Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

                                                                       Photo by ISIphotos.com

It is that time of year again. Time for European leagues to kick off and time for American players to ply their trade throughout Europe (and Mexico).

This week marked the first week for the English Premier League and German Bundesliga, meaning several names joined the list of Americans playing abroad. With Italy and Spain set to begin soon, the list should reach full capacity soon enough.

For now, let's focus on this week, as U.S. national team prospect Neven Subotic scored the game-winner for Borussia Dortmund, whild Matt Taylor scored a goal in his Bundesliga 2 debut for TUS Koblenz.

You also had Brad Friedel making a successful debut for Aston Villa in their win against Manchester City and Friedel's former manager, Mark Hughes.

Those are just three of the Americans to stand out this weekend. Here is a look back at how Americans did this past weekend:

ENGLAND

Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, and made four saves in Everton's 3-2 loss to Blackburn on Saturday.

Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes, and made six saves in Aston Villa's 4-2 win against Manchester City on Sunday.

Clint Dempsey came off the bench and played nine minutes in Fulham's 2-1 loss to Hull City on Saturday.

Eddie Johnson did not dress for Fulham.

Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in Reading's 2-0 win vs. Plymouth on Saturday.

Bobby Convey started and played 86 minutes for Reading.

Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 1-0 win vs. Charlton on Saturday.

SCOTLAND

DaMarcus Beasley came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Rangers' 2-0 win against Hearts on Saturday.

GERMANY

Neven Subotic started, played 90 minutes, drew a yellow card and scored the game-winning goal in Borussia Dortmund's 3-2 win vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.

Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 3-0 loss to Schalke 04 on Saturday.

Sal Zizzo did not dress for Hannover 96.

Brian Arguez did not dress in Hertha Berlin's 2-0 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

Matt Taylor started, played 62 minutes, scored a goal and drew a yellow card in TUS Koblenz's 3-0 win against RW Oberhausen on Sunday.

Grover Gibson started, played 80 minutes, drew a yellow card and scored a goal in Ahlen's 2-1 win vs. FSV Frankfurt on Sunday.

Gregg Berhalter dressed but did not play in 1860 Munich's 2-1 loss to SC Freiburg on Sunday.

FRANCE

Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Rennes' 1-0 loss to Grenoble on Sunday.

Quentin Westberg dressed but did not play in FC Troyes 1-0 win vs. Brest on Friday.

BELGIUM

Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Standard Liege's 3-1 win vs. Dender on Saturday.

DENMARK

Danny Califf started and played 90 minutes in FC Midtjylland's 2-1 loss to FC Copenhagen on Sunday.

Jeremiah White started and played 81 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 2-1 win against Brondby on Sunday.

Lee Nguyen did not dress in Randers' 1-1 tie vs. Ejsberg on Saturday.

NORWAY

Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 1-0 win vs. Sarpsborg on Sunday.

Jay Needham started and played 90 minutes in Alta's 5-4 loss to Haugesund on Sunday.

Cam Weaver started and played 90 minutes for Haugesund.

MEXICO

Daniel Hernandez started and played 90 minutes in Chiapas' 1-1 tie vs. Atlante on Saturday.

Jose Francisco Torres came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Pachuca's 1-1 tie vs. Club America on Saturday.

Jesus Padilla came off the bench, played 41 minutes and drew a red card in Chivas de Guadalajara's 2-2 tie vs. Necaxa on Sunday.

------------------------

If there are players I forgot to list feel free to list them below. Please remember that I'm trying to focus on first divisions and, in some cases, second divisions, so keep that in mind when suggesting players for the list.

Share your thoughts on how these Americans did last weekend in the comments section below.

Comments

[DeLarge]

Mr. Feilhaber?

[DeLarge]

What about that guy Adu?

[Adam R.]

Don't forget Gooch.

[Steve T.]

The reports for Lee Nguyen get worse and worse. bummer.

[RK]

Ahlen 2 - 1 FSV Frankfurt
Grover Gibson scored Ahlen's first.

Freddy didn't dress for Monaco.

[Beckster]

Troy Perkins?

[Ed Ho]

Lee Nyguen would seem like an ideal candidate to come back to MLS. I'm sure he is making more money in Denmark, but after two relatively unsuccessful stints in Netherlands and now Denmark, I really think he needs playing time to resuurect his career. Anyone have other insight on what's going on with him?

