Americans Abroad (R)

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Jozy Altidore scored his first
goal for leader AZ in the Dutch Eredivisie since August, striking with
the third goal in a 3-0 win over ADO on Sunday. The goal was his fourth
in league play and eighth overall for AZ, which holds a six-point lead
after 12 games.

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In 12 Eredivisie matches, he’s already scored more goals (four) than he
did in a combined 43 games for Villarreal, Hull City, and Bursaspor
spread over three European seasons. He scored one goal apiece for each
club; not counted is a loan to Xerez, for which he didn’t play at all.

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Midfielder Charles Renken is back in a U.S. national team camp. The
technical midfielder seems like he has been around awhile - he was in
Residency in 2008 - but he's still only 17 and figures to be a part of
Tab Ramos' player pool during the U-20 cycle. After coming back from
injuries, Renken is making inroads at Hoffenheim, where he's currently
playing with the U-19 team.

News on a former FC Dallas great:

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Brondby IF won its first game since early October in shocking fashion
this past weekend, and it can partially thank Clarence Goodson for
that.
Along with going the distance and limiting first-place FC Copenhagen
to one goal, Goodson scored the opener in Brondby's 2-1 victory on
Sunday. The goal, which came off a headed effort following a free kick,
was the U.S. international's first of the season.

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Glasgow Rangers say U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra could be sidelined
for two weeks because of a hamstring injury that caused him to miss
Sunday's 1-0 defeat to Kilmarnock.

Rangers manager Ally
McCoist described the injury as "small tear'' to the muscle, adding "it
was enough to force him out (Sunday) and we don't know about next
weekend yet.''

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The American forward scored the lone goal in AZ's 5-1 defeat to
Heerenveen. Altidore leveled the score in the 20th minute of the match,
when he played a give-and-go with a teammate, the forward cut through
two defenders before firing in the goal. Despite the defeat, Altidore's
AZ remain in the pole position in the Dutch Eredivisie due to
second-place PSV Eindnhoven's loss to Feyenoord.

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Some more good news came for American fans in Aston Villa's 1-0 loss
to Manchester United. Brad Guzan made his first Premiership appearance
of the year and second since joining the club in 2008 in the match after
he replaced an injured Shay Given in the first half. Guzan made two
saves and did not allow a goal against United's star-studded attack in
52 minutes of action.

Another goalkeeper who got rare minutes was Diego Restrepo. The
23-year-old filled in for America de Cali's suspended incumbent and
recorded a cleansheet in the club's scoreless draw against Once Caldas
in the first leg of the quarterfinals. Restrepo's appearance, which
included three saves, was his third in Colombia's Categoria Primera A
this season.

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The Texas native did it again on Monday, scoring an 85th-minute
winner for Fulham in a 1-0 victory over Liverpool. Minutes after hitting
the crossbar with a bending effort from the top of the area, Dempsey
found himself in perfect position to slot home a spilled rebound by Pepe
Reina from close range.

With the goal, Dempsey set a new standard for Americans in the
Premier League. He entered the match tied with Brian McBride with 36
Premiership goals but now owns that record for his own.

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The time for Brad Guzan to prove his worth at Aston Villa has finally come.

The American goalkeeper is slated to become the Villans' starter for the next month [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. Guzan replaced Given in the first half of Saturday's 1-0 loss to Manchester United and did not allow a goal.

Guzan's first-ever start in the Premiership will come on Saturday against Bolton Wanderers.

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"You get a player like a Landon Donovan, who in my opinion chose to take
the easy road and stay in the States," Friedel told the BBC's World
Service on Wednesday. "It's much harder to ply your trade over here.
(The English Premier League) is the best league in the world to play in,
and this is where (Dempsey) got better, in my opinion. This is where he
became one of the best the United States ever produced."

"The profiling in the States sometimes is a lot more to do with
sponsorships than what you actually do on the field," Friedel said. "And
listen, I’m not trying to take anything away from Landon, because
Landon has been absolutely magnificent for the U.S. as well. I’m just
saying he gets a lot more notoriety because it’s sponsorship-driven over
there."

I'm not sure if Friedel used his American voice or British voice.

Another American head coaching candidate for a head job abroad...

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Afshin Ghotbi, an Iranian-American former assistant coach with the
South Korean team and current head coach of the Japanese club Shimizu
S-Pulse, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate.

Ghotbi, who is also the former Iran head coach, said, however, that he is concentrating on his job in Japan.

"I
am honored to be mentioned as a possible candidate to be the next coach
of the South Korea team," Ghotbi said by telephone from Japan. "I have
happy memories of my time in Korean football and have strong affection
for the players and fans."

"At the moment however, I am
fully focused on ending the season with a trophy for S-Pulse in the
Emperor's Cup. I have worked very hard building foundations over the
past year and hope to reach the club targets next season."

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Gomez is joining a Santos Laguna side stacked at forward, but a team
that could see some of their attacking stars depart in the winter
transfer window.

The 2010 U.S. World Cup veteran has scored 22 goals in two full seasons
in the Mexican First Division, making him one of the best goal-scorers
in the league during that time frame.

First American to be named manager of a European club!

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Former U.S. national team defender Gregg Berhalter has been named the new manager of Swedish club Hammarby, [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].
The hiring is a historic one in American soccer as Berhalter becomes
the first American-born former U.S. national team player to be hired as a
manager of a team in Europe.

Berhalter, 38, recently retired as a member of the MLS Cup-winning
Los Angeles Galaxy, where he served as a player-coach. Berhalter enjoyed
a lengthy playing career in Europe that saw him enjoy stints in the
Netherlands and Germany.

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In a column entitled "The nastiest player in German soccer," Stefan Giannakoulis of n-tv [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] Jones stomped on Reus' foot with the intent to injury him, and the German federation (DFB) will have to take action.

In his Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung blog entitled "Lousy, lousier, Jermaine Jones," Peter Koerte [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Jones' act was deliberate and not taken in the heat of the moment.
"Basically, he doesn't even belong in the Bundesliga," said Koerte, who
added that he had never seen anything so deliberate before.

Grown Ass Man news -- joining Puebla USA.

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Sebastian Lletget hasn't had the easiest of times since signing with
West Ham United on his 18th birthday, but things are starting to look
up for the U.S. Under-23 men's national team midfielder.

After a rough first season in England which was plagued by pesky
injuries, Lletget is beginning to find his stride at both the club and
international level. The 19-year old has been called into both U.S. U-23
team camps since Caleb Porter was appointed head coach, and Lletget
believes he is on the brink of taking the next step in his development
by dressing for the Hammers for the first time in his career.

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There are more issues to be resolved as the MLS Cup and Supporters’
Shield winner prepares for 2012, with a mid-January starting date -- the
earliest in league history -- compressing a short offseason still
further. The departures of Juninho and Donovan Ricketts and, most likely, David Beckham need to be incorporated, and a loan of Landon Donovan to Everton has generated much media attention without significantly troubling his head coach.

“I’m all for it if he wants to do it and he’s healthy,” said Arena
during the week before Christmas. “He had a difficult season especially
the last three or four months. He dealt with some injuries, wasn’t in a
good rhythm, and started picking it up near the end. Now he actually
feels like he’s rested and has something left in him. Hopefully that’s
the case.”

gwar0127 wrote:

Grown Ass Man news -- joining Puebla USA.

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Over-Grown Ass Man?

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