Friday, February 19, 2010

Friday Shootout

To get this Friday going, first lets take a look at our yank weekend schedule.

FRIDAY

Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play TSG Hoffenheim.
David Yeldell and TUS Koblenz play FC Union Berlin.

SATURDAY

Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Everton play Manchester United.
Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers play Chelsea.
Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Jozy Altidore and Hull City.
Kenny Cooper and Plymouth Argyle play Leicester City.
Jay DeMerit and Watford play Scunthorpe United.
Frank Simek and Sheffield Wednesday play Ipsiwch Town.
Ian Joyce and Southend United play Milton Keynes Dons.
Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Southampton.
Jemal Johnson and Stockport County play Exeter City.
Mike Grella and Leeds United play Brighton.
Jon-Paul Pittman and Wycombe Wanderers play Millwall.
DaMarcus Beasley, Maurice Edu and Rangers play St Johnstone. 
Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Dundee United.
Steve Cherundolo, Sal Zizzo and Hannover 96 play Borussia Dortmund. (Cherundolo and Zizzo are out injured.)
Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play Hamburg SV. (Clark is out injured.)
Jose Francisco Torres and Pachuca play Chiapas.
Herculez Gomez and Puebla play Guadalajara.

SUNDAY

Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Blackburn Rovers.
Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play Burnley.
Clint Dempsey and Fulham play Birmingham. (Dempsey is out injured.)
Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan play Bari. (Onyewu is out injured.)
Daniel Williams and SC Freiburg play Hertha Berlin.
Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play VfL Wolfsburg. (Jones is out injured.)
Matt Taylor and FSV Frankfurt play Karlsruhe.
Carlos Bocanegra and Stade Rennes play Lille.
Charlie Davies and Sochaux play Lyon. (Davies is out injured.)
Freddy Adu, Eddie Johnson and Aris Salonika play AEK Athens.
Marco Vidal and Indios de Ciudad Juarez play Cruz Azul.
Edgar Castillo and Tigres UANL play America.

MONDAY

          Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play St Pauli.
          Michael Hoyos and Estudiantes La Plata play Huracan.


In other news:

  • Charlie Davies has returned to France for training.  WOW.  That's all that need be said.
  • Oguchi Onyewu is training with the US in their camp in Carson, CA.  NICE.
  • Landon Donovan won Everton's player of the month award.  Anyone else see an offer coming?  Like a freight train. 
  • The Netherlands has named a 25 man provisional squad to face the US on March 3.  Here's squad:
Michel Vorm (FC Utrecht), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse Arnhem); Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Ron Vlaar (both Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Everton) Edson Braafheid (Celtic), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg ), Andre Ooijer (PSV), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax); Mark van Bommel and Arjen Robben (both Bayern Munich), Otman Bakkal, Orlando Engelaar and Ibrahim Afellay (all PSV), Nigel de Jong (Manchester City), Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milan), Rafael van der Vaart (Real Madrid), Wout Brama (Twente), Stijn Schaars (AZ Alkmaar), Demy de Zeeuw (Ajax); Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt (both Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (AC Milan), Eljero Elia (Hamburg)

Scary ass squad...but its better in the long run. The build-up for this game (and who is gonna be in the squad for the US) is killing me...slowly.

That is all for now.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Freddy Adu nets in his second straight game, other notes...

 
Freddy Adu scores in his second consecutive game for Aris with a nice volley of the left boot as Aris romped Xanthi in the Greek Cup.  Working his way towards a call up Mr. Adu.  Nice

Benny Feilhaber is down and out for a couple weeks with an ankle knock, but should be back going by the time the Netherlands friendly rolls around.


Sorry no Wednesday feature, I couldn't find anything worth a Common Sense approach, but I will run one if I find something later this week.

Jose Torres had another solid outing for Pachuca tonight and Maurice Edu went the full 90 in Rangers Scottish Cup victory.  This after DaMarcus Beasley went the first half in their last league game, and then scored the opener in a reserve game the next day.  Seems that these three are also back to game fitness. 

Tomorrow I'll be running our first Thursday feature.  But I cannot tell you want it concerns.  Read and see and the way will be made known to you.

