New NIke Ad

Saw this posted on Steven Goff's Washington Post blog. It's the new Nike ad. Enjoy.

YA: Hahnemann over Howard, Berhalter brace

A piece of YA news that I didn’t get a chance to blog about was Eddie Lewis’ transfer from crappy Leeds to less crappy Derby County. Talk about a lateral move. Derby got spanked by Tottenham 4-0 and neither Lewis nor Benny Feilhaber got any PT. Here’s a Cliff’s Notes version covering the rest of the Americans who made an impact in Europe over the weekend:

Americans in England
Reading 1 - 0 Everton
Marcus Hahnemann earned the 1-0 shut out over Tim Howard’s Everton in a match that saw the return of Bobby Convey for Reading. Convey played the final 11 minutes for goal scorer Stephen Hunt. Both American keepers performed well in the contest, although Hahnemann nearly surrendered the equalizer when he was caught off his line but Andy Johnson’s shot hit the woodwork.

Fulham 1 - 2 Middlesbrough
Brian McBride injured again. Click here for the post. Carlos Bocanegra played the full 90 and Clint Dempsey came on in the 25th minute.

Americans in Germany
1860 Munich 3 - 1 Kaiserslautern
Gregg Berhalter scored two goals and Josh Wolff added an assist in 1860 Munich’s thumping of Kaiserslautern. Berhalter’s first goal came in the 55th minute when he headed in a Danny Swarz free kick. Wolff dished the game-winning goal to Berkant Göktan. Berhalter added the third goal from the penalty spot. Maybe we should have been playing Berhalter at forward.

Americans elsewhere
Standard Liege 4 - 1 Cercle Brugge (Belgium)
Oguchi Onyewu played solidly for Standard Liege over the weekend, anchoring the defense in a 4-1 rout of Cercle Brugge. So much for Dr.. Evil’s homies in Brugge.

Haugesund 6 - 1 Nybergsund
Ex-Seattle Sounder Can Weaver scored a hat trick for Haugesund in their route of lower division Nybersund (try saying it like Jerry Lewis, it’s fun – NyBERsund, nice lady). Weaver will face fellow American Nate Borcher and his club Odd Grenland in the semifinal of the NM Cup. The 24-year-old Weaver scored 18 goals for Seattle last year and was Rookie of the Year. Why is he in Norway and nor in MLS, I wonder?

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

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.