By FRANCO PANIZO
Before John Anthony Brooks takes part in his first U.S. Men’s National Team camp, the young centerback will be focused on a different type of challenge: his first Bundesliga game.
Brooks looks set for a start in Hertha Berlin’s season opener on Saturday, as the club returns to Germany’s top flight after one year in the 2. Bundesliga with a home game against Eintracht Frankfurt. The match will be big for Brooks as it should provide him an opportunity to show he can perform at a higher level and also give him a chance to impress U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann before next week’s friendly against Bosnia & Herzegovina.
Terrence Boyd and Rapid Vienna’s season may already be underway, but that will not take away from the importance of their game on Sunday. The Green-Whites host Austria Vienna in the first Vienna derby of the new campaign, and Boyd will be aiming to continue his strong run of form in order to help his club pick up three more points in league play a mere three days after securing advancement in the qualifying rounds of the Europa League.
Wondering what other match is worth watching? Look no further than Club Tijuana’s clash with Pumas UNAM on Friday, a game in which several Americans are likely to see the field. Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo and Paul Arriola are among the Americans the Xolos can choose to start, and it’s a safe bet that the majority of them receive minutes as Tijuana try to win their second game of the Apertura campaign.
Here is who the Americans Abroad face off against this weekend:
FRIDAY
Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich play Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Herculez Gomez, Joe Corona, Edgar Castillo, Greg Garza, Paul Arriola and Club Tijuana play Pumas UNAM. (Gomez is out injured.)
SATURDAY
Eric Lichaj and Nottingham Forest play Blackburn Rovers.
Tim Ream, Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Danny Williams and Reading. (Holden is out injured.)
Jonathan Spector, Will Packwood and Birmingham City play Yeovil Town. (Spector and Packwood are out injured.)
Michael Parkhurst and FC Augsburg play Borussia Dortmund.
Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 play VfL Wolfsburg. (Cherundolo is out injured.)
John Anthony Brooks and Hertha Berlin play Eintracht Frankfurt.
Fabian Johnson, Joe Gyau and TSG Hoffenheim play Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg.
Alfredo Morales and FC Ingolstadt 04 play Karlsruhe.
Alejandro Bedoya and FC Nantes play Bastia.
Brian Span and Djurgarden IF play Brommapojkarna.
Josh Gatt and Molde FK play Sogndal. (Gatt is out injured.)
Jose Torres, Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL play Alonso Hernandez and Monterrey.
SUNDAY
Zak Whitbread and Leicester City play Leeds United.
Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Hamburg SV.
Aron Johannsson and AZ Alkmaar play Ajax.
Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlect play KAA Gent.
Conor O’Brien and FC Nordsjaelland play FC Copenhagen.
Terrence Boyd and Rapid Vienna play Austria Vienna.
Mix Diskerud and Rosenborg BK play Stromsgodset.
Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Haugesund.
DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Orozco and Puebla play Veracruz.
Freddy Adu and Bahia play Gremio.
MONDAY
Andrew Wooten and Kaiserslautern play SpVgg Greuther Furth.
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Which of these matches are you most looking forward to? How do you see Brooks faring against Eintracht Frankfurt? Think Boyd and Rapid Vienna claim three points on Saturday?
Share your thoughts below.
When is Whitbread ever NOT injured?
Just back from Germany and Austria… the scenery was very nice, but regrettably, I do not believe I will contribute half-German children for the US motherland’s soccer glory.
J, that was your only job! Think of the motherland next time you visit Deutschland!
Chandler and Johnson going 1-on-1, that I must see. My money is on Johnson though.
How much? I got Chandler.
*sidebar: nobody tell him Johnson is out, so I can earned some easy money.
MLS should be a league with 24 teams and with a proper second division with 12-20 teams and a semi-pro 3rd division. The 3rd division can be filled up with college based players in their off season.
St.Louis, Atlanta, Ottawa, Calgary, Minneapolis, Phoenix, Sacramento, Orlando, Miami, Atlanta, San Antonito,
4 teams. which would you choose? For me it’d be Miami, Orlando, St. Louis and the 4th club should be in Canada
I would take Atlanta or San Antonio over a 4th Canadian club anyway.
Not remotely possible, unfortunately. You can’t ask teams like NYC to pay $100M expansion fees and then risk relegation. The owners would never approve.
Been hearing this “reasoning” against pro/rel for years. It’s years and years away but one daypro/rel is coming. Too many markets that can support an MLS, especially as soccer continues to grow. Unless you’re going to have a 35-40 team top flight.
i believe Boyd picked up an @ssist today in Europa League.
He did and it was pretty nice.
Howard, Guzan, Rimando
Chandler, Cherundolo, Besler, Gonzalez, Cameron, FJ, Beasley, Brooks
Bradley, Dempsey, Donovan, Holden, Diskerrud, Bedoya, Jones, Shea, Corona
Altidore, Gomez/EJ, (3rd spot is open to either AJ/Boyd/Agudelo/McInerney)
At this point Im with you. Spot on. +1.
No Zusi? I’m guessing you are a typical Zusi hater, and sorry to burst your bubble but there is no way in H3LL that Corona, Shea or Bedoya get chosen over Zusi.
