Well, well. We say hello once again to our USMNT friend who is quickly becoming a fan favorite, and he hasn’t even played an important minute for the national team yet.
Young Aron Johannsson is continuing to force Jurgen Klinsmann’s hand as he bags more goals still for his club team.
The 23-year-old, who has taken Jozy Altidore’s place at the front of AZ Alkmaar’s strike force, picked up another two goals today - one on a penalty - as they drew with Feyenoord 2-2, on his birthday, no less.
His first goal, the one from open play, only saw one touch from Johannsson, but his ability to provide a target in the box and finish expertly proved the difference.
A fantastic long ball from behind the mid-line and on the left flank found Johan Berg Gudmundsson on the right side of the box, and he slammed on the brakes and cut back for Johannsson in the box for the Alabama product to skillfully and strongly thread between a defender and the keeper at a tough angle.
The birthday boy later gave AZ the lead again on a penalty in the 57th minute.
And guess what? Those were his only two shots on goal. 100% efficiency. He now has nine goals in 13 league matches, and has AZ in second place in the Dutch Eredivisie.
It’s a nice bit of redemption for him as well, admitting that he deserved to come off at halftime in Europa League play Thursday against Shakhter Karagandy. “I didn’t play well then” said Johannsson. “I’m glad to be able to prove my value to the team today.”
With the USMNT squad for friendlies against Scotland and Austria to be announced tomorrow, and a number of MLS players reportedly out of the running, there remains a large chance we will see Johannsson back in the team soon.
