Several members of the US National Team returned from the World Cup Qualifying win in Guatemala in time to factor for their clubs over the weekend. Also in France's Ligue 1, Freddy Adu made his first appearance for Monaco.
By Graig Carbino
ALBANY, NY (Aug 25, 2008) USSoccerPlayers -- What’s in a name? For that matter, what’s in a country? Freddy Adu has made the transition from Benfica in Portugal to AS Monaco in France’s Ligue 1. Big news or a passing news bulletin? For me, and for Adu, it had better be big news as far as reputation and form are concerned.
I have always been one to scoff at the notion that Adu was a failure during his time in Major League Soccer. Surely a 16 year old kid who doesn’t have mind blowing success against adults twice his size cannot be deemed a total disappointment. Adu did occasionally show flashes of the brilliance that his game does have, but he didn’t show it enough to warrant consistent praise. Eventually, his frustration with the league and the media caused him to push hard for a move away from the US.
He ultimately landed in Portugal in a move that MLS suits knew would come sooner or later when he originally signed with the league. He had some nice early success for Benfica, scoring a few goals during limited substitute appearances for the Lisbon club. Three coaches later, and it was out the door once again for Freddy. It didn’t help that he missed significant time during the middle of the season helping the U-23 team qualify for the Olympics.
It is now onto the French Riviera where Adu will try to cement his place as a true European footballer. Make or break? Not quite yet, but bouncing around teams is just like bouncing from job to job. If you bounce around enough your opportunities for good jobs start to dwindle and you are just left to take what you can get. It would be disappointing for Adu to take the unfortunate path of a few recent Americans where he starts off strong, eventually fades and ends up somewhere in Scandinavia and then finally returns back to the US to salvage his career.
Now I am not saying this is Adu’s destiny, just that it could happen. Remember that he just turned 19 in June and is still really just starting to find his feet in Europe. It appears that he will be given every chance at Monaco to prove to the world just what kind of player and is, and has the potential to become. Hopefully, it works out for him.
Americans Abroad Report Card:
English Premier League: Stoke City pulled the upset of the early EPL season as they beat Aston Villa 3-2 at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday. Brad Friedel was in goal for Villa who has now conceded five goals in two games. Liam Lawrence opened the scoring for Stoke with a 30th minute penalty. John Carew responded for the villains in the 63rd minute. Ricardo Fuller gave Stoke the lead back in the 81st before Martin Laursen drew Villa level for the second time just two minutes later. The game seemed to be heading for a draw before Mamady Sidibe headed home a long throw-in in injury to snatch all three points for the home team. Brad Guzan was not named to the Aston Villa bench.
Clint Dempsey came off the bench for the second week in a row for Fulham as they shocked visiting Arsenal at Craven Cottage on Saturday. Defender Brede Hangeland scored the only goal of the match as he tapped in a Jimmy Bullard corner kick from close range. Dempsey replaced South Korean international Seol Ki-Hyeon in the 77th minute. Eddie Johnson left the club on Friday afternoon after Villa loaned him to Cardiff City.
Tim Howard returned from Guatemala City and started in goal for Everton as they beat newly promoted West Brom 2-1 over the weekend. Leon Osman and Yakubu scored for Everton before Roman Bednar pulled one back for The Baggies with an 89th minute penalty.
Jonathan Spector is still not fully recovered from injury and took no part in West Ham’s 3-nil loss to Manchester City on Sunday. 18 year old Daniel Sturridge opened the scoring for City before an Elano double sealed maters. West Ham was not helped in any way by the 37th minute sending off of midfielder Mark Noble.
The Championship: Reading were beaten 4-2 on Saturday by Charlton Athletic at The Valley. Marcus Hahnemann started and played 90 minutes for The Royals while Bobby Convey was replaced after 73 minutes of action. Matt Holland, Andy Gray, Luke Varney and Hameur Bouazza scored for the hosts. Ibrahima Sonko and Stephen Hunt tallied for the visitors.
Jay Demerit once again played the full 90 in the heart of the Watford defense as they slumped to a 3-2 defeat at Nottingham Forest on Saturday. Lee Martin, Robert Earnshaw and Nathan Tyson scored for the hosts. A Tommy Smith double was not enough to keep the Hornets afloat in this one.
Frank Simek is still out injured and played no part in Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-1 draw with Preston North End on Saturday.
Germany: Steve Cherundolo made a quick return from his red card in Guatemala to feature for Hannover 96 in their 0-0 draw with Energie Cottbus on Friday. Cherundolo began the match as a spectator before being substituted in for Arnold Bruggink in the 72nd minute. Sal Zizzo did not make the game day roster.
Neven Subotic was once again at the heart of the Borussia Dortmund defense for their 1-all draw with Bayern Munich on Saturday. Jakub Blaszcykowski scored for Dortmund before Tim Borowski leveled for the visitors. Dortmund were aided in their quest for a point by the dismissal of Mark Van Bommel after 23 minutes.
Americans David Yelldell and Matt Taylor both featured for Tus Koblenz in their 0-0 draw with FSV Frankfurt. Yelldell started in goal and kept the clean sheet while Taylor also started and was replaced by Gabriel Fernandez after 60 minutes. Grover Gibson started and went 52 minutes in RW Ahlen’s 3-0 loss to FC Augsburg.
Gregg Berhalter was back in the starting lineup for 1860 Munich on Sunday as they lost 2-1 to visiting Mainz. Berhalter was substituted after 77 minutes as 1860 pushed for a late equalizer. Heath Pearce watched from the bench as Hansa Rostock beat Alemannia Aachen 1-0.
Scotland: Rangers drew 1-1 at Aberdeen on Saturday. David Weir scored off a free kick in the 24th minute for Rangers who looked to take maximum points at Pittodrie after they were beaten there on the final day last season to kill off their title hopes. Derek Young scored on the stroke of half time to draw The Dons level. DaMarcus Beasley entered the game in the 81st minute for Kenny Miller and was right in the middle of controversy as the clock ticked toward 90:00.
Beasley actually had the ball in the back of the net during the dying seconds only for his effort to be wrongly judged offside. Maurice Edu is still in the US and may make his debut for Rangers next weekend as the face off against Celtic in the historic Old Firm.
France: Carlos Bocanegra once again started and played 90 minutes in the heart of the Rennes defense as they recorded their first Ligue 1 win of the season with a 2-1 victory over Lille. Yohan Cabaye scored what looked like the winning goal for Lille in the 34th minute. The Red and Blacks were not to be denied through as stoppage time goals from Bruno Cheyrou and Moussa Sow sealed the first three points of the season for the Bretagne club.
Freddy Adu made his Monaco debut in their 1-1 draw with Caen on Saturday. Frederick Nimani scored first for the hosts in the 52nd minute before a Jerko Leko own goal in the 75th minute gifted a point to the visitors. Adu was substituted into the match in the 87th minute for Jeremy Menez. Andrew Jacobson was once again not named to the subs bench for Lorient’s 3-1 loss to Valenciennes.
Graig Carbino covers American Abroad and writes a weekly column for USSoccerPlayers. Contact him at graiger11@yahoo.com
