DeAndre Yedlin Debuts with Spurs

The 21-year-old Seattle native had a big weekend, coming on in the 78th minute for Tottenham on Saturday to make his Premier League debut. Even though Spurs lost to Brad Guzan and Aston Villa, 1-0, it was remarkable that Yedlin was able to get on the field after he was released by the club in January to play for the national team because he wasn’t seeing minutes. It almost seemed as if he was a long-term project and his debut would have to wait until the 2015-16 season.

It was too brief of an appearance to draw any conclusions but his speed is a genuine asset. It's almost unfortunate that Tottenham released Yedlin to play with the U.S. national team because it seems as if the best thing for him would be to stay in London and try to secure followup appearances. 

banner weekend in Germany

This weekend was absolutely fantastic for American players in Germany who either had great individual games or were part of important team wins as the season draws to a close.

Fabian Johnson’s days of riding the bench at Borussia Monchengladbach appear to be over as he is established in the starting lineup. And for good reason, too. The club is now 9-4-0 in all competitions when Johnson starts for Gladbach.

Saturday’s 3-1 win over Borussia Dortmund saw Johnson go 77 minutes. Most importantly, Gladbach maintained its slim two-point lead over Bayer Leverkusen for third place and an automatic spot in next year’s Champions League group stages. Johnson is easily the American playing on the best club at the moment and it would hardly be surprising to see him take the No. 1 spot in the next ASN 100. (He is likely to get my vote.)

John Brooks also had a very strong game in Hertha Berlin's 1-1 draw against Hannover on Friday. The Berlin native anchored Hertha’s backline and played up to his potential as a mature, polished defender who made no serious mistakes, passed well out of the back, and was always in a good position to break up an attack.

Alfredo Morales seems set on doing everything he can to drag Ingolstadt over the finish line in its promotional campaign to qualify for the Bundesliga for the first time in club history. On Friday, he had an important assist to lift the Bavarian club to a crucial 1-0 win over Heidenheim, ensuring it remains in first place in the 2.Bundesliga this weekend.

Elsewhere in the 2.Bundesliga, Andrew Wooten went 89 minutes for Sandhausen in a 1-0 road win over Aue to climb to eighth place. After a slow start, Sandhausen has enjoyed a strong second half of the season

It wasn’t all perfect in Germany. Timothy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt fell to heavily favored Bayern Munich, 3-0, and Bobby Wood is back from injury but did not make it off the bench for relegation fodder Aue.

Yanks stuttering in Mexico

In Mexico, the news was not as friendly for Americans. Greg Garza, Joe Corona, and Alejandro Guido all played for Tijuana on Friday night but the Xolos lost its third game in a row and four out of five. With the 2-1 loss to Queretaro the club has tumbled out of first place and down to third.

On the bright side, former U.S international Jonathan Bornstein went a full 90 in the win for Queretaro, playingalongside World Cup champion Ronaldinho—who saw that coming? But Bornstein has been on the upswing in 2015 where he has made six starts for the 11th place Queretaro. Will Bornstein break into the ASN 100 for the next edition? Wouldn't that be something...

Elsewhere in Mexico, U.S. national team central defender Ventura Alvarado was a 70th-minute minute substitute for Club America in a 1-1 draw with Monterrey. The 22-year-old was part of a Club America backline that held Monterrey scoreless for the 20 minutes he was on the field.

Finally, Edgar Castillo and Atlas continue to tumble down the Liga MX standings with just one win over its past six league games. On Sunday, Castillo played 90 minutes in a scoreless draw against Toluca. Atlas has fallen to eighth place and could miss out on the playoffs if it drops any further.

Aron Johannsson hits stunning assist

Things have been going poorly for AZ Alkmaar recently as the team has four losses and one win over its past five games. During that period it has been outscored 19-8. That being said, Aron Johannsson has been playing well and on Sunday against Heerenveen he hit a phenomenal assist to Steven Berghuis on the game’s opening goal.


Johannsson was substituted out in the 67th minute with the game tied 2-2 but Heerenveen went on to win 5-2.

Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter.