In England that is….
Bobby Convey assisted on Reading’s game winning goal, to give them a 2-1 win over Burnley. Marcus Hahnemann was in goal for Reading’s fourth win of the season. Defender Danny Karbassiyoon was still out injured, but is expected to be ready for Burnley’s next game.
Jay DeMerit was on the bench for Watford’s 2-1 victory over Derby County.
So US Soccer is trying to be secretive about the players called into camp. The Bruce doesn’t seem like he is that keen on playing along. Meanwhile, “Check back in Wednesday afternoon as Arena plans to announce the full roster exclusively at ussoccer.com” over at US Soccer makes me think it is more about drumming up publicity and excitement than toying with the Mexicans. I would be very pleased if it were more about toying with the Mexicans.
At least 13 Americans playing, with 3 goals scored, and 1 recorded clean sheet. Here’s all the news:
Claudio Reyna scored Manchester City’s first goal in their 2-1 come from behind win over Portsmouth. Reyna played well in cental midfield, testing Portsmouth with several long range shots, and scored his first goal of the season when the Portsmouth keeper bobbled a cross, leaving the rebound for Reyna to hook behind him. Manchester City find themselves in second place of the EPL table.
Brian McBride scored Fulham’s lone goal and Carlos Bocanegra returned to Fulham’s defense in their first win of the season, a 1-nil victory over Everton. McBride went the full 90 and put Fulham ahead with a second half strike, and Bocanegra also went the distance in the center of the defense in his first game of the season.
Brad Friedel was in goal for Blackburn Rovers’ 1-nil loss to Aston Villa. New Villa signing Milan Baros put Villa ahead early in the first half and Blackburn was unable to find an equalizer. Jemal Johnson saw 10 minutes of action as a sub for Blackburn.
Jonathan Spector made his long awaited debut for Charlton Athletic…although it was only on the bench. Having started most of the preseason games, Spector finds himself on the bench after missing time with injury and due to Charlton’s hot start. Charlton beat Middlesbrough 3-nil.
Tim Howard sat on the bench as Manchester United beat Newcastle 2-nil.
Marcus Hahnemann recorded his fourth clean sheet of the season in Reading’s nil-nil draw with Watford. Bobby Convey went the full 90 for Reading, while Watford’s Jay DeMerit made the subsitute’s bench but did not enter the match.
Eddie Lewis started for Leeds in their 1-nil win over Norwich.
Frankie Simek started at right back for Sheffield Wednesday’s nil-nil draw with QPR.
Kasey Keller was in goal for Borussia Monchengladbach’s 1-1 away draw with Schalke. Kicker gave Keller a team best 2.5.
Gregg Berhalter went the full 90 in Energie Cottbus’ 2-1 loss to SC Paderborn 07. Kicker gave Berhalter a 4.5.
Oguchi Onyewu went the full 90 as Standard Liege defeated La Louviere 3-2. Standard find themselves in a tie for first place with Anderlecht.
DaMarcus Beasley celebrated his return from injury with a goal in PSV Eindhoven’s 3-nil win over Roda JC. Beasley came on as a sub and played the final 33 minutes of the game. He buried the ball in the back of the net with his right foot after a low cross had rebounded off the goalie.
John O’Brien was still out through injury as ADO Den Haag defeated Heerenveen 1-0 with a 90th minute goal.
Cory Gibbs missed Feyenoord’s 2-1 win over Ajax because of injury.
Earthquakes beat rivals Galaxy in a classic MLS match-up. Donovan had a nice, strong goal from a outside the box rocket. Good game to watch, a little fiesty, but entertaining. Chris Albright had a pretty decent game, Califf scored the GW for the Earthquakes.
BTW, I saw that new commerical… “Talk about soccer for 2 seconds…” It is really good, finally a good soccer commerical that gets you pumped. About time.
Less than a week until Mexico…
In games played Tuesday and Wednesday:
EPL:
Claudio Reyna started in central midfield and went the full 90 in Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Reyna’s former side Sunderland. Reyna’s clever ball in tight space freed Joey Barton, who found a streaking Darius Vassell, and Vassell put Man City up 1-0. Later, Reyna’s worm burner from outside of the box forced a good save from the Sunderland keeper. With their win, Manchester City remains undefeated with 2 wins and a draw, and founnd themselves at the top of the table (although it was only for a short time).
