It was a landmark weekend for Americans in Europe. From Brad Friedel record-breaking performance to Jozy Altidore's impressive start for Villarreal, several Americans Abroad enjoyed success across Europe.

Friedel set a new record for consecutive matches played, with 167 in a row in the English Premier League.

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It was a landmark weekend for Americans in Europe. From Brad Friedel record-breaking performance to Jozy Altidore's impressive start for Villarreal, several Americans Abroad enjoyed success across Europe.

Friedel set a new record for consecutive matches played, with 167 in a row in the English Premier League.

Click to continue reading...

Wow.  Jozy Altidore started today for Villarreal against Recreativo Huelva and that is the nail in the potential-loan coffin.  Josmer is now unable to go on loan to another club this year and that means he will stick around with the Yellow Submarines for the rest of the season. Hopefully their striker injury woes can [. Click to continue reading...

Ameri-cuns, f*ck yeah! Guisseppe Rossi, f*ck off. Click to continue reading...

Depending where you live in this crazy world, it might be almost impossible to find soccer-related gifts in your local stores whether it's for you or your loved ones. But the Internet is a great aggregator, bringing you a treasure trove of choices. Here are ten recommended soccer items to add to your wish list [. Click to continue reading...

Oh Hey Michael Bradley BMG took on Bayern Munich today in the Bundesliga and Michael Bradley scored the tying goal for Moenchengladbach in the 80th minute.  The game finished 2-2 and Little Mikey went the full 90 and looked alright.  He seemed to be playing more offensively throughout the game and had a handful of attempts [. Click to continue reading...

Clinton Dempsey scored the leveling goal today in a 1-1 draw with Portsmouth.  He came on in the 77th minute and found the back of the net 9 minutes later off of a Nevland cross.  Fuck Yea. It's about time Clint is seeing the fruit of his hardwork pay off, and you could definitely sense [...] Click to continue reading...

One of these days, Roy Hodgson just might get the message.

The Fulham manager has shown an unwillingness to use his bench, specifically Clint Dempsey, who has looked good in the brief playing time he has gotten this season. Dempsey came off the bench on Sunday and showed once again why he should be playing more for the struggling Cottagers, scoring the equalizing goal to give Fulham a 1-1 tie vs.

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Bundesliga BOCHUM 2 BMG 2 Michael Bradley went 90 minutes in today's 2-2 draw between BMG and Bochum and he looked alright!  He was guilty of some suspect marking in the 50th minute on Bochum's first goal, as you can see below: In any case, thank god he's getting some minutes, and hopefully this is a sign of [. Click to continue reading...

Fulham FC may be sitting in 17th place in the English Premier League & may be in for yet another relegation battle. But they believe that their future is bright. Well, at least Fulham's new Nike 2008/09 third kit is! The bright yellow shirt was debuted on the club's website today.  It's unveiling featured world class modeling [. Click to continue reading...

A little rumor popped up on the web today from a QPR fansite, and it spoke of their potential interest in Dempsey.  Apparently their was almost a loan to QPR back in August, but it fell through with the injuries to AJ and some other niggles at Fulham.  They report: American international Clint Dempsey was the [. Click to continue reading...

Dempsey is listed to start up front with Zamora for Fulham today, as they take on WBA.  Amidst rumors of Clint's unhappiness on the bench, Hodgson has given the Texan a chance to prove himself and hopefully he'll seize it by the collar and put in a good performance. UPDATE: Dempsey didn't suck (but Fulham did [. Click to continue reading...

The US Roster has now been released, and the good news? It includes Jozy, Freddy, Szetela, and Davies! The bad news? Still no Cooper.  But oh well, we can't win all our battles, can we? Check out the team: GOALKEEPERS Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Troy Perkins (Valerenga). DEFENDERS Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes), Danny Califf (Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo [. Click to continue reading...

The USA announced their roster for the Cuba match, to be played at RFK Stadium on 10/11/08.  With advancement to the next round close to a sure thing, Bradley has taken a few more risks (well...I'd be happy to debate anyone on how "risky" they actually are) and called in some younger players.  I, for [. Click to continue reading...

Big, bad Brad Friedel posted another victory last weekend as he and Aston Villa kept on rolling.

Friedel was one of few bright spots for Americans Abroad last weekend. How bad were things? Consider this linep of Americans:

------------------------------Jozy Altidore-----------------------------

DaMarcus Beasley-----------Freddy Adu-------------Clint Dempsey

---------------------Michael Bradley---Maurice Edu------------------

Heath Pearce------Jay DeMerit----Jonathan Spector---Frank Simek

-------------------------------Brad Guzan------------------------------

Like that team?

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In more fun with new gossip and flighty rumors, News of the World reports today that Clint Dempsey may be planning an escape from Fulham: "...Clint Dempsey is looking to leave Craven Cottage after being frozen out of the first team by Roy Hodgson." COULD IT BE TRUE?! WHAT!? Who the hell knows, at this point publishing [. Click to continue reading...

M'gladbach fell further in the league table today, dropping a 1-0 result to Hamburg SV (they now are second to last in the table).  Michael Bradley was an unused substitute, and you have to wonder what the manager is thinking.  Gladbach is disastrous in possession and also has shown really poor tackling in the midfield, [. Click to continue reading...

