Americans Abroad: Weekend rewind

You can start calling Michael Bradley a goal machine.

Bradley was the unquestioned star among Americans Abroad last weekend, netting a first-half hat-trick to lead Heerenveen to a 4-2 derby victory against Groningen on Sunday.

Bradley wasn't the only American to do well. Bobby Convey was stellar in helping Reading knock off Liverpool on Saturday. He helped set up two goals in the 3-1 victory and his resurgence has American fans feeling a little more at ease about DaMarcus Beasley's lengthy layoff due to knee surgery.

It wasn't all good news though. Carlos Bocanegra remains in the Fulham doghouse, failing to make an appearance for the second straight game. Meanwhile, new Derby manager Paul Jewell continued ignoring his two American players, choosing to leave Eddie Lewis and Benny Feilhaber off the bench for their 4-1 loss to Manchester United.

Here is how all the Americans Abroad did last weekend:

Tim Howard started and played 90 minutes, making two saves to help Everton post a 3-0 win against Fulham on Saturday.

Clint Dempsey started and played 64 minutes for Fulham.

Carlos Bocanegra  dressed but did not play for Fulham.

Jonathan Spector came on as a second-half substitute and played 14 minutes in West Ham's 1-0 win against Blackburn on Sunday.

Brad Friedel started and played 90 minutes for Blackburn, making six saves.

Bobby Convey started, played 88 minutes and had a hand in two goals to help Reading upset Liverpool, 3-1, on Saturday.

Marcus Hahnemann started and played 90 minutes for Reading, making five saves.

Benny Feilhaber did not dress in Derby County's 4-1 loss to Manchester United on Saturday.

Eddie Lewis did not dress for Derby County.

Michael Bradley scored three goals, all in the first half, to lead Heerenveen to a 4-2 win against Groningen on Sunday.

Danny Szetela dressed but did not play in Racing de Santander's 3-1 win against Mallorca on Sunday.

Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 4-3 win against Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Heath Pearce started and played 90 minutes in Hansa Rostock's 3-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 0-0 tie against Stoke on Sunday.

Frank Simek did not play on Saturday after Sheffield United's match with Coventry was abandoned due to a waterlogged field.

Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Standard Liege's 5-1 win against Royal Charleroi on Friday.

Danny Califf started and played in AaB's 2-1 UEFA Cup loss to Getafe on Thursday.

Lee Nguyen did not dress in PSV Eindhoven's 4-2 loss to Roda JC on Friday.

Gabriel Ferrari did not dress in Sampdoria's 3-2 loss to Udinese on Sunday.

Gregg Berhalter started and played 90 minutes in 1860 Munich's 3-0 loss to Osnabruck on Sunday.

Josh Wolff came off the bench and played 57 minutes for 1860 Munich.

Neven Subotic started and played 90 minutes in FSV Mainz 05's 1-0 win against Cologne on Friday.

Quentin Westberg dressed but did not play in Troyes 1-0 win against AC Ajaccio on Friday.

Comments

[Beto]

Benny and Eddy have to get the hell out of Derby soon.

[Matt]

DeMerit was Watford's captain this weekend as well.

[BK (the artist formerly known as Brad)]

It's good to see that DeMerit is back, Szetela dressed this week, and Pearce played 90 minutes.

I have to say that I've never been the hugest fan of Convey. I've always thought that Beasley is infinitely better, but it could be b/c everytime I've seen Convey, he's coming off some injury or is currently injured. I have to say that he was definitely one of the better players for Reading on Saturday. Two assists (the second one was gorgeous) and a blast that just narrowly missed the top corner. Great stuff from Convey. Maybe we wont' miss Beasley too much. Let's keep our fingers crossed that Convey and stay healthy.

[kpugs]

I wonder if McBride is guaranteed a spot in the team when he comes back in January, and if so who will suffer (Dempsey?). I read that Fulham will bring in another forward this winter, could create a log jam if McBride returns early in 2008.

[Nick G.]

Freddy Adu came in as a 2nd half sub and with his first touch had a shot just wide. Benfica added a third goal while he was in the game to win 3-1 in the Portuguese Cup.

