By FRANCO PANIZO
If there was an award for the best goal scored in a season by an American Abroad, Jozy Altidore's latest strike would surely be up for contention.
Altidore scored his 14th league goal and 18th across all competitions on Saturday when he rocketed a shot from distance in AZ Alkmaar's match against PSV Eindhoven. The goal, which was struck into the upper 90, is being called by some a Goal of the Year candidate in the Eredivisie. Unfortunately for Altidore and AZ, they eventually fell 3-2 to Eindhoven and are now six points back of first-place Ajax in the standings.
Two other Americans also found the back of the net this weekend. Five days after scoring his first goal for Bury, Mike Grella netted again to give the club a 1-0 victory over AFC Bournemouth, while Conor O'Brien scored a brace in SonderjyskE's 4-0 win over Lyngby.
It was not all good news, though. Robbie Rogers was removed 12 minutes into his first start with Leeds United after picking up an ankle injury that forced him to be on crutches following Leeds' 4-1 win over Peterborough United. The knock is the latest setback for Rogers, who suffered a concussion in his Leeds debut earlier this season.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made 4 saves in Everton's 2-1 loss vs. Liverpool in the FA Cup semifinals on Saturday.
- Marcus Hahnemann did not dress for Everton. Hahnemann and Everton play Sunderland on Monday.
- Clint Dempsey and Fulham did not play this weekend.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur's 5-1 loss vs. Chelsea in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 4-0 loss vs. Manchester United on Sunday.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes for Aston Villa.
- Tim Ream and Bolton Wanderers did not play this weekend.
- Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers did not play this weekend.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Norwich City's 6-1 loss vs. Manchester City on Saturday.
- Adam Henley did not dress in Blackburn Rovers's 3-0 loss vs. Swansea City on Saturday.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector did not dress in Birmingham City's 2-2 draw vs. Bristol City on Saturday. He is recovering from a thigh injury.
- Conor Doyle did not dress in Derby County's 1-0 loss vs. Middlesbrough on Saturday. He is recovering from a hamstring injury.
- Robbie Findley did not dress in Nottingham Forest's 0-0 draw vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
- Daniel Potts did not dress in West Ham United's 6-0 win vs. Brighton on Saturday.
- Robbie Rogers started and played 12 minutes before being substituted due to injury in Leeds United's 4-1 win vs. Peterborough United on Saturday.
League One
- Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United's 1-0 loss vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
- Anton Peterlin did not dress in Walsall's 1-0 loss vs. Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.
- Mike Grella started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Bury's 1-0 win vs. AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
SCOTLAND
- Maurice Edu and Rangers did not play this weekend.
- Carlos Bocanegra and Rangers did not play this weekend.
- Alejandro Bedoya and Rangers did not play this weekend.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 2-1 loss vs. Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Cup semifinals on Sunday.
ITALY
- Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona's match vs. Atalanta on Sunday was postponed due to the passing of Livorno midfielder Piermario Morosini.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 1-0 loss vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
- Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04's 2-1 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in FC Nurnberg's 2-0 win vs. Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
- Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's 0-0 draw vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday.
- Danny Williams started and played 90 minutes for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
- Joe Gyau did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
- Terrence Boyd did not dress in Borussia Dortmund's 2-1 win vs. Schalke 04 on Saturday.
- Alfredo Morales came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Hertha Berlin's 3-3 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
- David Yelldell did not dress in Bayer Leverkusen's 3-3 draw vs. Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
- Andrew Wooten dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 2-0 loss vs. FC Nurnberg on Saturday.
2. BUNDESLIGA
- Luis Robles did not dress in Karlsruher SC's 2-1 loss vs. FC Ingolstadt 04 on Sunday.
- Bobby Wood did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-2 draw vs. VfL Bochum on Sunday.
- Matt Taylor came off the bench and played 1 minute in SC Paderborn 07's 3-1 win vs. Energie Cottbus on Sunday.
- Villyan Bijev and Fortuna Dusseldorf play Dynamo Dresden on Monday.
FRANCE
- Quentin Westberg dressed but did not play in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 3-0 win vs. Valenciennes on Sunday.
- Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 1-0 win vs. Dijon FCO on Sunday.
NETHERLANDS
- Jozy Altidore started, played 65 minutes and scored a GOAL in AZ Alkmaar's 3-2 loss vs. PSV Eindhoven on Saturday.
PORTUGAL
- Oguchi Onyewu and Sporting CP did not play this weekend.
