Who’s Hot?

Jermaine Jones—Jones had a historic week for Schalke, continuing a good run of form since returning from the U.S. qualifier in Honduras. He joined DaMarcus Beasley in a small club of Americans who scored in the Champions League knockout stage with his equalizer against Galatasary giving Schalke an away draw.

He didn’t slow down when Schalke returned to league Saturday, putting a smart header across the box to provide an assist in a 2-1 victory against Fortuna Dusseldorf. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Jermaine Jones update without a pair of bookings. Yes, the occasionally reckless Jones had a yellow card in each contest.

Joe Corona—For the most part, Corona has been a bit player for the United States national team, who cap-tied the midfielder formerly eligible for two other national teams in October. However, Corona has established himself as a regular starter since Tijuana’s run to the Liga MX Apertura Championship. That victory put them in Copa Libertadores, the South American version of the Champions League, where Xolos are off to a hot start. Corona didn’t have his best game in Tijuana’s win against Millonairos but made up for it against the Bolvian club San José in a 4-0 romp Tuesday.

Corona joined fellow American Edgar Castillo among the goalscorers and had several clever passes that nearly led to even more goals for Xolos. He made way in the 58th minute and should be fresh for an important match against Atlas this weekend and continuing Liberatores next week.

Who’s Not?

Michael Orozco Fiscal—Orozco had a smooth save, pushing a close range shot away to keep Monterrey from going up 2-0 on Puebla early in the second half of Saturday’s match. The problem? He’s a defender. Orozco didn’t fool the referee and was given a straight red card. Monterrey converted the subsequent penalty and scored another to win, 3-0.

More significant is that he’ll miss a match because of the red card suspension. It seemed like Orozco had finally found a place as the regular right back in Manuel Lapuente’s side but that could be in jeopardy.

Young Yanks—The U-20s did well and qualified for the upcoming World Cup in Turkey, but those who weren’t with the team had a strange spat of injuries with Will Packwood, Marc Pelosi, and Kyle Scott all fracturing bones.

Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) is a writer based in Arizona and is ASN's CONCACAF correspondent.