Photo by ISIphotos.com
Even though TSG 1899 Hoffenheim was unceremoniously dumped out of the DFB Pokal quarterfinals by second-tier Greuther Furth on Wednesday, the match carried significance for one American.
U.S. Under-23 winger Joe Gyau, made his first-team debut for Hoffenheim, entering as an 80th-minute substitute for U.S. national team attacker Fabian Johnson in the 1-0 loss. Although he didn't have a whole lot of time to make an impact, Gyau did show a couple of bursts of his trademark speed and drew a foul to set up a free kick midway into Greuther Furth territory in the waning minutes.
Hoffenheim went down a man in the 36th minute, conceded a goal eight minutes later and hardly threatened after that. Along with Gyau and Johnson, U.S. international Danny Williams also played a part in the match, going the distance at centerback and inheriting much of the defensive responsibility after his back line partner Marvin Compper was sent off.
The 19-year-old Gyau had recently been close to seeing the field for Hoffenheim's first team, making the bench in two of the club's last three matches before getting over the hump on Wednesday.
What do you think of this development?
Share your thoughts below.
if he’s big enough to play CB in the Bundesliga, he’s big enough for international. haha
no reason playing johnson at LB. if lichaj truly falls off the radar, fine. i also think williams will end up at CB for the US.
+1,000,000 THANK YOU. Finally, sanity.
Gyau has world-class potential. If his technical and tactical skills can continue to improve, he could be a star for us. I don’t want to hype him up too much, but it’s difficult when he is so talented.
‘thanks’ to both of you fine gentlemen. /bow
Sweet the World Cup is this year!!!
Who knew? Here I was thinking it was in 2014.
J/K
I saw Gyau’s debut, and gotta say that I was impressed. You could tell the kid was fired up and he did not reveal any fear at all. He looked fast and skilled and eager to attack. He wanted the ball bad to go for the equalizer. If I remember correctly, he only had two long encounters with the ball and then maybe one or two additional touches. It appeared to me that he was being ignored by Ryan Babel, who could have passed to Gyau a couple of times.
Hoffenheim-erica … ugh!
Don’t mess with the “Hoff”
By 2014 Johnson will be playing CM or ACM. LB would be a waste of talent.
Johnvan…what is on his twitter feed that makes you wonder if his head is on straight? Just because you don’t understand American Urban Youth doesn’t mean his head isn’t on straight. His interviews, his feed, his coaches and his peers always express how hard and diligently he works.
I thought it was more of a G sound like Wow but with a G?
I could of sworn that’s what Ives said in one of his Live Q & As?
lothar matthaus was 5’9″ in cowboy boots. Carles Puyol 5’10”. Franco Baresi, Jamie Carragher, Micah Richards, Phil Jagielka. I’m sure the US would take any of the above in their prime.
Gyau (woW) (guay) I have been waiting 4-5 years for him to grow up. back then Renken (14 @ the time) was his partner U-17. kinda like BEAS & LD. Brasil 2012 FINAL 4 U S A. Money Down.
I agree. not sure how fast he really is, at 6’1 he is tall enough
A name no one is talking about is Alfredo Morales, who went the full 115 against Borussia Mönchengladbach today, playing RB for Hertha-Berlin. This guy has a lot of skill on the ball and is likely an option in center-mid as well. I could easily see him taking the place of ‘Dolo.
dam it wish i got to seem him play -_-
jose torres is the most overrated player in the pool. he is a good passing defensive midfielder who people think is an attacking midfielder because he is bad at tackling.
Yeah that was a joke…
Gyau sure, Torres and Adu will never be impact players for our national team in my opinion. I’d take Shea and Altidore over those two in terms of what they will do for our national team. I don’t know why people keep talking about them…
Cannavaro is 5’9.
People rate the Breks and the altidores of the US as the future…Im willing to bet the farm that it is players with high tchnical ability like Gyau, Torres and Adu in the attacking third that will set the table for everyone else
Jow- like the word “how” but with a j
How is “Gyau” pronounced?
Haven’t seen the twitter feed, but Gyau has tools that Nguyen and simply never had, so he has a big leg up in that regard. There just aren’t many guys with his kind of speed on the wing, so that should help him.
excellent point — story by hoenigstein at si.com re: how Hoffenheim is in turmoil and perhaps death spiral. Coach is rumored to be on the chopping block.
I hope this is the start of something big for Gyau. but how many have we seen get a bit of action in the big leagues and then all but vanish? Lee Nguyen was one such case. How about Kamani Hill?
I’ll have to check out the tweeting and hope that is not a sign that Gyau has Adu-itis.
It’s already American, right? Named after David Hasselhoffenheim?
He’s listed at 5’11 and Boca is 6’0. Williams is pretty well built, so I don’t think size would be a big impediment if he were paired with a bigger guy. BTW, he played MF today, not CB (according to Soccernet).
He played midfield today.
good one
Pretty sure chandler didn’t plan on taking out gonzalez acl. But I really just hope gonzalez makes a full recover because speaking from personal experience that injury is a bitch.
So if Fulham has gotten to be known as Fullhamerica in the Prem, what should be Hoffenheim’s nickname in the Bundesliga with three Americans?? Hoffenheim-erica just doesn’t have quite a ring to it.
Chandler obviously didn’t think so
12 to go.
(Anyone think I was going to let that go?)
klinsi will still play him wide in a 7 man defensive midfield.
+1 I’m really excited about that I just don’t know if he his big enough to play CB and the international level
meanwhile Jozy hit a brace in AZ’s 6-0 rout
i was thinking the same thing. Has all the skills klinsi is looking for in a CB
Anybody else think the biggest part of this story is D Williams showing well at CB in the Bundesliga?
Significant baby steps. He is still young, we’ll see.
Every now and then some young kid does actually succeed, here’s wishing him well.
I hope his manager doesn’t get sacked after losing that game. Gyau is coming along nicely, it would be good to have a manager that rates him stay around.
Chandler and Gonzalez both at Nurnberg would have been nice as well…
If Gyau continues to progress and earn 1st team minutes with Hoffenheim there could be some very interesting ramifications for the USMNT. Think of the possibility of having 3 players (Johnson, Gyau, & Williams) all playing at the same time for the USMNT. The Chemistry between the 3 could really bolster the team.
Johnson @ LB, Gyau @ LM, & Williams @ CDM.
Congrats to Joseph – this has been a long time coming. Sometimes his Twitter feed makes me wonder if his head is on straight, but then I remember he’s a young guy with (deservedly) high hopes for himself.