RUSSIA
- Eugene Starikov did not dress in Zenit St Petersburg's 2-0 win vs. CSKA Moscow on Saturday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 45 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 3-1 loss vs. Racing Genk in the Pro League playoffs on Saturday.
- Mikkel Diskerud dressed but did not play in KAA Gent's 1-0 loss vs. Club Brugge in the Pro League playoffs on Sunday.
DENMARK
- Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Nordsjaelland's 2-1 win vs. Silkeborg IF on Sunday.
- Clarence Goodson did not dress in Brondby IF's 2-0 loss vs. AC Horsens on Sunday.
- Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play AGF Aarhus on Monday.
- Conor O'Brien started, played 90 minutes and scored TWO GOALS in SonderjyskE's 4-0 win vs. Lyngby on Sunday. (You can see both goals here.)
- Brad Rusin dressed but did not play in HB Koge's 5-0 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
SWEDEN
- Samuel Petrone did not dress in Mjallby AIF's 2-0 win vs. Atvidabergs FF on Sunday.
NORWAY
- Josh Gatt and Molde FK play Viking on Monday.
- Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Stabaek IF on Monday.
- Ricardo Clark and Stabaek IF play Honefoss BK on Monday.
- Sean Cunningham and Stabaek IF play Honefoss BK on Monday.
MEXICO
- Jose Torres started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Pachuca's 2-1 loss vs. Morelia on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez did not dress in Santos Laguna's 3-1 loss vs. Club America on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 72 minutes in Puebla's 1-1 draw vs. Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. on Friday.
- Sonny Guadarrama did not dress in Atlante's 2-1 loss vs. Pumas UNAM on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Tigres UANL's 2-1 win vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Saturday.
- Adrian Ruelas came off the bench and played 1 minute in Jaguares de Chiapas' 0-0 draw vs. Club Tijuana on Friday.
- Michael Orozco Fiscal started and played 90 minutes in San Luis' 2-2 draw vs. Queretaro on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana's 0-0 draw vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
- Joe Corona started and played 85 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Greg Garza dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
——-
What do you think of these performances? How many times have you rewatched Altidore's screamer? Expecting him to wreak havoc on opposing defenses during World Cup qualifying this summer? More impressed by Grella's second goal in five days, or O'Brien's brace?
Share your thoughts below.
bahahaha stop embarrassing yourself man.
Because two people don’t reside in the same residence?
I’m surprised your alarms went off so loudly on a non-Tim Ream story, SBI.
Son of John
And every week you make a comment about it. What’s you’re obsession with Jones and his yellow cards – are you a Schalke fan, concerned that he’ll be facing another suspension soon?
Oh snap, SBI! 🙂
He also jogs too much on the field. Look at how he was jogging lazily after he scored. No effort.
very nice goal by jozy
Hilarious !!
Don’t blame Jesus. He loves everyone, even those that hate Him. But you are correct concerning the hate. We can’t ever seem to just enjoy the moment. Couldn’t enjoy Italy win, because we played bunker ball (NOT), etc…
I guess by that logic. Van Basten, Bergkamp, Van Persie, Robben, Makay, Van Nistelrooy, Huntelaar etc., are all players who hit the mark in a ‘…GK’s are clearly shiite…’ league as well. But hey, you rested your case…
I personally thought this was an excellent retro-troll. very 80’s
I guess you did not watch the game. Jozy made several good plays from minutes 10 to 60, knocking down balls for teammates, passing, yes I said passing to teammates when he was pressured from behind, and while he might not have been the most defensive minded attacker I’ve ever seen, he did chase enough to keep the PSV backs honest.
Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04’s …
Man, talk about consistency!
You rest your case for what? That you are a mean spirited critic?
Classy thing to say…
From Warnock…
“”He is unlucky, in my first home game he was injured after a few minutes and he cannot get a run in the team. He had done really well in training, he looked sharp and I wanted to see him in a match situation, so he is very unlucky.”
You gotta keep the “Even if he does this in league, he can NEVER do it for the USMNT” that way your bases are covered even if he scores 7 more.
Trolling is a science.
Even so, what keeper do you expect to stop Jozy’s strike? Jesus, I’m sick of these people.
Wow, no idea why Friedel didn’t play-he saves at least three of those. And one of the other 2 wasn’t a goal…
I find it an odd position to fault someone for scoring goals because they should score goals. Altidore has scored 18 goals in all competitions this year, thats pretty good for a 22 year old forward who is in his first year at a club.
