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Julian Green’s goal helps Greuther Fürth earn promotion to Bundesliga

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Greuther Fürth went into Sunday’s 2.Bundesliga finale needing other results to go its way in order to secure an automatic place in the Bundesliga, and it was an American helping make that dream happen.

Julian Green’s 69th-minute equalizer eventually proved to be the goal that earned Greuther Fürth automatic promotion to the Bundesliga after a 3-2 victory against Fortuna Dusseldorf along with a Holstein Kiel loss to Darmstadt.

Greuther Fürth looked like it would have to settle for a place in the Promotion Playoff in the first half when Dusseldorf opened the scoring in the 26th minute and Greuther Fürth midfielder Anton Stach was issued a red card just before halftime.

Branimir Hrgota’s 53rd minute equalizer gave the home team new life, but Dusseldorf responded just three minutes later to make the score 2-1 to the visitors.

That is when Green stepped up, bundling home a cross from close range to make the score 2-2 and give him his 10th goal of the season in all competitions:

Darmstadt did Greuther Fürth a favor by taking the lead on Holstein Kiel and eventually holding on for a 3-2 victory. Dickson Abiama came off the bench to give Greuther Fürth a 3-2 lead in the 83rd minute and it wasn’t long before the celebrations began in Fürth when it became clear the club would be heading back to the Bundesliga for just the second time in club history, and first time since 2012.

The victory capped a dream season for Green, who also received his first U.S. Men’s National Team call-up since 2018 last week. Greuther Fürth securing automatic promotion, and avoiding the Promotion Playoff, will give Green the opportunity to head to USMNT camp ahead of the team’s friendly against Switzerland in what will be Green’s first chance to impress USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter.

Given his performance on Sunday, Green will head to USMNT camp full of confidence, both as an in-form player and as a player who knows he will be heading back to the Bundesliga.

Comments

  1. Always liked Julian’s game. A few years back now I tried explaining that how Fuerth using him at CM is going to be a huge transition since his youth career and early pro call ups where at either at striker or false nine. It’s looking like after 2-3 seasons as a starting CM in B2 has done its work. He’s ready for more now. He’s a great player to have in the NT squad he can be a high level back up at many positions along the front or mf. Guys like Roldan or Yueill should NOT be getting called over him. We seem to score goals when he’s on the field.

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  2. And all Keller can do is drone on about the poor defending, and trash the goal as a mis-hit. So disappointing to hear him on some Bundesliga broadcasts now. I enjoyed the Bundesliga because I could listen to announcers who let the game breathe, and didn’t have to hear guy like Keller and Twellman chew up air time.

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  3. Herzlichen Glückwunsch!
    .
    I’ll look forward to seeing him with the rest of this newer, younger group. It seems like they could all enjoy just being able to play on the same promising, energetic team.
    .

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  4. good for him. we never needed to rush to cap him back in early 2014…wow that was an absurd decision and remains so…7 years ago? lol, his only international opp right here all along, and I hope he makes the most of it

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    • Sorry- but the fact the came on as a late sub and scored the incredible goal totally justifies his inclusion on that team. It’s always good to have 1 young and up & coming kid on a large WC roster. If you’re quibble is about Donovan- then the question should be why Brad Davis and Wondo were selected ahead of him.

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      • I don’t know that playing 15 minutes in a WC even if you score a goal proves you should have been there but yes the Davis inclusion was perplexing. Wondo at least had had success with NT and in MLS. That both Davis and Green only made one appearance each and Wondo made 2 for 51 minutes when the team was down two field players indicates someone else maybe should have been included.

      • green’s belgium goal obviously justifies his inclusion. that’s like let’s re-argue the issue after the fact without the benefit of hindsight. c’mon, be serious.

        davis was a dead ball master who was averaging an assist every other NT game.

        landon took the sabbatical and did not look like landon until being left off the team. the more interesting landon argunment is did all the offseason loans and being called to every friendly shorten his career. cause otherwise he was a superfit skinny guy i thought would play until age 35. but obviously he burned out. that’s more interesting than pretending landon hadn’t faded back to the pack, at which point davis can take free kicks and the kid was setting bayern II afire. klinsi — unlike GB — trusts his horse sense. his horse sense was then right.

    • If you look at how few guys Klinsmann played it really calls to question his roster selection in 2014.
      Guzan and Rimando 0
      Chandler 0 mins
      Diskerud 0 mins
      Green 15 minutes
      Wondo 51 mins
      Davis 59 mins
      Yedlin 24 minutes until Johnson get hurt against Belgium
      If you put Altidore and AJ who got injured first match he played 3/4 of the tournament with 14 players. That included the match in
      Manuas with 86 degree heat and 66% humidity. He started 9 of the same 11 four days later.

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  5. Is there anyone in the pool who mis-hits the ball into the net better than Green? Loved the scenes of the fans going bonkers outside the stadium following the goal.

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    • For realz. I TOTALLY feel like Green is good for scoring with his face at some point, especially at a World Cup.

