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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

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By DAN KARELL

U.S. Men’s National Team fans continue to grow concerned about the form of key national team attackers Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey, but two younger options continue to give those same fans, and Jurgen Klinsmann, something to think about.

Terrence Boyd scored his 14th goal in all competitions, and ninth league goal of the season, in Rapid Vienna’s 6-3 loss to Austrian champion Red Bull Salzburg. Meanwhile, Aron Johannsson didn’t find the net, but did set up a goal in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-0 thrashing of RKC Waalwijk.

Both players could feature prominently for the United States against Ukraine on Wednesday, as could Oguchi Onyewu, who helped Sheffield Wednesday post another shutout in a victory.

DaMarcus Beasley isn’t being called up for the Ukraine friendly, but he provided a reminder of what he can do on Sunday, scoring the winning goal in Puebla’s 1-0 victory against Queretaro.

Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Everton’s 1-0 win against West Ham United on Saturday.
  • Sebastian Lletget did not dress for West Ham United.
  • Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore did not dress in Sunderland’s 3-1 Capital One Cup Final loss to Manchester City on Sunday.
  • Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 1-0 win against Arsenal on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Aston Villa’s 4-1 win against Norwich City on Sunday.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 1-0 win against Cardiff City on Sunday.
  • Cody Cropper did not dress in Southampton’s 3-0 loss to Liverpool on Saturday.

CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Middlesbrough on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams started and played 90 minutes in Reading’s 1-1 tie vs. Yeovil Town on Saturday.
  • Duane Holmes started and played 72 minutes for Yeovil Town.
  • Will Packwood started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 1-0 loss to Ipswich Town on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Spector started, played 90 minutes and drew a yellow card for Birmingham City.
  • Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton’s 4-0 win vs. Blackburn on Saturday.
  • Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Eric Lichaj started and played 45 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 4-1 loss to Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Brek Shea came off the bench and played 35 minutes in Barnsley’s 5-0 loss to Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
  • Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 2-0 loss to Burnley on Saturday.
  • Gboly Ariyibi did not dress in Leeds United’s 0-0 draw vs. Queens Park Rangers on Saturday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 6-2 win against Wolfsburg on Sunday.
  • John Brooks dressed but did not play in Hertha Berlin’s 0-0 draw vs. SC Freiburg on Friday.
  • Timmy Chandler did not dress in FC Nurberg’s 3-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96’s 1-1 tie vs. Augsburg on Saturday.
  • David Yelldell did not dress in Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-0 loss to Mainz 05 on Saturday.

Bundesliga 2

  • Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 1-1 tie vs. Dynamo Dresden on Sunday.
  • Bobby Wood came off the bench and played two minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 0-0 draw vs. Sandhausen on Saturday.
  • Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played 13 minutes in FSV Frankfurt’s 3-2 loss to Greuther Fuerth on Sunday.

FRANCE

  • Alejandro Bedoya started and played 67 minutes in FC Nantes’ 2-0 loss vs. Evian Thonon Gaillard on Friday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Aron Johannsson started, played 90 minutes and delivered an ASSIST in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-0 win vs. RKC Waalwijk on Sunday.
  • Juan Agudelo dressed but did not play in FC Utrecht’s 1-1 tie vs. FC Twente on Sunday.

TURKEY

  • Jermaine Jones started and played 58 minutes in Besiktas’ 0-0 draw vs. Antalyaspor on Friday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan dressed, but did not play in RSC Anderlecht’s 2-0 win against Genk on Sunday.

DENMARK

  • Conor O’Brien dressed but did not play in Odense BK’s 1-0 loss to Esbjerg on Sunday.
  • Babajide Ogunbiyi dressed but did not play in Viborg FF’s 2-0 loss vs. FC Nordsjaelland on Friday.

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd started, played 90 minutes, scored a goal and drew a yellow card in Rapid Vienna’s 6-3 loss to Red Bull Salzburg on Sunday.

MEXICO

  • DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench, played 52 minutes, and scored the game-winning goal in Puebla’s 1-0 win against Queretaro on Sunday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP8H9dRRLb8]

  • Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes for Puebla.
  • Jose Torres and UANL Tigres face Chivas Guadalajara on Sunday night.
  • Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play in Atlante’s 2-1 win vs. Morelia on Friday.
  • Greg Garza started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 1-1 tie vs. Veracruz on Saturday.
  • Herculez Gomez started and played 77 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Joe Corona came off the bench and played 70 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Edgar Castillo did not dress for Club Tijuana.
  • Paul Arriola did not dress for Club Tijuana.
  • Joaquin Alonso Hernandez did not dress in Monterrey’s 2-1 loss to Club America 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.

Comments

  1. I think the Jozy thing is a little overrated. He was signed by the previous manager and it’s not unusual for a new manager to want to bring in and play his own guys, and probably if Poyet had been manager to start the season, he wouldn’t have signed Jozy. I thought it was a strange move from a football point of view but they probably just offered him the highest salary and I certainly can’t blame him for taking the money.

