By FRANCO PANIZO
A couple weeks after several players in the Americans Abroad contingent were bitten by the injury bug, a handful of others made their way back to the field.
One of those players was Jonathan Spector, who recovered from a pesky thigh injury that has kept him out of action for Birmingham City since early October. Spector started and went the distance as the club picked up a 2-1 victory over Blackpool on Saturday. The versatile veteran’s comeback could not have come at a better time, as U.S. Men’s National Team assistant coach Andi Herzog was in attendance to watch the match and scout Spector.
Another pair of defenders also made their returns. Oguchi Onyewu got back to full health after dealing with a calf knock by starting and playing 69 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-0 triumph against Huddersfield Town and John Brooks played five minutes off the bench to help Hertha Berlin secure a 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart. Onyewu’s outing was his first in the Owls’ last four games, and Brooks’ was his first since suffering a knee injury during Hertha Berlin’s winter break.
As far as performances go, few players enjoyed better ones than Tim Howard and Duane Holmes. Howard made seven saves for Everton vs. Chelsea before succumbing to a stoppage-time goal from John Terry in a 1-0 defeat. Holmes, meanwhile, made his debut for Championship cellar dwellers Yeovil Town and contributed by drawing the game-winning penalty kick in a 77-minute showing in a 1-0 victory against Doncaster Rovers.
Here is how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made seven saves in Everton’s 1-0 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey did not dress in Fulham’s 1-1 draw vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore started and played 45 minutes in Sunderland’s 4-1 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 1-0 loss vs. Manchester City on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss vs. Newcastle United on Sunday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 loss vs. Norwich City on Sunday.
- Cody Cropper did not dress in Southampton’s 3-1 loss vs. West Ham United on Saturday.
- Sebastian Lletget did not dress in West Ham United’s 3-1 win vs. Southampton on Saturday.
Championship
- Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 1-0 win vs. AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
- Danny Williams started and played 90 minutes in Reading’s 1-0 loss vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
- Will Packwood started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 2-1 win vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes for Birmingham City.
- Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-0 win vs. Watford on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Eric Lichaj dressed but did not play in Nottingham Forest’s 3-1 loss vs. Burnley on Saturday.
- Brek Shea came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Barnsley’s 1-0 win vs. Millwall on Saturday.
- Oguchi Onyewu started and played 69 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 2-0 win vs. Huddersfield Town on Saturday. Onyewu and Sheffield Wednesday play Charlton Athletic on Monday.
- Duane Holmes started and played 77 minutes in Yeovil Town’s 1-0 win vs. Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
- Gboly Ariyibi did not dress in Leeds United’s 0-0 draw vs. Middlesbrough on Saturday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96’s 4-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Sunday.
- Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 2-2 draw vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler did not dress in FC Nurberg’s 2-1 win vs. TSV Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- John Brooks came off the bench and played five minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 2-1 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
- David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-1 loss vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
Bundesliga 2
- Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 2-0 win vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Friday.
- Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich’s 2-2 draw vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Saturday.
- Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played 19 minutes in FSV Frankfurt’s 2-0 loss vs. FC Union Berlin on Friday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and played 11 minutes in FC Nantes’ 3-0 loss vs. Stade Rennes on Sunday.
NETHERLANDS
- Aron Johannsson started and played 90 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-0 loss vs. Ajax on Sunday.
- Juan Agudelo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in FC Utrecht’s 1-0 win vs. FC Groningen on Sunday.
TURKEY
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Besiktas’ 1-0 loss vs. Galatasaray on Saturday. He is recovering from a groin injury.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in RSC Anderlecht’s 2-1 loss vs. KSC Lokeren on Friday.
DENMARK
- Conor O’Brien dressed but did not play in Odense BK’s 2-1 win vs. FC Midtjylland on Saturday.
- Babajide Ogunbiyi did not dress in Viborg FF’s 1-1 draw vs. Randers FC on Sunday.
AUSTRIA
- Terrence Boyd started and played 90 minutes in Rapid Vienna’s 0-0 draw vs. SV Grodig on Saturday.
MEXICO
- Michael Orozco started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Puebla’s 0-0 draw vs. Atlante on Sunday.
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 79 minutes for Puebla.
- Jose Torres came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Tigres UANL’s 1-0 win vs. Veracruz on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein came off the bench and played eight minutes in Atlante’s 0-0 draw vs. Puebla on Sunday.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 3-0 loss vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Friday.
- Joe Corona came off the bench and played 45 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Paul Arriola came off the bench and played 25 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 12 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Greg Garza dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Joaquin Alonso Hernandez did not dress in Monterrey’s 1-0 win vs. Atlas on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Would you like to see Spector get another chance with the USMNT next month? Who has a better shot of making it to Brazil, Onyewu or Brooks?
Share your thoughts below.