By FRANCO PANIZO
Jose Torres might have been snubbed from the most recent U.S. Men’s National Team roster, but he is doing everything in his power to make sure Jurgen Klinsmann takes notice of him.
Torres scored his third goal in Tigres UANL’s last six matches across all competitions on Saturday, netting his latest beauty in a 2-1 defeat to Toluca. The veteran midfielder scored the game’s equalizer in the second half with a shot that took a wicked bend into the top left corner, but Tigres were still unable to pick up a result as Toluca scored a winner in stoppage time. The goal, however, should still boost Torres’ chances of earning a ticket to Brazil this summer.
Torres was not the only midfielder to find the back of the net on Saturday. Mix Diskerud came off the bench for Rosenborg BK at halftime of their season opener and scored the game’s first goal in the 64th minute. Unfortunately for Diskerud and Rosenborg, they were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw after Viking FK scored twice in the final four minutes of the match.
Danny Williams may not have scored this weekend, but he did make his return from a recent knee injury in Reading’s 1-1 draw with Huddersfield Town. Williams started and played 80 minutes in the match for the Royals, who currently sit in sixth place in the Championship and hold the league’s final promotion playoff spot.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made seven saves in Everton’s 3-1 win vs. Fulham on Sunday.
- Jozy Altidore and Sunderland play West Ham United on Monday.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 1-0 win vs. Hull City on Saturday.
- Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Aston Villa’s 4-1 loss vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 loss vs. Liverpool on Sunday.
- Cody Cropper did not dress in Southampton’s 4-0 win vs. Newcastle United on Saturday.
- Sebastian Lletget and West Ham United play Sunderland on Monday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 4-1 loss vs. Watford on Saturday.
- Danny Williams started and played 80 minutes in Reading’s 1-1 draw vs. Huddersfield Town on Saturday.
- Duane Holmes dressed but did not play in Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 loss vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes Birmingham City’s 4-2 loss vs. AFC Bournemouth on Saturday.
- Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from an injury.
- Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-1 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Eric Lichaj did not dress in Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday. He is recovering from a groin injury.
- Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 3-0 win vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
League One
- Gboly Ariyibi came off the bench and played 16 minutes in Tranmere Rovers’ 0-0 draw vs. Carlisle United on Saturday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Fabian Johnson started and played 90 minutes in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 3-3 draw vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday.
- John Brooks dressed but did not play in Hertha Berlin’s 2-0 loss vs. Schalke 04 on Friday.
- Timmy Chandler did not dress in FC Nurberg’s 3-2 loss vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- David Yelldell did not dress in Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-1 draw vs. TSV Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday.
Bundesliga 2
- Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 0-0 draw vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Friday.
- Bobby Wood came off the bench and played 21 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 1-0 loss vs. FC Cologne on Sunday.
- Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played 73 minutes in FSV Frankfurt’s 3-1 loss vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya started and played 79 minutes in FC Nantes’ 0-0 draw vs. Bordeaux on Saturday.
NETHERLANDS
- Aron Johannsson came off the bench and played seven minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s o-0 draw vs. Cambuur Leeuwarden on Sunday.
- Juan Agudelo started and played 66 minutes in FC Utrecht’s 2-2 draw vs. NAC Breda.
TURKEY
- Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Besiktas’ 1-0 loss vs. Karabukspor on Friday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started, played 45 minutes and received a yellow card in RSC Anderlecht’s 1-0 loss vs. Standard Liege in the Pro League playoff.
DENMARK
- Conor O’Brien dressed but did not play in Odense BK’s 2-2 draw vs. SonderjyskE on Friday.
- Babajide Ogunbiyi came off the bench and played seven minutes in Viborg FF’s 1-0 loss vs. Brondby IF on Sunday.
NORWAY
- Mix Diskerud came off the bench, played 45 minutes and scored a GOAL in Rosenborg BK’s 2-2 draw vs. Viking FK on Saturday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YpNSjLmmfg?feature=player_embedded]
- Ethan Horvath dressed but did not play in Molde FK’s 2-0 win vs. Valerenga on Friday.
- Josh Gatt did not dress for Molde FK. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Zarek Valentin started and played 90 minutes in FK Bodo/Glimt’s 1-1 draw vs. Aalesund on Sunday.
- Michael Stephens started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF’s 3-0 win vs. Sogndal on Sunday.
AUSTRIA
- Terrence Boyd started, played 90 minutes before being substituted and received a yellow card in Rapid Vienna’s 2-0 win vs. SK Sturm Graz on Saturday.
MEXICO
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 1-1 draw vs. Club Leon on Sunday.
- Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes for Puebla.
- Jose Torres started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Tigres UANL’s 2-1 loss vs. Toluca on Saturday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSpDpZoAQ4?feature=player_embedded]
- Jonathan Bornstein dressed but did not play in Atlante’s 3-2 loss vs. Monterrey on Saturday.