Brian McBride started in Fulham’s 4-1 defeat at the hands of Arsenal. McBride was not involved in Fulham’s first goal, but did have a couple of good chances which he could not finish, and was subbed out in the 64th minute. Fulham gave up 4 unanswered goals after Claus Jensen’s opening strike. Carlos Bocanegra continued to be sidelined by a knee injury.
Brad Friedel earned his first cleansheet of the season in Blackburn Rovers’ nil-nil draw with Tottenham Hostpur. Young American striker Jemal Johnson saw 2 minutes of action at the end of the game.
In Carling Cup action:
Frankie Simek started at right back for Sheffield Wednesday. Wednesday beat Stockport City 4-2 after extra time. Simek received another yellow card for his efforts.
After being mysteriously absent from his side’s weekend league game, Jay DeMerit returned to Watford’s starting lineup for their Carling Cup match with Notts County. Watford won 2-1, and DeMerit was subbed out in the 90th minute.
Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann both made the bench, but were rested for Reading’s 3-1 win over Swansea in the Carling Cup after extra time.
Eddie Lewis was rested during Leeds’ 2-0 Carling Cup victory.
In Champions League play:
Even with a 3-0 lead on aggregate, Tim Howard still found himself on the bench for Manchester United’s Champions League qualifier against Debrecen. Man Utd won 3-0 to advance to the Champions League group stage.
Zak Whitbread was not apart of Liverpool’s matchday squad. Liverpool lost 1-0, but porgressed to the group stage of the Champions League on 3-2 aggregate. Manager Rafa Benitez later confirmed that Whitbread was amongst a group of players not playing to allow them to rest injuries.
What a big weekend for Yanks Abroad! At least 9 Americans starting, with 3 goals and 2 shutouts for American players.
In Coca-Cola Championship action:
Bobby Convey continued his incredible play with a brace in Reading’s 5-nil victory over Milwall. Convey scored his first off a 70 yard solo run, then got his second off a free kick. Convey had rung an earlier free kick off the post. Goalie Marcus Hahnemann made a couple big saves to preserve his third clean sheet of the season.
Eddie Lewis scored Leeds’ first goal, and his first in a Leeds shirt, in their 2-o victory over Wolverhampton. An attack down the right was crossed along the ground for Lewis to fire home into a fairly empty net.
Frankie Simek started and went the full 90 for Sheffield Wednesday in their 2-1 loss to Ipswich.
Watford defender Jay DeMerit was an odd exclusion from the final 16 in their 3-0 win over Burnley. Coming off a strong Man of the Match performance, DeMerit was not included in the match day squad for what manager Adrian Boothroyd was quoted as saying were “tactical reasons.” Strange, but we’ll see if this really was a tactical change or spells longer term trouble for DeMerit. Daniel Karbassiyoon is still out injured for Burnley.
English Premier League play:
In a matchup of two Americans, Brad Friedel’s Blackburn Rovers defeated Brian McBride’s Fulham 2-1. After Blackburn went ahead with a nice goal from Norwegian winger Morten Gasmt Pederson in the first half, McBride drew Fulham level in the 49th minute. McBride cut in front of Rovers defender Andy Todd to get the faintest of touches on a Niclas Jensen free kick and redirect it into Friedel’s net. A cracker from Turkish midfielder Tugay put Blackburn ahead for good later on in the second half. Carlos Bocanegra did not make the match day squad, as he is still nursing a knee injury. Blackburn striker Jemal Johnson made the subs bench but did not see action.
Claudio Reyna started in midfield and went 72 minutes in Manchester City’s 2-1 win over Birmingham City.
Tim Howard was on the bench for Manchester United’s 1-0 victory over Aston Villa. Ruud Van Nistelrooy added his second goal of the early season to give United the slim win.
Neither Charlton defender Jonathan Spector nor Liverpool defender Zak Whitbread saw action over the weekend. Spector is still nursing a hamstring injury while Whitbread just did not make Liverpool’s final 16.
Belgium:
Oguchi Onyewu went 90 in Standard Liege’s 2-0 victory over St-Trond.
Germany:
Kasey Keller posted a clean sheet as Borussia Monchengladbach beat fifth divison side FC Kutzhof 3-0 in the first round of the German Cup.
Holland:
DaMarcus Beasley, John O’Brien and Cory Gibbs were all again unavailable for week 2 of the Dutch league.