[Dominghosa]

Fuhlam's hurting for goals so you can bet McBride will be back in the lineup. Dempsey could be paired with him, hopefully in a withdrawn role so he can show what he can really do. The target forward spot isn't a good position for him.
Also, just wanted to put his out there:
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=489717&cc=5901
England decided to deport Watford's 19-year-old midfielder Al Bangura back to war-torn Sierra Leone, even though he pays taxes and has been in England since he escaped civil war, a war that killed his father, at age 15.
He is a war refugee for crying out loud, how can England try to deport the kid? He doesn't even have ANY immediate family in Sierra Leone and who knows what awaits him there.
I hope someone in MLS is paying attention. If England does not agree to Watford's appeal and deports the kid, there has to be some way to get Bangura into the US and play in the MLS.
He is uncapped and can conceivably play for the USMNT down the road.
Keeping the guy safe in a safe country is the most important thing but he can conceivably add talent to the MLS and US Soccer pool.
What do you think Ives? And thoughts from other posters?

[Jon E]

Does anyone have any idea why Bocanegra is on the bench? He's been solid all year for Fulham, and they surely haven't looked better since Sanchez started benching him. Odd.

[emanon]

re Boca - How does one go from being captain to benchwarmer ?

[BK (the artist formerly known as Brad)]

Shoot, if you can get him here, get him here. Plus, b/c of his situation, he might not demand a huge salary. It might be a situation where he just wants to be safe. If I was a GM, I'd inquire immediately. AND I'd get on the horn with DeMerit and say, "look man, let that kid know he can come here if he needs somewhere to play. We'd love to have him."

Great call, Dominghosa!

[eastlachiva]

What in the wide wide world of sports is a gonna on in Fulham?!

Can I start the Bocanegra to Chivas USA rumors now or should I wait?

[dwbpnm]

No way bangura comes to MLS. If he does get kicked out of the UK some french team will pick him up. There will be some demand for him and Watford will still hold his rights so a transfer fee will be involved. Granted Watford can't play too much hardball but there will still be multiple bidders.

[Ed Ho]

I agree with everyone else - I'm confused at why Bocanegra would not be playing. He looked in top form and Fulham's defense has been a joke.

Also, good call Dominghosa, we may want to forward that link and suggestion to a few GMs. I'd like to think that sanity will prevail and the'll allow him to stay in the UK. A similar thing happened to several Cambodian refugees in the Seattle area - just sent back after being in the US for like 15 years.

[andy b.]

I think Bocanegra is sitting because Sanchez is just out of ideas for his miserable defense. He'll try anything, even a bad idea, apparently.
While everyone can agree Feilhaber and Lewis need to get out of Derby, I think I'd like to see Dempsey out of Fulham even more. Like Adu, he'll flourish in a situation where he can be a role player, not a feature of the offense-- now he just attracts too much attention to be effective.

[Amit]

This may sound wierd, but what happened to Zak Whitbread?

[PanchoMiguelMoralesdeConejo]

Boca has been inconsistent the entire year, (career?). Nothing to get too alarmed about at this point, but Sanchez seems to be trying to find a combination that works in the back. Boca will get another chance and hopefully his marking and distribution will be improved.

Dempsey is the one I would worry about. If you noticed his attitude leaving the pitch, where he patently ignored two of his teamates and coach, I could see him being sat just for that reason this coming week.

Kudos to Bradley junior. All of the goals were 'poacher' type goals, but he knows what to do with the ball when it is at his feet. His positioning is markedly better now than last year.

[YankatOxford]

Zak Whitbread is playing well, and scored the gamewinner in the previous fixture for Millwall.

He has been in the first team for their last 4 matches.

As for Carlos Bocanegra, he has been inconsistent this year for a Fulham leaking goals. I like Carlos, and I rate him, but his club form has been poor at times this season. I don't think he will be out of the lineup for long (Stefavonic is poor), but its certainly justifiable from Sanchez. Chris Baird has also been dropped from the XI as well.