The race to be involved in Gregg Berhalter’s U.S. men’s national team squad this September continued this weekend with Haji Wright taking another major step towards a second-straight call up.
Wright scored twice on Friday in Antalayspor’s 5-2 loss to league leaders Gaziantep, continuing a strong start to the Turkish Super Lig season. The 24-year-old scored two goals in a 10-minute span in the first half, propelling Antalyaspor into a 2-1 lead before halftime. Although the result did not go the visitors way, Wright’s impressive start to his second season with Antalyaspor will have fans excited for what’s to come. Wright now has five goals in his last three league appearances, keeping him in the mix for international duty later this September as the USMNT faces Japan and Saudi Arabia in its final pre-World Cup friendlies. Wright will have three more opportunities to build on his strong start, beginning with a Sept. 4 showdown with Kasimpasa.
In France, Erik Palmer-Brown impressed in a 3-1 league win for Troyes over Angers. Folarin Balogun started once again for Stade Reims.
In England, Josh Sargent continued his impressive run of form in Norwich City’s road win over Sunderland by scoring the winning goal. Tim Ream delivered a strong performance for Fulham in a 2-1 road loss to Arsenal. Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson both started in Leeds United’s defeat to Brighton & Hove Albion.
In Italy, Weston McKennie came off the bench in Juventus’ 1-1 draw with AS Roma.
Elsewhere, Mark McKenzie impressed in Genk’s 4-1 league win on Saturday, continuing to rack up minutes as a starter this season. Sam Vines and Reggie Cannon both logged 90 minutes this weekend while Terrence Boyd scored once in a 4-4 draw for Kaiserslautern.
Here is a closer look at this weekend’s Americans Abroad:
England
Premier League
Tyler Adams started and played 90 minutes in Leeds United’s 1-0 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
Brenden Aaronson started and played 85 minutes for Leeds United.
Antonee Robinson started and played 90 minutes in Fulham’s 2-1 loss to Arsenal on Saturday.
Tim Ream started and played 88 minutes for Fulham.
Matt Turner dressed but did not play for Arsenal.
Christian Pulisic came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Leicester City on Saturday.
Chris Richards came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Crystal Palace’s 4-2 loss to Manchester City on Saturday.
Championship
Josh Sargent started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Norwich City’s 1-0 win over Sunderland on Saturday.
Lynden Gooch started and played 90 minutes for Sunderland.
Jonathan Tomkinson did not dress for Norwich City.
Auston Trusty started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 2-0 loss to Rotherham United on Saturday.
Ethan Horvath started, made TWO SAVES, and played 90 minutes in Luton Town’s 1-1 draw with Sheffield United on Friday.
Duane Holmes came off the bench and played 31 minutes in Huddersfield Town’s 2-2 draw with West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
Zack Steffen, Matthew Hoppe did not dress in Middlesbrough’s 2-1 win over Swansea City on Saturday. Hoppe scored two goals in Middlesbrough U-21’s 4-1 win over Stoke City on Friday.
Matt Olosunde did not dress in Preston North End’s 0-0 draw with Cardiff City on Saturday.
Daryl Dike is OUT (Injury) for West Bromwich Albion.
Germany
Bundesliga
Joe Scally started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach’s 1-1 draw with Bayern Munich on Saturday.
Jordan Pefok started, registered TWO ASSISTS, and played 71 minutes in Union Berlin’s 6-1 win over Schalke on Saturday.
Ricardo Pepi started and played 56 minutes in Augsburg’s 1-0 loss to Hoffenheim on Saturday.
Timmy Chandler came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 4-3 win over Werder Bremen on Sunday.
Pellegrino Matarazzo‘s Stuttgart tied Cologne 0-0 on Sunday.
Gio Reyna did not dress in Borussia Dortmund’s 1-0 win over Hertha Berlin on Saturday.
Kevin Paredes did not dress (Injury) in Wolfsburg’s 2-0 loss to RB Leipzig on Saturday.
2. Bundesliga
Terrence Boyd started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Kaiserslautern’s 4-4 draw with Magdeburg on Sunday.
Timothy Tillman came off the bench and played 22 minutes in Greuther Furth’s 2-1 loss to Hannover on Sunday.