All three of us made it out to Hartford for the game against Trinidad and Tobago, which the US won 1-0. It was a frustrating game in that the first goal was scored in the second minute and after that we couldn’t finish on any of our chances. Onyewu almost scored off a corner and LD had a few great chances but it just wasn’t there. T & T did have some chances in the second half, but the score should have been easily 4-0. The ref was pretty bad, not only on some questionable fouls (not calling the elbow on Twellman comes to mind) but his linesman called possession the wrong way a couple of times.
The crowd was good and mostly American. I noticed everybody gave McBride a standing ovation when he was subbed out, as well as Convey. . .Good fans.
We got the three points that were needed, now its time to focus on Columbus and Mexico.
The summer is almost over and that means the return of the Barclay’s English Premier League. No fewer than 7 Americans should see action in the EPL this year, with 3 of them starting in the opening weekend:
In the first game of the new season, Tim Howard sat on the bench (won’t be the first time we see that) as Edwin Van Der Sar started in Manchester United’s 2-0 victory over Everton. Ruud Van Nistelrooy scored late in the first half and Wayne Rooney added one early in the second off a Joseph Yobo giveaway.
With their full-time captain injured, Claudio Reyna captained Manchester City in their nil-nil draw with West Bromwich Albion. Reyna went 90 minutes in the center of midfield, and had a nice 20 yard lefty effort tipped wide by West Brom’s Chris Kirkland.
Brian McBride started up top for Fulham in their nil-nil draw with Birmingham City. In a game where neither side could finish their few chances, McBride had a promising display. He worked hard for 90 minutes, winning the majority of balls in the air, and did well to flick on to and bring the other players into the attack. McBride played Luis Boa Morte in for Fulham’s best chance, and he even nodded home a beautiful header but was judged to be a few inches offside. Carlos Bocanegra has a slight injury and did not make the matchday squad.
Brad Friedel started in goal as Blackburn Rovers lost to newly promoted side West Ham United 3-1. After scoring the first goal, Blackburn has an uncharacteristically poor defensive display. Friedel had little chance on the three goals as Blackburn was guilty of giveaways and poor defensive play.
Zak Whitbread was on the bench for Liverpool but did not enter the game in the team’s nil-nil draw with Middlesbrough. Captain Steven Gerrard had several good chances but could not put any of them away against a Middlesbrough team that was down to 10 men after a Ugo Ehiogu straight red card.
Jonathan Spector was unable to take part in Charlton Athletic’s 3-1 victory over newly promoted Sunderland due to a hamstring injury.
Results from games over the weekend:
Bobby Convey excelled in Reading’s 3-0 win over Preston. Convey assisted on two of Reading’s goals and was involved in the third. All reports raved about Convey’s MotM and best performance in a Reading shirt. Marcus Hahnemann started in goal for Reading and made some key saves to preserve his second shutout of the season.
Eddie Lewis started on the left wing in Leeds nil-nil draw with Luton.
Frankie Simek goes 90 minutes at right back in Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to Southampton.
Jay DeMerit went the full 90 in the center of defense in Watford’s 3-1 win over Cardiff.
Oguchi Onyewu started for Standard Liege at the heard of the defense. Standard scored twice in the 90th minute to record a 2-1 victory over Zulte-Waregem.
Kasey Keller started in goal for Borussia Monchengladbach’s late 1-1 draw with Wolfsburg. Kicker rated Keller a 3 (average).
Brian West scored his third goal of the year in Fredrikstad’s 1-1 draw with Ham-Kam.
Results from mid-week games:
Tim Howard and Zak Whitbread sat on the bench for Manchester United and Liverpool, respectively, in the first leg of their teams’ Champions League qualifiers. United beat Hungarian side Debrecen 3-0, while Liverpool defeated CSKA Sofia 3-1.
Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey started in Reading’s 2-0 win over Brighton. Convey was subbed off in the second half, but both received high marks for their performance, with Hahnemann recording his first clean sheet of the season.
Eddie Lewis went the full 90 in Leeds 2-1 loss to Cardiff City.
Frankie Simek started at right back for Sheffield Wednesday in their 1-1 draw with Hull City. Simek played well even after picking up an early yellow card.
Jay DeMerit started in the center of defense for Watford, who came from behind to draw Plymouth 3-3.