While their commander-in-chief was delivering on a lost World Cup bet to a Belgian government official, American players across the Atlantic continued their club duties to mixed results.
We’ll begin in Germany, where Julian Green made his debut on loan to Hamburg from Bayern Munich. The 19-year-old American struggled in a 2-0 road loss to Hannover 96, giving the ball away plenty but managing to work in a couple of productive passes from the wings.
Fabian Johnson, however, will be much more pleased with his weekend, as Borussia Monchengladbach made a strong statement with a 4-1 home thumping of Schalke.
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Timmy Chandler didn’t play for his hometown club Eintracht Frankfurt in their 1-0 to Augsburg, while a Yank scored a goal down in Bundesliga 2: Andrew Wooten netted for Sandhausen in a 1-0 win over Greuther Firth.
Premier League play saw Brad Guzan and Aston Villa blank Liverpool 1-0 at Anfield, as the Villans remained unbeaten on the season and the American backstop kept his third clean sheet in four outings.
Meanwhile, Everton’s Tim Howard rebounded from his six-goal outing against Chelsea by shutting out West Bromwich Albion for a 2-0 win. Both Jozy Altidore (healthy, Sunderland) and Geoff Cameron (injured, Stoke) did not appear in their clubs’ matches.
Dropping down a division, left back Eric Lichaj and Nottingham Forest remain top of the Championship table after a 1-1 draw against American-owned title-hopefuls Derby County.
Regular starter Jonathan Spector was a substitute for Birmingham City in Brum’s 1-1 draw against Leeds United, though Brek Shea got 67 minutes in his loan debut. Shea picked up an assist when Wes Thomas took this hard pass and struck a goal.
Tim Ream went 90 minutes as Bolton blanked visiting Sheffield Wednesday but also failed to score in a 0-0 draw.
Over in Norway, Bob Bradley’s Stabaek are now top-half of the table after the American manager’s side got a goal from New York City FC loanee Andrew Jacobson in a 3-2 win over IK Start. The goal was Jacobson’s first since heading on loan.
To France, where Ale Bedoya and Nantes couldn’t seize the opportunity to surprise Lille and continue a decent start to the season. Bedoya played two-thirds of the match for the Canaries, who fell 2-0.
In the Netherlands, Rubio Rubin played 90 minutes but neither scored nor assisted. No one did, as Utrecht drew ADO Den Haag 1-0.