- Greg Garza started and played 60 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 2-1 loss vs. Queretaro on Friday.
- Herculez Gomez started and played 60 minutes for Club Tijuana.
- Edgar Castillo came off the bench, played 30 minutes and received a yellow card for Club Tijuana.
- Joe Corona dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Paul Arriola did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Alejandro Guido did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Fernando Arce Jr did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Joaquin Alonso Hernandez dressed but did not play in Monterrey’s 3-2 win vs. Atlante on Saturday.
- Gabriel Farfan did not dress in Jaguares de Chiapas’ 1-0 win vs. Morelia on Saturday.
- Michael Farfan dressed but did not play in Cruz Azul’s 3-1 loss vs. Atlas on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? What are Torres’ chances of making it to Brazil? Are Diskerud and Williams’ odds better?
Share your thoughts below.
Jozy starting on the bench.
wow, already down 1-0 and then Cattermole misses a sitter.
Ives, can we include bob Bradley’s results in this article weekly?
Glad to see Jermaine is back, doing his 90-minute and one yellow card thang.
I know Bayern played on Saturday but I don’t see Julian Green on this list.
I’m pretty sure that now that Bayern won the league Julian should be getting plenty of minutes with the first team, right?
He must be hurt.
They’re resting Green for the ManU game.
No need to waste his talent in a meaningless league game with UCL coming up.
i know ‘don’t feed the troIIs’ and all, but i’m pretty sure green was on his way to–or already in–arizona, rather than stay for a ‘meaningless’ game (as hussman correctly put it).
and i’m absolutely sure that won’t make any difference to you.
Julian played 82 minutes for Bayern II on Friday. No way was he in their plans for Saturday.
yep
Ives, could you include Bob Bradley on this list?
Bob Bradley started, coached 90 minutes and received a verbal warning in Stabæk’s 3-0 over Sogndal on Saturday.
seriously? that’s awesome. i hope the warning was for talking too much.
Pretty nice back flip by “Gringo” Torres. An awful lot of Americans playing in Mexico now, many more than vice versa. Not sure what that means other than MLS doesn’t pay enough. Here’s hoping Jozy at least produces an assist tomorrow, if not a goal.
Yes, some quality in the bunch, too. Kind of suprising at first blush to think that only two of the contingent (Beasley and Orozco) are facing favorable odds to make the USMNT roster for Brazil,. Castillo may join the group based on his versatility and apparent good standing w Klinsmann, but Torres. Corona, and Gomez are the only two others with a reasonable shot, and both are on life-support (at best) at this point in the game. But they are players who have shown in the past (at least occasionally) that they have something to contribute to the group. Similarly, the younger guys in Liga MX (mostly at Club Tijuana) look promising and are breaking into the first team on or ahead of schedule.
Hopefully Liga MX is good for 1-2 starters and a few more long-term mainstays in the USMNT pool at each cycle going forward. There was speculation at times during the last year that Tijuana alone might contribute three or more players for this WC team. Now it may be zero, which is a harsh assessment of both the club (who is still performing very credibly under a new manager, even if they are not matching the lofty heights achieved previously) and of players (who have fallen out of the team at inopporutune times for various reasons, which is a problem but not one that should be mistaken for regression– although Corona is something of a cause for concern). But the players should get a fair look at the pool from Liga MX, and as you mentioned, the money is still likely to be better, at least for the immediate horizon.
I can see Torres and Gil taking Diskeruds spot.
Then it’s probably time to pound some water and get to bed.
haha
I’ve read in several other message boards that Mix has not been getting minutes at his club? Isn’t this the first game of the Norwegian league’s season? Must be doing okay if he scores in their first game..
Still hoping for Torres to make the 30 man roster.
thats two golasos in two consecutive weeks
He deserves a look as a CM, but Klinsmann has been using him at LB/LM.
He doesn’t have the comfort/experience of playing in an advanced midfield role, which is the only role with in which he could earn a spot on this team.
He thrives in Mexico as mostly a holding midfielder but if he were in MLS, I could definitely see him in a more forward role.
I’d love to see Greg Garza be called up late to be involved in this friendly
Why couldn’t he start playing instead of Diskerud? He is better and it’s not like Diskerud is great defensively either. Both need to be paired with a #6 if played as a CM in a 4-5-1.
Yeah, I like Torres too. Wonder why Klinsmann did not call him in for Mexico. Could be a big mistake ignoring him as his form improves every week. Will not be surprised to see him called in in May if he remains strong at his club.
“Gringo Torres” should at least be in front of Edu, Shea, Wondo
http://www.mlssoccer.com/blog/post/2013/03/07/tigres-american-jose-torres-takes-gringo-nickname-heart