John Brooks has been a mainstay for Wolfsburg’s backline this Bundesliga season, but the American defender showed his ability in front of goal on Sunday.
The U.S. Men’s National Team center back scored the winning goal in a 3-0 victory over Freiburg this weekend, breaking the deadlock in the 22nd minute. Brooks made the most of a failed clearance by Freiburg, volleying home a loose ball into the back of the net. It was Brooks’ second league goal of the season, one that set the tone in a comfortable shutout win.
He also won five of his six duels, made eight clearances, successfully won three aerial battles, and made five recoveries from his center back position. Wolfsburg’s latest victory has moved them to third place in the league table, three points behind second place RB Leipzig.
Weston McKennie put in a strong performance for Juventus on Saturday, helping the Italian side earn a 2-0 win over Sampdoria. McKennie led Juventus with five tackles won, while also competing 88% of his passes in the match. The U.S. Men’s National Team star has bounced back nicely from a slight injury to become a key contributor in the Old Lady’s push for the league title.
Elsewhere, Christian Pulisic recorded his first Premier League assist of the season in a home win for Chelsea. Andrija Novakovich also recorded an assist despite a league defeat for Frosinone. Julian Green continued his strong run of form for Greuther Furth while a pair of U.S. Women’s National Team stars scored in WSL play. Mark McKenzie was stellar for Genk in a scoreless draw with Mechelen.
Here is a closer look at this weekend’s Americans Abroad action:
England
premier league
Antonee Robinson started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Christian Pulisic came off the bench, registered ONE ASSIST, and played 45 minutes in Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Burnley on Sunday.
Zack Steffen dressed but did not play in Manchester City’s 1-0 win over Sheffield United on Saturday.
Owen Otasowie dressed but did not play in Wolves 1-0 loss to Crystal Palace on Saturday.
Tim Ream dressed but did not play for Fulham.
DeAndre Yedlin did not dress (Ineligible) in Newcastle United’s 2-0 win over Everton on Saturday.
Folarin Balogun did not dress in Arsenal’s 0-0 draw with Manchester United on Saturday.
Championship
Matt Olosunde started and played 45 minutes in Rotherham United’s 3-1 loss to Swansea City on Saturday.
Duane Holmes came off the bench and played 31 minutes in Huddersfield Town’s 1-1 draw with Stoke City on Saturday.
Geoff Cameron, Charlie Kelman and QPR face Watford on Monday.
Jordan Morris came off the bench and played seven minutes for Swansea City.
Cameron Carter-Vickers dressed but did not play in Bournemouth’s 3-1 loss to Reading on Friday.
Sebastian Soto did not dress in Norwich City’s 0-0 draw with Middlesbrough on Saturday.
League One
Lynden Gooch came off the bench and played 36 minutes in Sunderland’s 2-2 draw with Gillingham on Saturday.
League Two
Indiana Vassilev came off the bench and played seven minutes in Cheltenham Town’s 0-0 draw with Forest Green Rovers on Saturday.
WSL
Abby Dahlkemper started and played 90 minutes in Manchester City’s 4-0 win over West Ham United on Sunday.
Christen Press started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 80 minutes in Manchester United’s 2-0 win over Everton on Sunday.
Rose Lavelle came off the bench, scored ONE GOAL, and played 25 minutes for Manchester City.
Sam Mewis did not dress for Manchester City.
Tobin Heath is OUT (Injury) for Manchester United.
National League
Giles Phillips did not dress in Aldershot Town’s 2-0 loss to Bromley on Saturday.
PL 2
Folarin Balogun started and played 90 minutes in Arsenal U-23’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham on Friday.
Marlon Fossey started and played 62 minutes in Fulham U-23’s 3-0 loss to West Bromwich Albion on Friday.
Kyle Scott and Newcastle United U-23’s face Burnley on Monday.
Germany
bundesliga
John Brooks started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Wolfsburg’s 3-0 win over Freiburg on Sunday.
Gio Reyna started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 win over Augsburg on Saturday.
Tyler Adams started and played 90 minutes in RB Leipzig’s 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
Matthew Hoppe started and played 80 minutes in Schalke’s 1-1 draw with Werder Bremen on Saturday.
Josh Sargent started and played 61 minutes for Werder Bremen.
Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Stuttgart defeated Mainz 2-0 on Friday.
Timmy Chandler dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-1 win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
Joe Scally did not dress in Borussia Monchengladbach’s 1-1 draw with Union Berlin on Saturday.
2. Bundesliga
Julian Green started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 75 minutes in Greuther Furth’s 3-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue on Friday.
Alfredo Morales came off the bench and played 29 minutes in Fortuna Dusseldorf’s 2-1 loss to Wurzburger Kickers on Friday.
Timothy Tillman came off the bench and played 15 minutes for Greuther Furth.
Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in Hamburg’s 3-1 win over Paderborn on Saturday.
McKinze Gaines and Hannover face Osnabruck on Monday.
3. Liga
Terrence Boyd and Hallescher face Saarbrucken on Monday.
Chris Richards, Taylor Booth and Bayern Munich II’s scheduled match with Dynamo Dresden was postponed on Friday.
Spain
la liga
Yunus Musah came off the bench and played three minutes in Valencia’s 1-0 win over Elche on Saturday.
Konrad De La Fuente dressed but did not play in Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Athletic Bilbao on Sunday.
Sergino Dest did not dress for Barcelona.
Segunda Liga
Shaq Moore started and played 90 minutes in Tenerife’s 1-1 draw with Fuenlabrada on Sunday.
Italy
Serie A
Weston McKennie started and played 90 minutes in Juventus 2-0 win over Sampdoria on Saturday.