[The Athority]

Ed Ho,

One actually has to have a career before they resurrect it. Nyguen has never done anything.

[John]

How about Troy Perkins?

[andy b.]

Nguyen's situation is a bad one, for sure. I think Zizzo needs to give himself a deadline, too: start dressing (at least) and playing occassionally, or get out by the end of the year. Or is that too impatient?

[Al17]

UEFA Cup
Stabaeck(2) - Rennes(1)

Ligue1
Grenoble(1) - Rennes(0)

Bocanegra starts his 3rd match for Rennes, 2nd week of matches in Ligue 1. He's played every minute for Rennes this season.

[jmac]

oyyyy Fulham lost to Hull City!? Not an auspicious start.

[Dylan]

Are those FLM youngsters already cape?

The US should get on that if they're worth it.

[MikeinSD]

Marco Vidal with Indios and Tally Hall???

[BFBS]

Check out this first-person story from Matt Taylor on the Original Winger.

[Lee]

What about Jesus Padilla down at Chivas?

[John]

BFBS - Great story for Matt Taylor. Thanks for posting. Timing is everything.

[Mike]

Ryan Raybould, former Wizards defender started and played the full 90 for Gefle IF in their 2-0 loss to Djurgårdens IF in the Swedish Allsvenskan.

[A.S.]

You might want to add that Gooch was suspended for the Champions League match vs Liverpool (which Liege tied 0-0).

[Sandro]

Ives,
How long do you think Fulham will put up with EJ? So far he hasn't done much for Fulham. Also heard reports that Cardiff might be interested in EJ.

[kris]

How about Troy Perkins in Norway?

[Ives]

Guys, based on the info I have the Norwegian first division was off last week, which is why no Perkins this week. If someone knows differently please pass it along.

[Andy in Atlanta]

The common misconception is that EJ is doing poorly at Fulham... this is not the case actually. Roy Hodgeson is very high on him and knows he is a work in progress. You guys seem to think that just because a guy does not make the squad for a match that he is a failure. I am not EJ fan by any means but it is not like the guy is a total crap player. He does some things well and some things poor. He has all the attributes and certainly is not any worse than players like Jason Roberts. Give the kid time to develope under a real coach and not some crap MLS coach and guys like Arena and Bradley. EJ will become a valuable player eventually.

You guys did the same thing with Edson Buddle and now look at what he is doing.

[Lucian]

For those who read spanish, Jozy Altidore played in a friendly against Atletico Bilbao. He played 90 mins. He apparently had a good pass to Cazorla, and had a good chance toward the end. My spanish isn't great though.

Here's the article:
http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/villarreal/es/desarrollo/1156043.html

[Lucian]

For those who read spanish, Jozy Altidore played in a friendly against Atletico Bilbao. He played 90 mins. He apparently had a good pass to Cazorla, and had a good chance toward the end. My spanish isn't great though.

Here's the article in Spanish:
http://www.marca.com/edicion/marca/futbol/1a_division/villarreal/es/desarrollo/1156043.html

[Fid]

Holland

Charles Kazlauskas started and went the full 90 minutes for TOP Oss as they opened up the home schedule with a 3-0 victory.

[Jon E]

Could you maybe quickly identify the players? positions. There are a couple names there I don't recognize, and I assume I'm not the only one. (Just a "GK," a "D," an "M" etc.)

[Zack Wells]

Troy Perkins?

And EJ should never be capped again for the US. He's not good enough for England either. Send him back here, where he actually did well because our defenders don't know what they're doing. Same thing happened against Barbados. They did not know what they were doing. Result? EJ scored a couple garbage goals.

[son]

eddie johnson was injured thats why he did noy dress

http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2008/August/HullPreview.aspx

[Cory]

Who is the highest paid U.S. player abroad? Is it Tim Howard or´Clint Dempsey? Though didnt Brad Friedel get double his Blackburn wages when he joined AV? I wonder how much Bocanegra is getting at Rennes.

[gas huffer]

Any word on a transfer for Baby Bradley?

[Kevin]

Borussia Dortmound is supposedly on the heels of Heath Pearce. That is great news. And Gooch has Lazio and PSG going for him. What about Michael Bradley? Are Hamburg and Sunderland still going for him?

