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Americans Abroad Midweek Rewind: Ledezma, Horvath, and more

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Richie Ledezma’s lengthy wait to make his first start of PSV’s season came to an end on Thursday in UEFA Europa League action.

Ledezma logged 90 minutes in PSV’s 2-1 road victory over Bodo/Glimt, giving the Eredivisie giants a fourth win out of six group stage matches. The 22-year-old won all three of his duels, created one offensive chance, completed 93% of his passes, and made six recoveries for Ruud Van Nistelrooy’s squad. Ledezma has made 13 combined appearances between PSV and Jong PSV this season and after fighting off an injury-plagued season in 2021-22, will be fighting for continued first-team minutes as the season pushes forward.

PSV faces rivals Ajax in Eredivisie play on Sunday before hosting AZ Alkmaar in its final match before the FIFA World Cup break.

In Champions League play, James Sands and Malik Tillman both started for Rangers in a home loss to Ajax. Gio Reyna started for Borussia Dortmund in a 1-1 draw with FC Copenhagen.

In England, Ethan Horvath and Zack Steffen both continued their roles as No. 1 goalkeepers for their clubs. Horvath helped Luton Town tie Reading in a goal-less draw while Steffen helped Middlesbrough defeat Hull City.

Here is a closer look at this week’s Americans Abroad action:


Europe


Champions League

James Sands started and played 90 minutes in Rangers 3-1 loss to Ajax on Tuesday.

Malik Tillman started and played 60 minutes for Rangers.

Gio Reyna started and played 63 minutes in Borussia Dortmund’s 1-1 draw with FC Copenhagen on Wednesday.

Christian Pulisic came off the bench and played seven minutes in Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb on Wednesday.

Josh Cohen started, made FOUR SAVES, and played 90 minutes in Maccabi Haifa’s 6-1 loss to Benfica on Wednesday.

John Brooks dressed but did not play for Benfica.

Timmy Chandler dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt’s 2-1 win over Sporting Lisbon on Tuesday.

Owen Otasowie did not dress in Club Brugge’s 0-0 draw with Bayer Leverkusen on Tuesday.

Sergino Dest did not dress in AC Milan’s 4-0 win over Red Bull Salzburg on Wednesday.

Cameron Carter-Vickers did not dress (Injury) in Celtic’s 5-0 loss to Real Madrid on Wednesday.

Weston McKennie is OUT (Injury) for Juventus.

Europa League

Richie Ledezma started and played 90 minutes in PSV’s 2-1 win over Bodo/Glimt on Thursday.

Romain Gall started and played 90 minutes in Malmo’s 2-1 loss to Braga on Thursday.

Henry Wingo started and played 90 minutes in Ferencvaros 1-0 loss to Trabzonspor on Thursday.

Mix Diskerud came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Omonia Nicosia’s 1-0 loss to FC Sheriff on Thursday.

Jordan Pefok dressed but did not play in Union Berlin’s 1-0 win over Union St. Gilloise on Thursday.

Matt Turner did not dress (Injury) in Arsenal’s 1-0 win over FC Zurich on Thursday.


England


Championship

Ethan Horvath started, made THREE SAVES, and played 90 minutes in Luton Town’s 0-0 draw with Reading on Tuesday.

Zack Steffen started, made ONE SAVE, and played 90 minutes in Middlesbrough’s 3-1 win over Hull City on Tuesday.

Auston Trusty started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 0-0 draw with Millwall on Wednesday.

Duane Holmes started and played 90 minutes in Huddersfield Town’s 2-0 loss to Sunderland on Wednesday.

Lynden Gooch did not dress (Injury) for Sunderland.

Jonathan Tomkinson did not dress in Norwich City’s 0-0 draw with QPR on Wednesday.

Josh Sargent is OUT (Injury) for Norwich City.

Daryl Dike is OUT (Injury) for West Brom.

Vaughn Covil is OUT (Injury) for Hull City.


Brazil


Serie A

Johnny Cardoso started and played 90 minutes in Internacional’s 1-0 loss to America-MG on Wednesday.


Comments

  1. Ledezma declined June callup but was injury based unlike Ream and Steffen who declined callups during qualifying for non-injury related reasons. Pickings are so thin at midfielder now, he may have to see of Ledezma will commit to US for a WC spot.

    Reply
    • Weren’t Steffen and Ream related to the intense isolation periods England based players faced upon returning from certain Central American countries. I don’t remember exactly but it was like another 10-14 days they couldn’t see their families had to stay in hotels.

      Reply
      • I didn’t remember any reasons ever being given other than they weren’t injuries so I have no idea. I do know that Ream was a starter at that point and after he declined he has not been called up again.

  2. damn I forgot about Ledezma….but PSV Eindhoven finally started him in their Europa game against Bodø/Glimt. They used a 4-2-3-1 system (not their occasional 4-3-3) and he was in one of the 2 “defensive midfielders” spots in the formation, a position usually played by Johannes Veerman or Ibrahim Sangaré. Hopefully playing time will improve for him, as its going to be tough for Ledezma to break into the starting lineup for PSV as Veerman and Sangaré are both playing well.

    Reply
  3. Haven’t posted in awhile but think Ledezma would be a good replacement for LDT. He’s getting minutes and went 90 today. He was in GGG plans before he got hurt. My dark horse for wc roster

    Reply
    • Van Nistelroy finally rotated some after playing two matches a week every week since beginning of August. I think Richie probably is playing somewhere else in January, I think that’s good maybe a mid-table Dutch team. I don’t see Gregg being that risky. Gregg did name drop him in the summer but not being there since 2020 probably rules Richie out. He’s played more as a CM whereas he was a W or SS before the knee. I’d love to see but I don’t think it happens.

      Reply

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