Michael Bradley used differently with Chievo and Gladbach than he was at Heerenveen.
Your case is clearly an irrational hatred of Jozy
It was an injury to his football skills, unfortunately this is a career ending injury in most cases, and he likely won’t be seen again
Easy to call him a hater but even easier to see how poor both GK’s were in that entire highlight.
Not exactly a glowing indictment.
(SBI-WHen you say him do you mean the other voice in your head, or your roommate? I mean you have the same IP address as Jen, so which is it?)
Never played in a horrible division at that.
Considering they don’t play defense in the Eredevsie and their GK’s are clearly shiite, I don’t see why he shouldn’t hit the mark.
After all, Michael Bradley scored 16 goals in his final season with Heerenveen. How many has he scored in a season after leaving the Dutch league?
I rest my case.
Oops… sorry for the double post…
Anderlecht are in 1st still… though not by much… it’s hard to understand… especially so since ESPN keeps reporting Anderlecht in Europa League Playoff Group B, when in reality they’re in a 6 team playoff for the Championship, UCL and Europa spots.
See here…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011–12_Belgian_Pro_League#Championship_Playoff
http://sporza.be/cm/sporza/voetbal/Jupiler_Pro_League/2.5199
It’s in Dutch but I have faith in you to figure it out.
There’s 6 games left.
get our young guns Agudelo, Shea, Bunbury to the Eredivisie for next year
14 league goals for Jozy, 16 for Dempsey. Hope both can reach 20. 4 more games for Jozy and 6 more for Clint.
Bark, bark, haters, woof tickets can be had here…
I think that Esteban Alvarado was just trying to do his best Sean Johnson impression…
Not good enough. You guys are pathetic.
You forgot the inability to bend his knees properly during the starting 11 photo, proof that he does not have what it takes at the international level.
Well, his second goal in the previous game was all about quick passing and movement. He held up the ball, shielding it from the defender, gave a quick pass, moved into an open space, got the ball back, beat the second defender with a quick move and put the ball in the corner past the keeper.
Can someone explain what’s going on in the Belgian league pro playoffs? Is this end of the season tournament meant to decide who goes to the Champions and Euro Leagues? If so, how is Anderlecht doing? When will we know about Sacha in European competitions?
Time on the ball can be affected by continued passing and movement off the ball. PSV defenders were banking on Altidore losing possession trying to make a run or a 1-2 and got burned. Teams won’t give him that time from now on, and when they rush him, he will have to play those quick passes into space.
Vitesse does.
Guess he should have waited for someone to close him down before he shot, then.
Haters never sleep.
Jozy has always had the ability to hit fantastic long-distance shots like that. His first ever goal as a professional was a ridiculous screamer from a good 30-some-odd yards. This isn’t new for the kid.
What is promising is the other work he’s improving on. The back to the goal play and the touch he showed before that goal made me smile just as wide as the shot itself. He’s growing as a player fantastically in Holland.
Great strike by Jozy, but there’s no way he gets that much time/space in a better league.
I believe Rogers suffered an injury in his first practice there also.
Watch him late nights on TBS
Do any Dutch teams actually play defense?
It’s not being televised
Does anyone know if they are going to show the USA vs Mexico Legends game?
why is dominic cervi on this list. the dude has never played
Man that keeper sucks something what awful! I’ve heard about the suckitude of this dude before but actually watching it in these highlights? Wow!
Hey AZ, you like our striker? Try one of our keepers. I am sure you’ll be more that pleased. You don’t even have to come all the way over here, we’ll save you the air fare. Just head on over to Birmingham, England. Rumor has it there’s a nice young American lad there who would love a starting role.
In all seriousness though, that keeper? Wow!!
Overall, not a great week for Americans abroad.
Who’s this Conor O’Brien character, beyond what a quick Google/Wikipedia search tells me?
You’re not doing it quite right. It’s…”Lazy Out the Door has no touch, no ability, no sense of positioning. He’s just a big body who can’t do anything else. Even if he does this in league, he can NEVER do it for the USMNT. So lazy, that’s why keeps getting benched everywhere he goes and why he sucks so much”
See? That’s how you do it. Then you feel truly vindicated
my grandma can hit shots like that. jozy is terrible no more usmnt for you! he’s the worst.
Jozy: 7 to go….
Come on Jozy, get a hat trick next game and make the count down REALLY interesting!