Nov 28, 2007

B-List U.S. Players In Europe

We all know about Brad Friedel and Freddy Adu and all the guys on Fulham, but there happen to be many U.S. soccer players plying their trade in Europe whom we have not heard of. Yanks Abroad has a pretty definitive list--but it isn't exhaustive. Mine isn't either, but I combed the depths of various resources (www.transfermarkt.de, mainly) and came up with some additional names you probably haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. Some of these guys are U.S. citizens in name only (meaning they have no attachment to the U.S., have never played here and visited as tourists only, if at all) but that's good enough for us.

Stephen Basso
Current team: SV Darmstadt Reserves
League: Unclear
Position: Defense
Age: 20
Info: Dual citizen U.S./Italy.

Adin Brown*
Current team: Aalesunds FK
League: Tippeligaen (Norwegian top flight)
Position: Goalie
Age: 29
Background: Had stints at New England Revolution and Tampa Bay Mutiny before heading to Norway.

Max Ian-Josef Cream

Current team: SV Meppen
League: Oberliga Nord (German fourth division--I think)
Position: Left wing.
Age: 20
Background: Born in Whittier, Calif.,. to an American mother and English father. Also had stints at Dundee United and Dumferline Athletic in Scotland and Werder Bremen and Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany. Has scored twice in 11 games so far this year.

Steven Cue

Current team: Eintracht Frankfurt Reserves
League: German lower (lower) division
Position: Defense
Age: 20
Background: Played for some obscure German team before being signed by Frankfurt.

Petros Filippiakos
Current team: FK SIAD Most
League: Gambrinus Liga (Czech Republic top flight)
Position: Forward
Age: 24
Background: Previously at Olympiakos. Capped at the U21 level for the U.S.

Brede Hangeland
Current team: FC Copenhagen
League: SAS Ligaen (Danish top flight)
Position: Defense
Age: 26
Background: Was actually capped by Norway, but he also has U.S. citizenship. A lot of good that will do us now.

Marc Heider

Current team: Werder Bremen Reserves
League: Regionalliga Nord (German third division)
Position: Left wing
Age: 21
Info: Born in Sacramento, Calif. but moved to Germany soon thereafter.

Fabian Johnson
Current team: 1860 Munich
League: 2nd Bundesliga
Position: Defense/Midfield
Age: 19
Info: Dual citizen U.S./Germany. Has played for both countries' youth international teams, according to transfermarkt.de. Appears to play regularly for 1860's first team.

Charles Kazlauskas*
Current team: TOP Oss
League: Jupiler League (2nd Dutch division)
Position: Defense
Age: 25
Info: Played at Fortuna Sittard, another Jupiter League team, before.

Lee Nguyen*
Current team: PSV Eindhoven Reserves
League: Unclear
Position: Midfield
Age: 21
Background: Born in Vietnam but has played for U18 U.S. team, apparently. His Dutch club discovered him at the U18 world cup, according to transfermarkt.de.

Heath Pearce*
Current team: Hansa Rostock
League: Bundesliga
Position: Left back
Age: 23
Info: Played at University of Portland and some Danish team.

Bernard Quainoo
Current team: HFC Haarlem
League: Jupiler League (Dutch 2nd division)
Position: Striker
Age: 20
Background: Came through the PSV Eindhoven youth system. Has three goals in nine games this year. Same agent as Claudio Reyna, Cobi Jones, Ante Razov, Brian McBride, Eddie Lewis and Brad Friedel.

Marcus Storey
Current team: TuS 1906 Hueslingen
League: Oberliga Nord (German fourth division)
Position: Midfield
Age: 25
Background: Chicago native. Played at University of North Carolina. Played at Columbus Crew and Houston Dynamo.

Brian West*
Current team: Fredrikstad FK
League: Tippeligaen (Norwegian top flight)
Position: Forward
Age: 29
Background: Was at Columbus Crew for four years before moving to Norway.

Daniel Williams

Current team: SC Freiburg U19
League: German junior league
Position: Defense
Age: 18
Info: Dual citizen U.S./Germany. Played youth soccer at Karlsruhe.

David Yelldell*

Current team: Stuttgarter Kickers
League: Regionalliga Sued (German third division)
Position: Goalkeeper
Age: 26
Info: Dual citizen U.S./Germany. Had a stint at Blackburn Rovers?

*I lied. These guys are on Yanks Abroad. My bad

3 comments:

  1. PSV discovered Nguyen at the 2005 U-20 World Cup. There actually is no such thing as an U-18 WC :D

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  2. Luis Robles is the back up keeper for Kaiserslautern and has played some games for the reserve team.

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  3. Petros Fillipakos is actually Peter Phillipakos of Big Soccer-Yanks Abroad fame. Do a search of his name in the Yanks Abroad forum for some seriously hilarity...

    Heath Pearce started for the US in the last friendly and plays in 1 Bundesliga, so he might not be B-list...however since I prefer both Jonathon Bornstein and Jonathon Spector over him at left back, and the fact that Pearce isn't getting time at his club, perhaps this position is warrented.

    ReplyDelete