Fulham youngster Luca de la Torre was the late hero for the US u20’s in its opening match, scoring an injury time equalizer in a 3-3 draw with Ecuador. Two US defensive blunders saw the Yanks trailing by two goals just seven minutes in. The U.S. faces Senegal in their second group stage match on Thursday.
BELGIUM
ENGLAND
Reading FC midfielder Danny Williams and Huddersfield Town manager David Wagner will meet at Wembley next Monday. The national team midfielder and former national team striker advanced to the Championship playoff final and the final promotion berth to the Premier League.
GERMANY
Christian Pulisic turned into Borussia Dortmund’s super-sub down the stretch and did it again in the finale against Werder Bremen. The Pennsylvania native started the second half and made an impact, including drawing a last-minute match-winning penalty in Dortmund’s 4-3 comeback win that lifted them to third in the table with an automatic berth in next year’s Champions League. The 18-year-old phenom played in all but five of the yellow-and-black’s league games and scored four times in all competitions. One match remains for Dortmund, the German Cup final against Timmy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday in Berlin.
Other headlines:
- While Julian Green didn’t get off the bench in the finale, he did make 10 appearances with a goal for VfB Stuttgart since getting transferred from Bayern Munich during the winter window. After Stuttgart’s season ending victory, Green and his new teammates will be joining Bayern in the Bundesliga next season as 2.Bundesliga champions.
- Former Colorado Rapids defender Shane O’Neill wore the captain’s arm band and led NAC Breda in a shut out against Volendam in the 2-0 second leg victory of the promotion playoffs, for a 4-2 aggregate victory. O’Neill earned team of the week honors for his performance. After finishing fifth in the regular season, NAC advances to face Eredivisie strugglers NEC Nijmegen in a home-and-away series for the right to play in the Dutch top flight next season.
- Desevio Payne might be leaving Groningen, but the South Carolina native is staying in the Dutch Eredivisie. The 21-year-old right back has signed a two-year deal with Excelsior, who finished in 12th place this past season.
- NYC loanee Mix Diskerud earned an assist on the final goal in IFK Goteborg’s 4-0 road win at GIF Sundsvall. After 10 games, Goteborg is 10th in the table, but just four points out of the European berths.
- Brendan Hines-Ike helped Orebro earn the shutout in a 0-0 draw at Halmstad.
- After scoring 10 goals for their reserves, 21-year-old striker Maki Tall made his Ligue 2 debut count. The Washington, D.C. native came off the bench and scored five minutes later for Tours senior side in a 3-2 loss to Ajaccio in their Ligue 2 finale.
- Fellow D.C. native Jordan Siebatcheu was back on the scoresheet, scoring the tying goal from the spot in Chateauroux’s 1-1 draw with Les Herbiers. The point was all they needed for the National crown and promotion to Ligue 2 next year. The 21-year-old striker scored ten goals in 15 games in his loan stint from Ligue 2 side Stade de Reims. The US has some competition, as Siebatcheu has been called up for France’s u21 team.
As I mentioned earlier, we are considering reformatting our Americans Overseas coverage into a podcast, which should make it easier to share and a bit more interactive and engaging. In addition to updates on the big stories abroad, I’d love to answer whatever questions you might have, so send them in to phil.schoen@bein.net right away!
