photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Last week it was Clint Dempsey who celebrated after scoring two goals in Europa League play. This week it was Jozy Altidore's turn.
Altidore scored his fourth and fifth goals across all competitions this season in AZ Alkmaar's 6-0 victory over Aalesund in the second leg of their play-off round series. Altidore found the back of the net in the first half after putting himself in a good position to receive the ball. He scored again in the second half with a perfect header. Alkmaar advanced to the group stage of the tournament with a 7-2 aggregate.
Carlos Bocanegra also scored, netting his first goal for Rangers. But that was about as good as it got for him and the Gers, which crashed out of a tournament prematurely for the second time this season. Rangers fell 3-2 on aggregate after tying NK Maribor 1-1 in the second leg.
Here is how the Americans Abroad who were involved in the Europa League on Thursday fared:
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 6-1 win vs. HJK Helsinki. Schalke advanced on aggregate, 6-3.
- Jozy Altidore started, played 63 minutes and scored TWO GOALS in AZ Alkmaar's 6-0 win vs. Aalesund. AZ Alkmaar advanced on aggregate, 7-2.
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 2-2 draw vs. Bursaspor. RSC Anderlecht advanced on aggregate, 4-3.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 80 minutes in Fulham's 1-0 loss vs. Dnipro. Fulham advanced on aggregate, 3-1.
- Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Sporting Lisbon's 2-1 win vs. FC Nordsjaelland. Sporting Lisbon advanced on aggregate, 2-1.
- Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 2-1 loss vs. Sporting Lisbon. FC Nordsjaelland was eliminated on aggregate, 2-1.
- Steve Cherundolo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Hannover 96's 1-1 draw vs. Sevilla FC. Hannover 96 advanced on aggregate, 3-2.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City's 3-0 win vs. CD Nacional de Madeira. Birmingham City advanced on aggregate, 3-0.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur's 0-0 draw vs. Heart of Midlothian. Tottenham Hotspur advanced on aggregate, 5-0.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 3-1 loss vs. FC Sion Sitten. Celtic was eliminated on aggregate, 3-1.
- Carlos Bocanegra started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Rangers' 1-1 draw vs. NK Maribor. Rangers was eliminated on aggregate, 3-2.
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes for Rangers.
- Alejandro Bedoya did not dress for Rangers.
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What do you think of these results? Expecting Altidore and AZ to go far in the Europa League? Surprised Rangers was bounced out of the tournament?
Share your thoughts below.