US Soccer Send Off Series

 
The USA could be coming to a town near you in the near future.  US Soccer finalized two matches against top competitionto prepare the US for its trials during the World Cup.  The US will face the Czech Republic on May 25 at a site to be determined and will face Turkey on May 29 in Philadelphia.  Netherlands, Czech Republic, and Turkey.  That is a much better schedule for the full side than Morocco, Venezuela, and Latvia.  Though the US might not come out with a better record (they finished 2-1-0 vs. the latter), it will be interesting to see who is fit and ready to go.
On a different note, here is an interview with Justin Brunken and Korey Donahoo, founders of The American Outlawsm  done by The Original Winger.

Currently looking for what I'm going to run for our Wednesday feature.  Stay tuned...

Monday, February 15, 2010

Weekend Yank MVP

 
It was a solid weekend for yanks abroad, despite all the injuries.  Here is a quick rundown of the past weekends action.

England

PREMIERSHIP
  • Clint Dempsey did not dress in Fulham's 4-0 win vs. Notts County in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.  
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Aston Villa's 2-2 draw vs. Crystal Palace in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.
  • Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 2-2 draw vs. Crystal Palace in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Sunday.

  • Stuart Holden dressed but did not play in Bolton Wanderers' 1-1 draw vs. Tottenham Hotspur in the fifth round of the FA Cup on Saturday.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
  • Kenny Cooper dressed but did not play in Plymouth Argyle's 3-1 win vs. Barnsley on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
  • Ian Joyce did not dress in Southend United's 1-1 draw vs. Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.
  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Norwich City's 2-1 win vs. Brighton on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Leeds United's 1-1 draw vs. Leyton Orient on Saturday.
  • Jemal Johnson started and played 75 minutes in Stockport County's 2-2 draw vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
  • Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 1-1 draw vs. Brentford on Saturday.

Scotland

  • Maurice Edu dressed but did not play in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. Hibernian on Sunday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started and played 45 minutes in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. Hibernian on Sunday. 
  • Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 4-4 draw vs. Aberdeen on Saturday.

Italy

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 3-2 win vs. Udinese on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA
  • Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes and helped set up a goal in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 2-1 win vs. Nurnberg on Friday.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96's 5-1 loss vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday. He is recovering from a shoulder injury.
  • Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 5-1 loss vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-0 win vs. FC Cologne on Sunday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
  • Ricardo Clark did not dress in Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-1 win vs. SC Freiburg on Sunday. He is recovering from a calf injury.  
  •  Daniel Williams started and played the full match in SC Freiburg's 1-2 loss vs. Eintracht Frankfurt.
  • Fabian Johnson dressed bu did not play in Wolfsburg's 1-2 loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
BUNDESLIGA 2
  • Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play MSV Duisburg on Monday.
  • Matt Taylor did not dress in FSV Frankfurt's 0-0 draw vs. St Pauli on Friday.
  • David Yeldell dressed but did not play in TUS Koblenz's 0-0 draw vs. Hansa Rostock on Sunday.

France

  • Carlos Bocanegra dressed but did not play in Stade Rennes' 1-0 loss vs. AJ Auxerre on Sunday.
  • Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 0-0 draw vs. Le Mans on Saturday. He is recovering from multiple injuries. 

Greece

  • Freddy Adu started, played 62 minutes and scored a GOAL in Aris Salonika's 2-1 win vs. Ergotelis on Sunday. 
  • Eddie Johnson started and played 62 minutes in Aris Salonika's 2-1 win vs. Ergotelis on Sunday.

Mexico

  • Jose Francisco Torres came off the bench, played 45 minutes and scored a GOAL in Pachuca's 5-3 win vs. Puebla on Sunday. 
  • Edgar Castillo and Tigres UANL play Pumas UNAM on Sunday evening.
  • Marco Vidal started and played 90 minutes in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 1-1 draw vs. San Luis on Saturday.
  • Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 33 minutes in Puebla's 5-3 loss vs. Pachuca on Sunday.

Argentina

  • Michael Hoyos started and played 62 minutes in Estudiantes La Plata's 3-2 loss vs. Independiente on Sunday. 

For the first time ever, we will have dual MVP's.  Freddy Adu and Jose Torres.  Both scored their teams game winning goals over the weekend, and for Freddy, it was in his first ever start.  Freddy Adu hustled past his defender to get on the end of a low cross.  Jose Torres struck a dead ball from the top of the 18 and it flew past a helpless keeper.

Enjoy the rest of your Monday.  We're under a good half a foot of snow here in Lexington.