown some nice improvement in his touch. He could also be referring to Jozy’s training habits which have been questioned before. I’m glad this manager is a stickler and a taskmaster while still allowing Jozy pt. This is the time to learn these lessons and it should help him in the long run. If AZ gives up on him entirely, that would obviously be a big blow.

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  2. i had the same thought. according to reports boyd was all packed ready to go and got called by Klinsman to attend his camp. I sure hope he gets some minutes vs Italy because the U23 sure could have used him vs Mexico.

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  3. In the last AZ meeting, Heerenveen spanked them with a fistful of goals so they’ll need to tighten up their defense. It doesn’t matter who their striker is if the wing play is so dreadful. In his last 60 minutes, Jozy made 6 nice passes in the attacking end, setting up 2 good chances. In return he received zero passes, not one.
    In fact Beerens took three ridiculous shots from the end-line rather than pass out.

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  4. Any insight to adam henley, i Wonder if klinsman made any contacts with him or his club i believe he a play either fullback spot. Could allow timmy to move right and johnson to stay in the midfield

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  5. After Terrence Boyd’s plans were abruptly changed and he was called by Klinsmann for the men’s team instead joining the U-23 team this weekend, makes me wonder (hope) that maybe Dortmund coach Jurgen Klopp told Klinsmann that he would like Boyd stay in Germany so he can dress for Sunday’s match against Hannover. Would love to see Boyd make the field this weekend.

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  6. To be fair, being on the bench for the top team in the Dutch league isn’t exactly a terrible fate for our players.
    It’s not exactly bouncing between second division teams, or not even making the 18 on a low table team. Altidore is leaps ahead of what Johnson and Adu went too.
    We have to be careful not to be too protective or arrogant of our players where anytime they aren’t moving mountains we call for them to return to the MLS (which would be even worse for their career imo).

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  7. I hope he starts scoring, I would hate to see him moved to a fifth team in three years. He’s got to start working harder or he’ll end up like Johnson and Adu, back in MLS.

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