Check back here regularly from some updates from our national teamers abroad. France kicks off today and Charlies Davies (Sochaux) and Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes) will be in action. I'm trying to find a stream of the Sochaux match so I can see Davies debut. Davies should be able to step right in and start, but we shall see.
Charlie Davies made his debut today in Sochaux's 1-0 win over AJ Auxerre. He came on in the 70th for Vaclav Sverkos. Sverkros scored the goal for Sochaux in the 41st. Davies did something a couple of times in the 20 minutes he was on. I don't know what it was because I don't speak French. Carlos Bocanegra played all 90 minutes as Rennes won 3-0 over Boulogne.
SoccerByIves update from this weekend's action. Here are the highlights: Kenny Cooper scored on his debut for 1860 Munich. Troy Perkins gave up 3 goals, but his team managed to win 4-3 in the Norwegian Cup. Michael Orozco, Mario Vidal, and Edgar Castillo all played the full 90 in Mexico.
And here's video of Cooper's goal, courtesy of The Offside Rules. Something I didn't notice, he scored it on David Yelldell. Yelldell is sort of American (born in Germany, but holds dual citizenship), but is unlikely to ever appear for the US National Team.
Lots of Americans in action this weekend. SoccerByIves provided a run-down on Friday. For today, Charlie Davies was again the star as he came on in the 46th and scored two for Sochaux in just his second appearance. Bordeaux was up 3-0 at the half, and Davies was able to score in the 61st and 92nd. I tuned it just in time to see the second, which was a result of confusion as a corner broke down. I missed the first, but I'll get the video as soon as I can. In the Premiership, Tim Howard was awful as Everton lost to Arsenal 6-1. For Fulham, Clint Dempsey "assisted" Bobby Zamora's winner in the 13th. I put assisted in quotes as according to the match report on Soccernet, Dempsey took a shot that deflected off Zamora's back. Eddie Johnson did not dress, despite several strong showings in the preseason. Villa lost 2-0 to Wigan with Brad Friedel in goal, begging the question of why not go with Guzan. Guzan was in net as Villa won the Peace Cup over Juventus in penalties. Eric Lichaj did not dress, despite a strong preseason at left back. Jonathan Spector came on in the 65th in West Ham's 2-0 win over Marcus Hanhemann's Wolves. Hanhemann was on the bench. In the Championship, Jay DeMerit played a full 90 as Watford lost 2-0 against Sheffield United. Frank Simek didn't play as Sheffield Wednesday and Peterborough United drew 1-1. Moving down to League 1, Zak Whitbread did not dress for Millwall. Here's hoping that he gets transferred up a level before August 31. Jemal Johnson played a full 90 for MK Dons and was involved in several build-ups that proved unsuccessful in a 0-0 draw. Jon-Paul Pittman made an appearance in the 61st as Wycombe Wanderers lost 1-0 to Mike Grella and Leeds United. Grella did not get off the bench. Ian Joyce was the backup keeper and did not play as Southend United defeated Walsall. In Germany, Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover's 1-1 draw with Mainz. Sal Zizzo, quite unexpectedly, came off the bench in the 76th, but did not do much with his time. In the Bundesliga 2, Kenny Cooper played 72 minutes in 1860 Munich's 2-1 loss to Hansa Rostock. In Scotland, DaMarcus Beasley made the bench for Rangers' 4-1 trashing of Falkirk, but did not appear in the match. Maurice Edu is still recovering from a broken leg at the end of last season. Dominic Cervi did not make the bench for Celtic, as they won 3-1 over Aberdeen. In Denmark, Jeremiah White played a full 90 for Arthus in a 1-0 win over Copenhagen and Benny Feilhaber entered the match in the 81st. Marcus Tracey did not dress in AaB's 1-0 win over Sonderjyske. Matches in Mexico involving Jesus Padilla, Jose Francisco Torres, and Michael Orozco have not started yet.
A responder on Soccer By Ives made it sound like the first one was a beautiful goal. The second was just putting himself in the right place.
[video=youtube;wPgOFlHNBD0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPgOFlHNBD0[/video]. The first is around 2:28 and is one of the best I have seen from an American in years. First touch was brilliant and the finish was just as good. The second is around 4:59. The other thing to notice is that Davies was causing problems in other highlights as well.
I heard that. I need to find the video. Been busy recently, but I'll be updating this regularly after a couple of weeks.
http://www.constantlyoffside.com/Articles/Dempsey Goal.php Poor quality cell phone video, but its all I could find.