Also, why do you have Holden on the roster? I know if he were healthy he would be on it, but the guy just had ACL reconstruction surgery. He probably won’t even be cleared to practice until May 2014. That spot will probably go to either Beckerman, Edu or Williams.
Lastly, Agudelo and McInerney will be featured on the USMNT regularly one day, but right now Boyd is way ahead of them. I would like to see Johansson step up and make a case though. If he does I think he goes over Gomez.
excellent analysis on all the players your mentioned.
BTW, I think the list above contains 24 players. 🙂
I’d say thanks and good bye to Dolo, the little dude was pure heart but will be 34 next year. Too many injuries makes him slow and not reliable. If needed to, I’d take Orozco, Lichaj, Spector… sorry Goodson.
I’d replace Holden with Zusi, I keep Shea over Corona only because we will need true wingers with speed.. also, if Gatt comes back 100% I would take him over Bedoya.
I’d take Boyd as the 3rd striker but youre correct Johansson needs to be on the final 23 in place of an older, injured, slower Gomez… sorry Herc, I like you but we’re going to Brazil to win not to just compete.
With the Versatility of many of the players in our pool the last 3 spots will be hard to pick.
As zztopppp noted, Holden’s injury will keep him out, so slot in Zusi as another versatile player able to cover multiple positions in the Midfield.
Dolo, Shea, & Bedoya’s inclusion will heavily depend on how they perform between now and the end of Feb. Dolo is coming off surgery, Shea is injured (again), and Bedoya just transferred to a new team. If they struggle to get consistent minutes or have any set-backs they’ll likely be passed over.
To me….Lichaj is still a Dark Horse to make the team if anyone slips up or is injured at either Wing in the back or midfield (push FJ forward to mid).
3rd striker will be either Boyd or AJ…Gomez isn’t likely to make the cut, and Agudelo/JackMac are not ready.
Sad to see Dempsey in MLS. 32million over 4 years would be hard for anyone to turn down but hate to see his dream for the CL ending.
several CL clubs in France, Portugal and Turkey who could have used him. He would have needed to take a paycut of probably 15-25% but CL bonuses would help remedy that, plus if his team won the title. Or he could have joined clubs like Everton, Sunderland, AV or a return to Fulham
I’m no Eurosnob, just saying he was the flagbearer for Americans in Europe. It’s a shame he came home too early. He should have stayed another year at Spurs, to prove he could make it. Though 12 goals in 43 appearances is decent for anyone. Especially considering they got him for 9.6million dollars
The torch has passed to Bradley and Altidore. Clint had a good run in Europe. I think Tottenham will miss his ability to score goals in important games more than they expect at the moment.
I always said Demps is hard to put him in a top team. Don’t get me wrong, he is one of our best player and proven scorer, however it comes with baggage, he is not a very good defender, he doesn’t have the speed or stamina to play the wing the way most teams play it and his passing is sub-par because he thinks scoring first, passing second. He secure his family future first, can’t blame the guy.
Fair assessment. I always felt deuce was one of the better “against the run of play” goal scorers I’ve ever seen.
He doesn’t need a ton of service. He doesn’t need to be the center of the game. He’ll almost disappear and then suddenly strike.
He makes the most of the smallest opportunities which makes him great for teams like Fulham and USMNT, but in possession based teams he’s not ideal. To be fair, perhaps if given more time at Tottenham he would have adapted better, but that’s not how it went down.
It’s awesome to see Clint Dempsey here in MLS at an age that could still be considered his prime.
Luckily, athletes don’t make decisions based on sports blogging fans. Myself included. Otherwise, Clint never would have made the jump to Europe to begin with.
“Stop whining!” -Detective John Kimble
People put way too much stock in his champions league comment. Of course he wanted to play CL, everybody wants to play CL. But he was never going to waltz into an established powerhouse team, so he joined a squad with a fighting chance and fell just short.
Now he’s less in demand, even on his own team. Moving to france or portugal or turkey just for a chance at an edu/sacha/parkhurst champions league experience would be silly. Move your family, learn a new language, take a pay cut all for six champions league group stage games?
Agreed, people want him to give up millions of dollars to play a few Champions league games? I doubt those making these comments would give up that money.
I think his Champions League comment was to indicate the type of club he desired to play with. He ended up with Spurs, who were not (and still are not) a CL team. With Bale rumored to leave, new players coming in, playing time not guaranteed and a system he didn’t exactly fit in to, CL, even with Bale, might still be a stretch for them this year. Sure, he could have defied the odds and stayed…
Or made the decision that was best for his family. Raising his kids back home, making 6.86 mil for the next four years…this might be his last big payday. As much as most of us revere Clint, he ain’t getting younger.
The more you think about these things, the more you realize there was no shame in doing what he did. This was his best and smartest option.
$8M a year is about $150,000 a week. At his age, tying down a four-year contract for $150k a week is worth any other tradeoff he might have to make. Champions league bonus, unless he were part of a team that wins the CL, would probably be the equivalent of an extra-weeks pay multiplied by the level of advancement they achieve in the CL. Clint made the right move.
But I will miss him carrying the torch overseas. He did American soccer proud.