by Phil Schoen

It hasn’t taken long for Emerson Hyndman to become a fan favorite for Scottish giant Rangers FC. Just days after debuting with a game-winning assist in Scottish Cup play over Motherwell, the Bournemouth loanee got his first start as the two sides squared off again in league play this weekend. The 20-year-old Dallas native helped set up Rangers first, and then opened his own account by netting a late insurance goal. After earning promotion back to the Premiership last season, Rangers stand a distant second to arch-rivals Celtic after 22 matches. Up next, a midweek trip to face Perry Kitchen, Bjorn Johnsen and Hearts, who fell 4-0 at Celtic on the weekend. Hearts were feeling the effects of a 120-minute midweek cup replay that ended in a 4-2 win over Raith Rovers. Johnsen registered a goal and an assist in the victory. He now has six goals for Hearts in all competitions. Hearts faces Hibernian in fifth round action in two weeks. Hyndman and Rangers drew Championship-side Greenock Morton for their fifth-round encounter.

The return of Bruce Arena is still awaiting its first goal after a scoreless draw against Serbia on Sunday. However, Santos Laguna left back Jorge Villafana earned his long-awaited first cap. The only foreign-based player on the roster, Villafana was called into camp late following several injuries, but came off the bench to make his national team debut. The former Chivas USA and Portland Timbers star could see more action in the U.S.’s next friendly against Jamaica in Chattanooga, Tenn. on Friday.

MOVES

For the second straight season, Gedion Zelalem is leaving Arsenal on loan. The youth national team star is headed to the Netherlands for a second half stint with VVV Venlo. The Dutch team holds a seven point lead in the second division over Ajax II with 16 matches remaining. Zelalem spent the second half of last season on loan to Scotland’s Rangers FC, helping them earn promotion to the Premiership.

While we reported on the return of American youngster Ben Lederman to Barcelona late last year, this past week it became official. The now-16 year-old playmaker fell afoul of FIFA’s rules on youth players, had originally signed on with Barcelona at the age of 11. Now, with a European passport in hand, Lederman has been given the all-clear to return to La Masia. Barcelona has assigned him to their u18 Juvenil B squad.

After two years without a club, former national team defender Oguchi Onyewu has signed with MLS’s Philadelphia Union. The 34-year-old former Standard Liege star last played three games for Charlton Athletic in the 2014/15. Onyewu played 69 times for the national team, and was part of the U.S. World Cup team in 2006 and 2010.

Onyewu isn’t the only American international interested in returning home. St. Pauli attacker Fafa Picault is also training with the Union trying to make the move to Philadelphia. The 25-year-old New York City native was part of Cagliari’s youth squad in his teens, and played the last two seasons in Germany’s 2.Bundesliga.

After five years in Russia and last season in his native Ukraine, Eugene Starikov is trying to hook up with Minnesota United. The 28-year-old attacker grew up in California and Florida, playing two years at Stetson University before starting his pro career with Zenit Saint Petersburg. He played for the U.S. under-23 team back in 2012.

There is a potential homecoming for young American attacker Brooks Lennon. Liverpool have given him permission to train with Major League Soccer’s Real Salt Lake in their pre-season camp in Arizona. He used to play there for RSL’s reserve squad, and a formal loan to the MLS team is expected soon.

After spending most of the first half of the season on the bench at Danish second division side Vejle, former Bucknell goalkeeper Michael Lansing is heading back to Denmark, but to Aalborg of the Superliga. Lansing’s only action for Vejle came back in October, a 3-0 shutout on the road at HB Koge. Aalborg have five more matches to make up four points and climb out of the relegation rounds.

And now a look at some more of what was happening on the field:

ENGLAND

An up and down weekend for Tottenham’s young American Cameron Carter-Vickers in the fourth round of the FA Cup against Wycombe Wanderers. The defender surrendered a penalty in the 36th minute that gave Wycombe a 2-0 lead at White Hart Lane. Carter-Vickers helped start the Spurs comeback with a glancing header to Heung-Min Son who volleyed home in the 60th minute of the eventual 4-3 win. Tottenham face Fulham in fifth round play next month.

The Cottagers advanced thanks in part to former national team defender Tim Ream. The 29-year-old St. Louis native had a solid performance on the back line in Fulham’s 4-1 cup win over struggling Hull City.