[irene]

Fulham need a striker. EJ has pace, he just needs to gain confidence and more on-goal targeting. Sure enough he can score, just needs more practice and training. Im sure he can be a super-sub. And if not he could get loaned to a team in the Championship and do really well. Don't give up on him

[henrik]

Danny Califf started and played 90 minutes in FC Midtjylland's 2-1 loss to FC Copenhagen on Sunday.

Just a week ago he helped the team to klobber Manchester City. He's really a good defender. Perfect for Denmark. Hopefully he can get a move to Germany with time. Any idea why he left Aalborg?

[Peter]

Hmmm EJ aint that bad. What other options do we have for strikers for 2010? Altidore? He needs time to settle into a great target man. Cooper? He's coming along but isnt ready for international level. Charlie Davies? Possibly but not ready yet. Ching, Twellman, Wolff are all too old and MLS variety. EJ can be a decent striker if given the chance and he applies himself.

[jpc]

He didn't say eddie johnson was injured, he said Andy johnson was injured

[Z-Indy]

Peter
You speak as if WC2010 was in a couple of months. It seems to me that we still have 2 full seasons of club and WCQs to play, plenty of time for the future stars you mentioned to development. I agree with you that EJ can and will be a viable option.

[Rudy]

Charlie Davies had a goal and assist in Hammarby's 4-2 loss to fellow Swedish side GAIS on Friday.

[Reid]

Henrik - not 100% positive but i think he ended up getting a better wage if he switched, he did get an offer from his old club, but I think it was less money

[dealer2]

I am a Fulham supporter and hope that Dempsey gets another shot at starting. Still not sure what the deal is.

As for Eddie "Passback" Johnson, he's got to be sent somewhere else if he's going to "develop." He was given too many chances last season at Fulham and looked totally out of his element.

[This Guy]

2 Years from now I will be on this site and every single one of the doubters of EJ will be praising his WC2010 performance. I am not a fan of EJ nor do I like his style of play, but you send an man with speed who plays like a Bull in a China shop to the EPL? He will be fascinating in 2 years.

[nothing]

anyone know how well pekins has been playing?

[Zheri]

2 Years from now I will be on this site and every single one of the doubters of EJ will be praising his WC2010 performance. I am not a fan of EJ nor do I like his style of play, but you send an man with speed who plays like a Bull in a China shop to the EPL? He will be fascinating in 2 years.

Posted by: This Guy | August 18, 2008 at 09:29 PM
------------------------------------------

No, he won't. " Bull in a china shop"? Is that a joke? The man plays like he's afraid of his shadow, let alone *gasp* turning his defender and going for a try on goal. Not making the BENCH at fulham is not a good sign.

[Peter]

EJ has lightning speed and he cruised past defenders in MLS. Now that's nothing compared to the EPL but still, he's worthy of something. He might not be up to the challenges of the PL but he could be loaned to the Championship or Bundesliga or Ligue One where he could prove himself. But FULHAM should keep him for the full season to see what develops rather than discard him.

[Henrik]

Henrik - not 100% positive but i think he ended up getting a better wage if he switched, he did get an offer from his old club, but I think it was less money

Posted by: Reid | August 18, 2008 at 09:06 PM

Thanks. I remember reading that his salary went up to like 30 or 40,000 pounds a week. Not bad.

[dealer2]

If EJ starts for us, much less plays a minute in 2010... ugh, I can't even joke about it.

[dc fan]

WHY do we include padilla on this list, his is Wannabe Mexican, not american. I dont care what people say. If you don't want to be american, FINE get the --ll out. PERIOD!! Seeya wouldnt wanna be ya.. Don't let the fence hit you when you jump off.

[tex]

Clarence Goodson's IK Start team actually won 2-1 on Sunday and are 1 point from the top of the table and will be promoted at the end of the season. There are still strong rumors that he will be moving in the off season possibly the Denmark or Holland based on this dominant play this season in the Adecco.

[Z-Indy]

Feilhaber has moved to Danish side Aarhaus. I'd assume he'd be better off in the mls developmentaly, however he's likely to make more money in Denmark. What a sad state of affairs.

[Uncle Jason]

We need to stop talking about EJ and Lee Nguyen as potentially being part of the national team mix. Our talent pool is increasingly so rapidly that we have finally arrived to the point where Landon Donovan is no longer an automatic for WC 2010 (which is a good thing).