American Abroad: Strong Showings From Bocanegra, Donovan, And Gomez

First Star: Coming off a midweek performance for the United States where he had the only goal in a 2-1 loss to Holland, Carlos Bocanegra was the difference for Stade Rennes. Bocanegra's 28th-minute goal was the only one in the game with Rennes getting the 1-0 result over Monaco at Stade de la Route-de-Lorient. Just like in Amsterdam, Bocanegra scored with a header from a freekick. Nicolas Douchez got the shutout for Rennes with one save.

Second Star: If this really was the last time we see Landon Donovan in an Everton uniform at Goodison Park, he made his half hour count. Coming on in the 70th, he scored in the 82nd for Everton's fourth goal in their 5-1 win over Hull City. Tim Howard picked up in the win. Fellow US National Team player Jozy Altidore subbed in at the 62nd-minute mark for Hull.

"It was a terrific performance," Everton manager David Moyes said. "Some of our football was excellent at times and we were very worthy of the scoreline today, I felt. I thought overall we made several chances which could have resulted in more goals.

Third Star: Herculez Gomez continues to get the job done in the Mexican Liga, scoring in his fourth straight game for Puebla, 4-1 losers to UNAM Pumas. Gomez got the opener only three minutes in, but Puebla couldn't hold off a 27th-minute equalizer and then an onslaught of goals early in the second-half.

DaMarcus Beasley started and played 64 minutes and Maruice Edu was a 74th-minute substitute in Rangers' 3-1 win over St Mirren. Lee McCulloch scored in the 32nd and 46th, with Nacho Novo bagging Gers' third in the 78th minute.

In the Premier League, Jonathan Spector went the distance for West Ham in their 2-1 loss to Bolton. Brad Friedel safely saw Aston Villa through into the semifinals of the FA Cup, beating Reading 4-2. Marcus Hahnemann was in goal for Wolves' 1-0 loss to Manchester United.

Championship, and Frank Simek played the second-half in Sheffield Wednesday's 2-0 win over Leicester. Jay DeMerit went the distance for Watford, losing 2-0 to Derby.

Bundesliga, and Steve Cherundolo returned for Hannover 96, comingon in the 89th-minute in their 2-1 win over Freiburg. Michael Bradley went 64 minutes for Borussia Moenchengladbach, who had no answers in their 3-0 loss to Borussia Dortmund. Bradley was yellow-carded in the 50th-minute at Signal Iduna Park. He subbed out in the 64th. A league down, David Yeldell was in goal for TUS Koblenz, losing 2-0 to Oberhausen.

In Portugal, Eddie Johnson was an 80th-minute substitute for Aris, drawing 1-1 with Kavala.

Mexican Liga, and Jose Francisco Torres went the distance for Pachuca in their 3-0 loss to Monterrey. Torres was yellow-carded in the 74th, one of five Pachuca players to pick up a yellow. Edgar Castillo went the full ninety for Tigres in their 1-0 win over Indios. Castillo was yellow-carded in the 15th-minute. Tigres were shown two red cards in the 2nd and 62nd, but managed to hold on for the win.

Did Not Play: Brad Guan (Aston Villa 4 - Reading 2), Kenny Cooper (Plymouth 1 - PNE 1), Dominic Cervi (Celtin 2 - Falkirk 0), Sal Zizzo (Hannover 2 - Freiburg 1), Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt 1 - Schalke 4), Luis Robles (Kaiserslautern 1 - Frankfurt 1), Matt Taylor (Frankfurt 1 - Kaiserslautern 1), Freddy Adu (Aris 1 - Kavala 1)

Injured: Oguchi Onyewy (Milan 0 - AS Roma 0), Charlie Davies (Sochaux 1 - Toulouse 0), Clint Dempsey (Fulham 0 - Spurs 0 FA Cup quarterfinal), Stuart Holden (Bolton 2 - West Ham United 1), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus 0 - FC Copenhagen 5)