After eight weeks on the shelf due to injury, young American Lynden Gooch is nearing a return to action for Sunderland. Gooch began training again last week after suffering a serious ankle injury back in November. He then put in an hour-long shift for the Black Cats u23 side in a scoreless draw against Liverpool this past weekend.

Huddersfield Town had an impressive weekend with a 4-0 win at Rochdale in fourth round action of the FA Cup. The Terriers host Manchester City in the fifth round in the middle of February. Former US striker David Wagner has had an impressive second season in charge as Huddersfield are on track for a promotion playoff spot and their best season in over 40 years.

Back-to-back two goal games for Andrija Novakovich for Readings u23s. Last Monday, the u20 national teamer from Wisconsin scored twice in a 4-1 home thrashing of Birmingham City. This week, he added two more with an assist in the Royals 3-3 draw against Derby County. Novakovich now has nine goals on the season as Reading stands 10th in the Premier League 2 table.

GERMANY

In a Yank derby, Alfredo Morales came out on top of Bobby Wood as Ingolstadt beat Hamburg 3-1. With the win, Ingolstadt leaped over HSV in the race against relegation. After 18 games, Hamburg and Darmstadt are in the last two spots, which face automatic relegation. Ingolstadt is two points above HSV in the relegation playoff spot, and just one point back of Werder Bremen and safety.

Timmy Chandler helped Eintracht Frankfurt keep a clean sheet in their 1-0 road win at Schalke 04. The win lifts Eintracht to third in the table.

After sitting out for more than seven weeks with an injured Achilles Tendon, Fabian Johnson returned to action for Borussia Moenchengladbach. Johnson came off the bench in the 85th minute for to close out a 3:2 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

Meanwhile, Terrence Boyd took the next step in his injury comeback. Boyd left RB Leipzig for cellar-dwelling Darmstadt last week, joining Torsten Frings side in the race against relegation. Boyd started, making his Bundesliga debut and played 74 minutes in a 6-1 home defeat against Cologne.

Fellow national teamer Julian Green made his Stuttgart debut, playing the first half of a 1-0 win at St. Pauli. Green was just transferred from Bayern Munich as VfB stands second on goal differential in the second division.

There was almost another Yank-to-Yank derby in the 3.Liga as Andrew Wooten set up the game-winning goal as Sandhausen won 3-0 at Fortuna Dusseldorf. Jerome Kiesewetter was on the Fortuna bench, as was Justin vom Steeg in the young American goalkeeper’s first appearance on Fortuna’s team sheet. With the win, Sandhausen climbs over Fortuna to eighth in the 2.Bundesliga, five points out of the promotion spots with 16 games remaining.

In 3.Liga play, former U.S. youth player Mario Rodriguez scored his first goal for his new side in Sonnenhof Grossaspach’s 2-2 draw against his old club, Chemnitzer. Former Dortmund phenom Joe Gyau made his official debut, playing the last 11 minutes while David Yelldell was on the bench as the backup goalkeeper. The draw keeps Sonnenhof one point back of Chemnitzer, as both teams are just outside the promotion spots.

JAPAN

A new experience for former MLS star Steven Lenhart as the 30-year old striker has signed with a team from Japan’s fourth division. The former Columbus and San Jose star is joining FC Imabari, the team owned by former national team coach Takeshi Okada. Imabari won last year’s regional championship to earn promotion to the football league, and is now focusing on climbing the ladder to the J-League in a few years time.

MEXICO

Michael Orozco helped Tijuana keep a clean sheet in a 1-0 win over Cruz Azul. Paul Arriola and Joe Corona also earned the start for Xolos. The win keeps Tijuana atop Liga MX after four rounds.

A national team matchup in Liga MX as goalkeeper William Yarbrough helped Club Leon hold off Edgar Castillo’s Monterrey in a 0-0 road draw, despite playing a man down for the last 68 minutes.

Omar Gonzalez helped Pachuca earn a scoreless draw against Toluca.

These are just a few of the U.S. footballers playing overseas. We will continue to shine the light on many more in the weeks and months to come. American soccer ambassadors continue to make inroads around the globe. Feel free to add your comments below to share your thoughts, shout-outs and suggestions. We’re asking for your help to correct any errors and make sure nothing important gets overlooked. So tweet to us @beINSPORTSUSA, or to me directly @PhilSchoen and use the hashtag #beINOverseas. We’ll pass it on.