YA: Weekend Joy for Americans abroad

Pouring through Yanks Abroad’s round-ups of the European matches featuring American players, I’m struck by a couple of things. One, there are Americans playing all over Europe. Two, there are far too many Americans playing in crappy leagues in Norway (etc.) or lower divisions in Germany. Thank God for Yanks Abroad! Because who has the time to ferret out Odd Grenland’s weekend results?

Here’s a Cliff’s Notes version covering those Americans who made a real impact in Europe over the weekend:

DaMarcus Beasley (Rangers) – “If it’s not Scottish, it’s crap!” Ok, maybe not. D-Beezle went the full 90 for the first time with his new club against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and according to YA “looked very much at home with his new team.” But he was also “denied early on by keeper Michael Fraser after the Scottish captain played him through into the box.” I love Beasley, but I have to admit that it isn’t the first time he’s screwed the pooch one-v-one.
INVERNESS 0-3 RANGERS.

Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege) -- Belgian Waffles? Gooch scored the game winner in Standard’s 4-1 win over Zulte-Waregem. Onyewu played the entire match, despite reports that he may be leaving the club very soon. Most recently, the Daily Mail reported that Reading are attempting to buy Onyewu and Sheffield United may also be interested. Gooch needs to get out of Belgium. England would be a better fit for his physical play, although he might struggle on the technical side with some of the quicker EPL forwards.
ZULTE-WAREGEM 1 - 4 STANDARD.

Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96) – “Vould you like to touch my monkey?” Cherundolo played the entire game in the club’s win over Regionalliga club VfR Aalen, and nearly scored in the 29th minute. Fellow American at Hannover Sal Zizzo did not play. YA doesn’t say much about how Stevie played, but it is promising to hear that he is playing at all, considering the back injury that kept him out of the Gold Cup and Copa America.
VFR AALEN 1- 3 HANNOVER 96.


Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock) – “Now’s zee time on Sprockets, ven we dance.” Pearce played the full 90 in Hansa Rostock’s 8-0 rout of Oberliga club Rot-Weiß Hasborn. YA had little to say about his performance because he had little work to do against the Hasborn minnows, but it will be interesting to see if he stays in the first team when Hansa Rostock kicks off the season next weekend against giants Bayern Munich. Stay tuned.
ROT-WEIß HASBORN 0 - 8 HANSA ROSTOCK.

Ian Joy (FC St. Pauli) – “You never forget your first girl.” Joy abounded, as Bundesliga.2 new boys shocked giants Bayer Leverkusen 1-0 in German Cup action over the weekend. Joy had a lot of work to do at left back, defending against Tranquillo Barnetta, Theofanis Gekas and Bernd Schneider. Hopefully, some top-flight clubs took notice and Joy can be extricated from the void of nothingness that is lower division German football.
FC ST. PAULI 1 - 0 BAYER LEVERKUSEN.

For a more complete description of all the Americans involved in this weekend’s action, check out Yanks Abroad.