Julian Green dressed but did not play for Furth.
George Bello came off the bench and played three minutes in Arminia Bielefeld’s 4-1 win over Eintracht Braunschweig on Friday.
Nico Carrera did not dress in Holstein Kiel’s 1-0 win over Sandhausen on Sunday.
Bryang Kayo did not dress in Nuremberg’s 2-0 loss to Hamburg on Saturday.
3. Liga
Johan Gomez did not dress in FSV Zwickau’s 3-0 loss to SC Verl on Saturday.
Spain
La Liga
Yunus Musah started and played 90 minutes in Valencia’s 1-0 loss to Atletico Madrid on Monday.
Luca De La Torre dressed but did not play in Celta Vigo’s 1-0 win over Girona on Friday.
Sergino Dest did not dress in Barcelona’s 4-0 win over Real Valladolid on Sunday.
Jonathan Gomez did not dress in Real Sociedad’s 1-0 win over Elche on Saturday.
Segunda Liga
Samuel Shashoua started and played 72 minutes in Tenerife’s 2-0 loss to Levante on Saturday.
Italy
Serie A
Weston McKennie came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Juventus 1-1 draw with AS Roma on Saturday.
Serie B
Tanner Tessmann started and played 62 minutes in Venezia’s 1-1 draw with Cittadella on Sunday.
Andrija Novakovich came off the bench and played six minutes for Venezia.
Jack De Vries dressed but did not play for Venezia.
Gianluca Busio did not dress for Venezia.
Anthony Fontana dressed but did not play in Ascoli’s 3-2 win over Palermo on Saturday.
France
Ligue 1
Erik Palmer-Brown started and played 90 minutes in Troyes 3-1 win over Angers on Sunday.
Folarin Balogun started and played 60 minutes in Stade Reims 1-1 draw with Lyon on Sunday.
Tim Weah is OUT (Injury) for Lille.
Netherlands
Eredivisie
Cole Bassett started and played 45 minutes in Fortuna Sittard’s 2-1 loss to Heerenveen on Saturday.
Taylor Booth came off the bench and played 31 minutes in FC Utrecht’s 2-0 loss to Ajax on Sunday.
Richie Ledezma is OUT (Injury) for PSV.
Portugal
Liga Portugal
Reggie Cannon started and played 90 minutes in Boavista’s 3-0 loss to Benfica on Saturday.
Alex Mendez came off the bench and played 53 minutes in Vizela’s 2-2 draw with Gil Vicente on Monday.
Scotland
Premiership
Cameron Carter-Vickers started and played 90 minutes in Celtic’s 9-0 win over Dundee United on Sunday.
Ian Harkes started and played 58 minutes for Dundee United.
Dante Polvara dressed but did not play in Aberdeen’s 5-0 win over Livingston on Saturday.
Christian Ramirez did not dress for Aberdeen.
Malik Tillman started and played 62 minutes in Rangers 4-0 win over Ross County on Saturday.
James Sands started and played 45 minutes for Rangers.
Joe Efford came off the bench and played 32 minutes in Motherwell’s 2-1 loss to Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Belgium
Pro League
Sam Vines started and played 90 minutes in Royal Antwerp’s 2-1 win over Gent on Sunday.
Mark McKenzie started and played 90 minutes in Genk’s 4-0 win over RFC Seraing on Saturday.
Owen Otasowie did not dress in Club Brugge’s 3-1 win over Sporting Charleroi on Friday.
Bryan Reynolds dressed but did not play in Westerlo’s 1-0 loss to Eupen on Sunday.
Griffin Yow did not dress for Westerlo.
Greece
Super League
Konrad de la Fuente did not dress in Olympiakos 0-0 draw with Asteras Tripolis on Monday.
Turkey
Super Lig
Haji Wright started, scored TWO GOALS, and played 90 minutes in Antalyaspor’s 5-2 loss to Gaziantep on Friday.
Tyler Boyd did not dress in Besiktas 3-1 win over Sivasspor on Monday.
Denmark
Superliagen
Christian Cappis started and played 90 minutes in Brondby’s 2-0 loss to Midtjylland on Monday.
