Americans Abroad: Midweek Rewind

By FRANCO PANIZO

Tottenham entered their final Europa League group game on Thursday needing a result in order to secure advancement to the knockout phase of the tournament.

Thanks to Clint Dempsey, Spurs accomplished just that.

Tottenham advanced out of the Europa League group stage after a 3-1 victory over Panathinaikos on Thursday, and it was Dempsey who played a big role in making that happen. Dempsey continued his recent string of solid performances by setting up the opener and forcing a clutch game-winning own goal in a game that Spurs dominated for large stretches.

Dempsey assisted Emmanuel Adebayor (his third helper in the Spurs’ last four matches across all competitions) for the game’s first goal, but Panathinaikos pulled level in the second half to put Spurs on the verge of elimination. Dempsey, however, stepped up again and helped break the deadlock when he headed a free kick that wound up smacking off the crossbar before bouncing into the back of Panathinaikos goalkeeper Orestis Karnezis.

Alejandro Bedoya was also involved in his club’s winner on Thursday, scoring the decisive goal in already-eliminated Helsingborg BK’s 3-1 triumph over FC Twente in their final Europa League group game. The goal was Bedoya’s third across all competitions for Helsingborg, and came in his final match with the club before becoming a free agent during the upcoming winter transfer window.

Here’s how the Americans Abroad fared during the midweek action:

UEFA Champions League

• Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes, received a yellow card and had an ASSIST in RSC Anderlecht’s 2-2 draw vs. Malaga on Tuesday.

• Jermaine Jones came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Schalke 04’s 1-1 draw vs. Montpellier on Tuesday.

• Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Malaga’s 2-2 draw vs. RSC Anderlecht on Tuesday.

• Michael Parkhurst started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in FC Nordsjaelland’s 6-1 loss vs. Chelsea on Wednesday.

UEFA Europa League

• Clint Dempsey started, played 80 minutes, had an ASSIST and forced an own goal in Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-1 win vs. Panathinaikos on Thursday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV_ryuO2vlI?feature=player_detailpage]

• Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made four saves for Tottenham Hotspur.

• David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-0 win vs. Rosenborg BK on Thursday.

• Steve Cherundolo came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Hannover 96’s 2-2 draw vs. Levante on Thursday.

• Alejandro Bedoya started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Helsingborgs IF’s 3-1 win vs. FC Twente on Thursday. You can see the goal here.

• Terrence Boyd came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Rapid Vienna’s 1-0 win vs. FC Metalist Kharkiv on Thursday.