      I mean, the dude just scores wonky goals, and at the best moments. At some point, you figure that is not an accident and you just go with it.

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  6. Over the last couple of seasons Green has greatly improved his defensive contributions, making him a much more capable 2 way player. The improvements in his game should translate well into what the USMNT has been trying to implement.
    Hopefully Gregg will give him ample time in the game against Switzerland so we can all see what he can bring to the USMNT. And will also signal the last of Roldan as part of the USMNT.

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    • are you freaking serious? you don’t want Green for the Belgium and France goals alone? you people are odd. i mean, we can select defenders who can’t defend, for offense alone, but can’t pick attacking players who score, if they don’t also defend like a champ? how strange your planet must be.

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      • Bunker IV’s Preferred lineup
        ——————Wood—Green————
        Pulisic———Reyna———————-
        ———————————————–
        ———————-—————————
        —————Adams-EPB——————
        Richards—CCV——Zimmerman-Long
        ——————-Horvath———————
        A 4-2-0-2-2, 4CBs who would never leave the penalty area. Adams and an additional CB to screen the top of the 18. Then no midfielders because #8s don’t score anyway. Pulisic would be as far wide as possible with Reyna sitting underneath Wood and Green who are standing next to the opponents CBs. Since he has desire to actually possess the ball, they’d be about 20-25 yards from their own goal. The strategy plug the box and hit long balls up the left side in hopes Pulisic can run it down and feed Reyna to spring Wood or Green. But since we only have 4 players who ever venture into the opponents half we’d be resigned to Pulisic trying to draw fouls so all five CBs could go forward and perhaps score on a late set piece header.

      • actually, something more like

        Pulisic
        Dest/Konrad Reyna Musah
        McKennie Adams
        Cannon Richards CCV Reynolds
        Steffen

        I would go 451 but does that look like a “bunker” team to you? be serious. lame lame 10 year stale argument. all i am saying is put people out there who can defend — many of whom can also complete a pass.

        I would play Pulisic as 9 because he will combine with others, can finish, and none of the 9 kids is really ready.

        I push Dest up because he can attack and create havoc and this solves his defending issues — or at least pushes them a layer upfield.

        Bench
        Horvath Turner Zimmermann EPB Lima Robinson Lletget Green Holmes Aaaronson Sargent Dike

        i think that looks awesome. i think it would kick GB’s team up one side of the street and down the other.

  7. Congrats to Julian. So please you earned a call up. I know GB has been trying to call him up for awhile but COVID.

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  8. Good for him. Here’s his chance to grow and improve in the Bundesliga and make a real name for himself and earn the attention from the USMNT that I think he has deserved for some time. Maybe he will become more than an afterthought.

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    • when you have a goal against France this “cycle” it’s not your fault you’re omitted, “club form” or not. you should be able to dine out on what he’s done to them and belgium for years.
      he started out in B.1 with Bayern so this whole discussion is silly and basically confusing where your team ranks with how you rate. one can be a better or worse player than their team in general. for example, gooch played in EPL and has like 10 goals this season “but sunderland.” he was on sunderland when in the EPL. it says more about his team than him.

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      • You missed the context Gary is the biggest Julian Green supporter on here he’s saying he hopes the coaching staff notices not that he now thinks Green is worthy.

      • i didn’t miss the context. i thought he was discussing the issue in terms of how GB frames it, which is silly. most NT would not hold your club situation against you if you scored on elite NT. indulging GB’s framing of the issue as “club form” allows the bass-ackwards suggestion that a player who has already proven themselves against the best countries needs to show in club ball they are worthy of the NT again. as though the NT ball didn’t prove that by itself. you have confused the proxy with direct proof.

    • Well apparently Spain is very concerned about club situation since no one from Real were included in the Euros.

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      • (1) klinsi had green on the bench for mexico and costa rica. flat wrong factually on that part. (2) touting klinsi and arena as wise and definitive has a certain inherent problem last cycle. you want me to remind you what that was? you’re the one pimping people like brooks who actually played games and lost on the road off the cliff.

      • a snob flaw is approaching the NT like a meritocratic all star team as opposed to a fully rounded side with people picked for roles, including as subs. comes down to it i want a guy who scored on belgium on my bench over someone who scored on derby.

      • Didn’t play him for 1.5 years from Nov 2014-June 2016 (27 minutes played behind Kitchen and Morales as wings) he isn’t called for the ten matches after PR either. What happened in Nov 2014, he got benched by Hamburg. Why didn’t he play in 2015, playing in 4th division. Why did he suddenly return in Fall 2016 played Champions Cup in the Summer and Polkal matches for Bayern and started making the bench in Bundesliga. Completely based on club form not his goal against Belgium. He also got in your terms demoted to U23s during that hiatus something you whines about Berhalter doing with Soto. By the time Arena is looking for players in spring and summer 2017 he’s back riding pine for Stuttgart and doesn’t see the field.
        ——————————
        You are constantly blathering on on what a visionary Klinsmann was so …
        Every manager every where uses club form not just well he scored in this one match 7 years ago.

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