Serie B
Andrija Novakovich started, registered ONE ASSIST, and played 67 minutes in Frosinone’s 3-1 loss to Empoli on Saturday.
France
Ligue 1
Tim Weah came off the bench and six minutes in Lille’s 1-0 win over Dijon on Sunday.
Ligue 2
Nicholas Gioacchini started and played 32 minutes in Caen’s 4-2 loss to Chambly on Saturday. Gioacchini was sent off for Caen.
Portugal
primeira liga
Reggie Cannon dressed but did not play in Boavista’s 2-1 win over Portimonense on Saturday.
Belgium
first division a
Matt Miazga started and played 90 minutes in Anderlecht’s 0-0 draw with Gent on Sunday.
Mark McKenzie started and played 90 minutes in Genk’s 0-0 draw with Mechelen on Saturday.
Chris Durkin started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Sint-Truiden’s 3-0 win over Cercle Brugge on Sunday.
Joe Offord came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Waasland-Beveren’s 3-2 loss to Royal Antwerp on Friday.
Brendan Hines-Ike dressed but did not play in Kortrijk’s 3-1 loss to Sporting Charleroi on Saturday.
Ethan Horvath dressed but did not play in Club Brugge’s 3-1 win over Standard Liege on Sunday.
Netherlands
Eredivisie
Luca De La Torre started and played 90 minutes in Heracles 1-0 win over FC Groningen on Saturday.
Ulysses Llanez did not dress in Heerenveen’s 0-0 draw with FC Twente on Sunday.
Desevio Payne did not dress in FC Emmen’s 2-0 loss to Willem II on Sunday.
Richie Ledezma is OUT (Injury) for PSV.
Eerste Divisie
Alex Mendez did not dress in Jong Ajax’s 2-1 win over Jong PSV on Friday.
Chris Gloster did not dress for Jong PSV.
Austria
Bundesliga
Erik Palmer-Brown started and played 90 minutes in Austria Wien’s 2-2 draw with WSG Swarovski Tirol on Sunday.
Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in Admira Moedling’s 0-0 draw with Ried on Saturday.
Brenden Aaronson came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Red Bull Salzburg’s 3-0 win over Hartberg on Saturday.
Turkey
Super Lig
Mix Diskerud came off the bench and played one minute in Denizlispor’s 2-1 win over Goztepe on Sunday.
Tyler Boyd did not dress in Besiktas 2-1 loss to Trabzonspor on Sunday.
Greece
Super League
Gboly Ariyibi started and played 90 minutes in Panetolikos 5-0 loss to PAOK on Sunday.
Scotland
Premiership
Ian Harkes came off the bench and played six minutes in Dundee United’s 2-0 loss to Hibernian on Saturday.
Dillon Powers dressed but did not play for Dundee United.
Cameron Harper did not dress in Celtic’s 2-1 loss to St. Mirren on Saturday.
Cyprus
First Division
Mukwelle Akale did not dress in Pafos FC’s 4-1 loss to Karmiotissa Pano Polemidion on Sunday.
Switzerland
Super League
Theoson Siebatcheu started and played 90 minutes in Young Boys 2-1 win over AEK Larnaca on Sunday.
Hungary
NB 1
Henry Wingo came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Ferencvaros 1-1 draw with Kisvarda on Saturday.
Brazil
Serie A
Johnny Cardoso came off the bench and played 23 minutes in Internacional’s 2-1 win over Bragantino on Sunday.
Mexico
Liga MX
Sebastian Saucedo, Jonathan Suarez and Pumas face Atlas on Sunday.
Ventura Alvarado and Atletico San Luis face Club Leon on Monday.
Fernando Arce and Necaxa are off this weekend.
hahahaha. YOOOOOOO, that’s the FIFA video game highlights, not the real game! That made my day.
Uh the embedded video is FIFA, not the actual game
I still can’t get my head around that there are more US players playing in Belgium, or the Netherlands than LIGA MX!
Well, it’s not surprising at all. Even the Mexico national team players in Liga MX once they make their name in the league, where do they go next, Europe right?
Numero Viente (Pizzaro) went to the MLS (InterMia), after making his name in Liga MX. His teammate sign with Toronto FC. Simon, Let’s be real!! Europe is a continent w/ 40+ countries. 7 countries over shadow the whole continent. I specifically said 2 (Belgium & Netherlands). Only a handful of players born in the 70s & 80s played consistently in those leagues. (Remember, Ernie Stewart was born in the Netherlands.) I’m not talking about all of North America, just MLS & MX. When Kleijstan was @ Anderlecht, ‘10-‘15, there were no good Mexican National team players in the MLS. Can’t say that now. There were US players like Hercules Gomez, Orozco, Gringo Torres, Alvarado and more… I forget that were in MX at that time. Playing in MX, was good enough for a US call up. In case, you weren’t good enough to make it in a top 10 Euro league, Mexico was there. In USMNT history, there have always been more US players playing in MX than Eredivisie & the Jupiler league combined. (You don’t have to believe me, look it up). Can’t say that now. It’s vice-versa now, MLS is the steppingstone to the top leagues, compared to MX. I know, it’s not surprising to some but it’s a monumental shift in futbol in North America!! Once the 1st Mexican international signs in the MLS and gets sold to a top team in a top league, my point will be that much clearer.
A couple of reasons, US is producing more technical players so leagues like Belgium and Eredivisie are looking at US players. Second, Liga Mx changed their roster rules to mandate minimum # of Mexican players on a roster maybe 5 years ago. Just like MLS Liga Mx prefers Argentine and Uruguayans so if they have to use a foreign roster spot it is not on Americans. It was after this you saw Arriola and Garza come back north. Finally GAM and TAM keeps some players who weren’t good enough for Europe but could get more money in Liga MX home because the salaries are closer.