Emmanuel Sabbi did not dress in Odense’s 2-1 win over Silkeborg on Sunday.
Austria
2. Liga
Ulysses Llanez started and played 90 minutes in SKN St. Poelten’s 1-0 loss to Admira Modeling on Friday.
Hungary
NB 1
Henry Wingo dressed but did not play in Ferencvaros 3-1 win over Budapest Honved on Sunday.
Norway
Eliteserien
Sam Rogers started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Rosenborg’s 4-3 loss to Tromso on Sunday.
Kobe Hernandez-Foster started and played 90 minutes in HamKam’s 1-0 win over FC Haugesund on Sunday.
Sweden
Allsvenskan
Joe Corona started and played 65 minutes in Sundsvall’s 3-1 win over Degerfors on Saturday.
Joe Gyau started and played 89 minutes for Degerfors.
Jeffrey Gal dressed but did not play for Degerfors.
Forrest Lasso did not dress for Sundsvall.
Romain Gall is OUT (Injury) for Malmo.
Israel
Ligat HaAL
Josh Cohen started and played 90 minutes in Maccabi Haifa’s 4-1 win over Maccabi Netanya on Saturday.
Argentina
Primeira Liga
Alan Sonora started, scored ONE GOAL, and played 90 minutes in Independiente’s 1-1 draw with Velez Sarsfield on Sunday.
Brazil
Serie A
Johnny Cardoso started, scored TWO GOALS, and played 69 minutes in Internacional’s 4-0 win over Juventude on Monday.
While its great to see so many US players playing abroad it’s important to take into consideration where they played (position) and how they performed. With this many players to keep track of I wish SBI would look at improving some of the data contained in the weeks recap. By adding a couple data points would significantly improve the overall value of the re-cap so those of us who couldn’t watch games could get a since of how players performed. And for the more casual fan give a since of the players.
As an example:
Chris Richards (CB – 22 yrs) came off the bench and played 33 minutes @ LB in Crystal Palace’s 4-2 loss to Manchester City on Saturday. (Rating: 4.5)
Much of the information is already available and won’t change much. Rating is subjective, and position played may take a bit more effort it would help give a since of how players are trending.
Alan Sonora continues to be very impressive in Argentina. Shame Berhalter still hasn’t recognized this for the past year and a half.
Wrong on both accounts. Berhalter tried to call him in December and again had discussions in June but his club would not release him. Sonora has been off to a slow start this season no goals or assists in first 11 matches until last week. Just 3g 3a in 35 league matches between the two 1/2 seasons. He’s shown sparks but very impressive is a big stretch. Better than Roldan sure but we’ll behind our other wingers and CMs. Also hear from some “experts” he plays no defense.
Never heard he wasn’t released for the June window. Which makes no sense considering they were FIFA dates and teams can’t refuse realese on FIFA dates. Yes Berhalter said he had discussions but that was it. And the guy has been in good form this season as well as last and is a huge fan favorite. Been linked with multiple European teams.
Their season started the beginning of June. Yes we could have called him and forced him to choose country over club, but for what? To be the 7th or 8th winger? He struggled under Dominguez, as he tinkered with formations playing Alan as an 8 and wide midfielder. His best position has been as a 10 we don’t play with a 10. He’d be at best 4 or 5th best 10 if we did. You consider 3g in 30 matches good form? The time when we gushed over every American who scored abroad is over. If this was 2006 he’d be on the plane when your competing with guys playing in the Champions League you’ve got to be better.
Increasing looks like Horvath has a very good case to be the starter for the USMNT. Steffen continues his injury prone career and hasn’t looked particularly good for Boro. Turner is riding the pine as was predicted and I don’t trust backups to be starters. Horvath and Sean John the two most in form keepers.
The match commentators for the Fulham vs. Arsenal said a couple of times that Antonee Robinson was having a good game. Glad to see Richards get some playing time since he started out on the bench in a 3 back system, which makes it hard for a newcomer to break into the team on the field. It seems like American players are increasing their influence in numerous spots from France to Germany to Belgium, to England and Scotland. With Scally and Cannon both playing regularly and Vines doing the same, our outside backs look like a solid and deep position.