    When I’ve seen him play recently, he’s been ok but the team is not that good. Hopefully, he can move somewhere this summer, although a move to Dortmund is probably not on the cards, despite the rumors frequently floated in these comments.

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  2. Tim Howard isnt mentioned as much as some of these other guys, maybe because he is not the scoring goals type but I just want to congratulate him on posting a well-deserved shutout for Everton this weekend after losing undeservedly last weekend to Chelsea. Good job, Timmy.

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  3. I guess this is it for Altidore. Bad timing too with the World Cup a couple of months away.

    Hopefully he can find a loan even if it’s with MLS.

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    • I don’t think a loan is feasible. MLS is probably the only possible destination since the european window is closed.

      But more importantly, sunderland aren’t in a position to move him. They’ll be fighting relegation the rest of the way and if anything were to happen to fletcher or borini they would need jozy available.

      This is all assuming jozy is completely out of poyet’s plans, of course, which we don’t know for sure.

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  4. Team needs to get some minutes with AJ as the lone striker. I think Jozy is the best ST in the pool, but his form is critical to his success

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    • How would you rate jozy’s 2010 performance? He was in a pretty similar club situation going into south africa as he is now.

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  5. I always hope on seeing Altidore on the scoresheet. Not seeing him at all dress is just plain and simple insulting. I hope he enjoyed his day off playing some FIFA 14. He needs to improve his rating…

    Reply
  6. I would like to see Boyd make a move to a bigger league. I feel like he is discounted because of where he plays. What would it take for him to overtake Altidore or Iceman? I love the way he attacks the ball in the air, presses when not in possession and the fact he bring something no other striker we have does.

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    • The only thing the Austrian league probably does better than MLS is pay! There was a time when Agudelo and Bunbury were rated equal and higher (in Agudelo’s case) than him. Now that Agudelo is in Europe we’ll probably notice it more.

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      • If you saw any of the 2011 Olympic Qualifying disaster, you could see that Boyd should have been starting from game 1 (even though he was still a Dortmund 2 player).

        He came in the final game of the qualies (the fateful one against El Salvador) as a SUB and scored 2 goals before the defense coughed up the last minute equalizer that dumped us from the Olympics.

        Boyd would DOMINATE MLS. He should move this summer for sure. A World Cup appearance would certainly help.

    • I’m sure people are going to disagree but I don’t see much difference between the Eredivisie and Austrian Bundesliga. Rapid certainly put up more of a fight against Salzburg then Ajax did in Europa.

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      • My weekend pub team put up a better fight against the neighboring pub than Ajax did in Europa. Can we ball better than Ajax did in Europa.

        What does this have to do with the price of…nevermind. You wouldn’t understand based upon what you said.

      • Well Salzburg was the team that knocked Ajax out 6-1 on agg. Of course just cause the top Austrian team beat the top Eredivisie team doesn’t make it’s a better over all league. However it’s an interesting result, when it’s often difficult to directly compare the quality of leagues.

    • I imagine boyd would need to consistently outperform altidore when the two are training side-by-side at national team camps.

      If he were to do that, I don’t think jk would hesitate to start the austrian leaguer over the premier leaguer.

      Of course I don’t think boyd is capable of doing that anytime soon.

      Reply
  7. i thought AJ had two assists and Guzan had more than one save? he had to back to back saves in the first half alone.

    Reply
    • Assists and saves are both subjectively assigned.

      I assume johann’s assist was credited when he played a ball along the top of the box to a teammate who scored.

      Later in the game he combined w another attacker leading to a johann shot and the other attacker scored on the rebound. I don’t think he gets an assist for that one.

      Chances created or key passes are more useful data than assists, but they can be harder to find.

      Reply
      • that is true and for those reasons i am generally not one to say anything. but multiple places have Guzan with four saves. i checked ESPNFC stats and Norwich had 4 shots on target which would match the four saves i’ve seen reported elsewhere. their match report also describes multiple saves.

        from ESPNFC, ” Assisted by Alfredo Morales.”

        ESPNFC also says AJ got two assists in the “Match Stats.”

  8. I’m curious, what position has Beasley been playing this year? LB or out on the wing or both? Haven’t watched them play at all

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      • Yea I know he played on the wing when he moved to Mexico, thought I read that he has playing in the back some recently, and haven’t gotten a chance to eyeball them at all… just curious

      • for what it’s worth, the couple times i’ve seen him, he’s played as a wingback, never an actual fullback.

      • I think the only time he has played LB is on the national team. I’m pretty sure that at PSV, Man City, and Rangers he always played left wing. And for the US he played left wing almost always until JK put him at LB, outside of once or twice that B Bradley had him at left back.

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