This is one of those weekends that make you happy to be a soccer fan.

One of those weekends when the stars align and the European soccer schedules come together to give you a full menu of intense match-ups and can't-miss rivalries. It is Derby Weekend this weekend, with Milan, Liverpool and Barcelona treating us to the best their cities have to offer.

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Big college games, MLS East showdown and a couple of big traditional derbies. All times ET; home teams listed first

TOP FIVE GAMES

- 8 p.m. Fri., Maryland-Wake Forest, Fox Soccer Channel: Consensus top two men's teams in an ACC clash.

- 8 p.m. Fri.

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The LB/Sideline View Readers vote for the 2008 Honda Player of the Year is in. I just sent my vote over, about 11 hours before the polls close.

If our readers' opinions are any indications, a certain English-based player will win in a landslide.

There were 26 first-place votes submitted - 18 of them were for Tim Howard. Click to continue reading...

Ballots are due very soon for the Honda Player of the Year award, given to the top U.S. men's player. That's a tough call considering that we're halfway through the games that count (qualifiers).

My ballot went as follows:

1st: Tim Howard. Bob Bradley's defense-first approach relies heavily on him to be perfect.

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Clint Dempsey to ESPN. When asked if he thought he'd get an opportunity soon, Dempsey replied, "No." "What keeps me sane is the national team to go to and play," he said. "Right now I'm playing well for them, and I find confidence in that. Having two different teams to play for and being able to feel [. Click to continue reading...

Carling Cup FULHAM 0 BURNLEY 1 Dempsey had his chance today, going a full 90 minutes for Fulham as they fell to Burnley behind a late goal from Jay Rodriguez.  Despite the disappointing result, Dempsey looked strong in attack, and was praised mightily by Fulham's Official Match Report: "Clint Dempsey tried his luck on 41 minutes as Fulham [. Click to continue reading...

In a new Yanked Around installment, we're going to start doing some Player Power Rankings of guys in US pool.  These will probably happen bi-monthly and come from careful analysis of both club and country play.  So without further Freddy Adu, let's see where the guys stand. 1. Landon Donovan A hat trick against DC United this [. Click to continue reading...

After totaling just 12 minutes between them over the weekend, Clint Dempsey, Bobby Convey and Eddie Johnson hope to see increased time in the League Cup. Click to continue reading...

This morning SBI is askedreaders "if you have seen Clint Dempsey please contact SBI. He has gone missing since returning to Fulham." TOR is asking "has anyone checked the golf course?". Click to continue reading...

It's not often you get to see enterprise work in the blogosphere. But the best out there I think is Adam S. over at TiAS.

He has a great, in-depth profile on Clint Dempsey that I think all American soccer fans should check out in their spare time.

Here's a particular enjoyable passage. Click to continue reading...

Attention all U.S. national team fans, if you have seen Clint Dempsey please contact SBI. He has gone missing since returning to Fulham. At least missing on the field.

Dempsey has found a seemingly permanent place on the bench at Fulham, making him one of several key American players to ride the pine last weekend without getting a single minute of action.

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We know it's been a week or two since the most recent round of World Cup qualifiers took place, but we never quite got round to summing up all the action from outside Europe, so here's our whistle-stop tour of all you need to know, starting with...

South America
It seems we were a little hasty to cast our judgement on Brazil after the September 6th/7th matches. Click to continue reading...

It remained a busy weekend for American players in Europe today as Carlos Bocanegra put in a good 90s minutes for Stade Rennais as they drew Nancy 0-0. Rennes is off to a slow start, currently sitting in 12th place with seven points.

Down in Spain, Jozy Altidore dressed but did not play for Villarreal in their 2-1 win over Numancia. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good afternoon folks. With another week in the rearview mirror, and another weekend upon us where we can relax and enjoy some soccer, here is a look back at some stories I missed during the week, some hot topics I wanted to touch on and some recommended reading:

The San Jose-Houston Dynamo match set for this weekend has been postponed as Houston recovers from Hurricane Ike.

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English Premier League FULHAM 0 BLACKBURN 1 In what has surely been a nightmare season so far for the Texan, Dempsey was left on the bench for Fulham's 1-0 loss to Blackburn this morning.  Matt Derbyshire made the difference in the 84th minute after coming on for Treacy, shooting low and hard past Mark Schwarzer. Click to continue reading...

Trying a new format this week that hopefully won't take me so long next week. Feedback welcome. All times ET; home teams listed first

TOP FIVE GAMES

- Friday, 7 p.m.: Notre Dame-St. John's, CSTV XXL: Top-five men's teams clash in the Big East.

- Friday, 8 p.

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If you haven't seen it, the fifth and final chapter of This is American Soccer's epic Clint Dempsey mini-series "The Game Don't Care" was posted yesterday. You should definitely check it out if you haven't and if you didn't read the first four installments you should quit sleeping on it. Personally, I think it's the best & most in-depth piece on a US player this year. Click to continue reading...

(this is all five parts of the story in its entirety) Ron Isley croons from the stereo of the Audi A6 Quattro Clint Dempsey purchased from sports agency-mate Ryan Nelson. "You fool one day you're here and then you're gone." But before the beat drops, before UGK's Pimp C and Bun B have a chance to [. Click to continue reading...