Alejandro_zendejas_-_asn_top_-_club_america_-_liga_mx_final_-_12-15-24
Americans abroad

Zendejas wins Liga MX title, Reyna scores, Downs continues rise, Robinson's gem, and more

Gio Reyna returned to the scoresheet for the first time in seemingly ages, Antonee Robinson had a gem, Damion Downs continued his breakout season, and Alex Zendejas won Liga MX. ASN's Brian Sciaretta breaks everything down for you in the world of Americans abroad. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
December 16, 2024
12:00 PM

THIS WEEKEND in the world of Americans abroad, we saw an American lift silverware in the Liga MX final, Antonee Robinson turn in a gem, Gio Reyna score, and Damion Downs continue a rise which has him one of the most interesting young Americans in Europe this season.

With that said, let’s get right into it.

 

Yanks in Liga MX

 

Alex Zendejas, 26, lifted yet another trophy for Club America after the club defeated Monterrey in the Liga MX Apertura final. Sunday night’s second leg finished 1-1 in Monterrey while Club America won the first leg at home in Mexico City 2-1 last week.

The USMNT winger was brilliant in both legs of the final and he either scored or assisted in every one of the team’s goals – giving him great evidence to be the best player in the final.

His assist from a header in the second leg put Monterrey into deep trouble and it paved the way for a Club America win.



Predicting the future for Zendejas is tough. He’s doing very well at Club America and the big Mexican teams pay well and offer a great career for players. That is one reason why it has been difficult for European teams to pry young Mexican players away.

Zendejas is happy and accomplished. But eventually he might have to make a decision if he wants to push for something different.

But when looking at the celebrations in Mexico City last night, it’s an easy place to love.


 

Yanks in the Premier League

 

Antonee Robinson is having the best season of his career and on Saturday he had his best game, perhaps of his career. The USMNT left back turned in two assists for Fulham in an impressive 2-2 away draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

His second assist in the 76th minute was a work of beauty both in the pass and the run into the box.



It wasn’t just his assists that made him so good. Robinson was accurate with his crosses, he was 3/5 on his tackles, he was 7/13 on his ground duels. He covered a ton of ground to be effective on both sides of the ball.

Fulham moved to eighth with the result.

Exactly how good has Robinson been this season? With each passing week, he strengthens his grip to be the Premier League Team of the Season for left back. The amount of better left backs anywhere in the world (based just on this season) can be counted on one hand. While most correctly list Christian Pulisic as the best American player in the game, Robinson is actually not far behind.

Beyond the numbers, Robinson is now wearing the armband for Fulham which reflects yet another important characteristic that cannot be measured in statistics. His teammates and coaches trust him to be a leader in big games. This is a critically important strength, especially for the U.S. national team as the once youthful core of the team now heads into their prime years. There needs to be leadership and accountability. Pulisic can’t do it alone. Robinson is another important part of the equation.

 

Tyler Adams returned to action and came off the bench for Bournemouth against West Ham in the 68th minute. Adams was in an unfortunate situation in the 86th minute when the score was still 0-0. A ball bounced up and hit him in the arm. VAR ruled for a penalty and West Ham converted. Fortunately, Adams was bailed out as Bournemouth equalized in the 90th minute for a 1-1 draw and a point which saw them end the day in sixth place.

Adams was decent in his shift and the handball was just a bit of tough luck. He was still solid with his passing and in his defensive positioning.

Crystal Palace impressively defeated Brighton & Hove 3-1 away on Sunday. For Palace Chris Richards was a late scratch in this game. Matt Turner was unused as the backup keeper. The big win for Palace will only make it harder for all those on Palace who didn’t play to break into the team for meaningful minutes. Palace moved to 15th place with the win while Brighton & Hove Albion, managed by American-born Fabian Hurzeler, fell to ninth place with the loss.

 

Yanks in the Championship

 

Sitting in first place in the Championship, Leeds United played to a disappointing 1-1 draw away to Preston North End on Saturday. Leeds needed a stoppage time equalizing own goal to secure a point. Brenden Aaronson has been playing a ton for Leeds lately, but in this game, he only played 65 minutes before being subbed out. The USMNT attacking midfielder had a typical performance for him, he had energy, he was part of a dangerous chance in the 24th minutes but missed a close chance wide from a tight angle. Sometimes he has difficulties connecting with his teammates, but some of that is his teammates not noticing him in dangerous positions. Despite the result, leads is in a very good position at this point in the season. 

American midfielder Duane Holmes, 30, played the final 28 minutes for PNE but was overall very quiet as his team rose to 16th place with the point.

Haji Wright remains out with an ankle injury, and he missed Coventry City’s 2-1 win over Hull City on Saturday to move into 15th place. 

Aidan Morris is nearing his return for 6th place Middlesbrough but was still not back for Saturday’s 1-0 win over Millwall. 

Lynden Gooch, 28, proved to be a critical sub when he assisted on Stoke City’s stoppage time equalizer in a 2-2 draw with Cardiff City. The Santa Cruz native entered the game in the 61st minute and delivered the dramatic assist off a free kick. Stoke end the weekend in 17th place. For Gooch, the goal is about breaking into the starting 11 for Stoke as he is finally back from his knee injury and looks healthy. 

Josh Sargent remains out for Norwich City, which suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Brunely to fall to 12th place. The teams looks a long way off from even being able to compete for promotion heading into the busy Christmas season.

 

Yanks in the Bundesliga

 

Gio Reyna, 22, finally enjoyed a spark in his club career. On Sunday, Reyna earned his first start of the season for Borussia Dortmund (and first start in 14 months in the Bundesliga) and in the opening minute of the second half, scored his first club goal in 582 days to give Dortmund a 1-0 lead on Hoffenheim.  



The goal was well taken as Reyna controlled a poor Hoffenheim clearance and sent it into the top of the net from just inside the box.

Reyna was eventually subbed out in the 77th minute with Dortmund up 1-0. He was not on the field for Hoffenheim’s late equalizer that disappointed the crowd. The 1-1 finale sent Dortmund into 8th place.

As for Reyna, the honest take is that he was still rusty/average apart from the goal. What the goal did was show that Reyna has enough talent to still be dangerous even when he’s not at his best. If can use the goal to boost his confidence moving forward, he might finally start to see his career move forward. He’s missed so much time that he has stalled. Moving forward is a process that takes time, but this was a step in that direction.

When looking at Americans abroad, most eyes are on the national team’s top players. But Joe Scally is now flying under the radar and is quietly having a very, very good season. Last season in 2023/24, Scally struggled until the final six weeks of the season when he started to take off. That momentum has carried into this season where he has been consistently solid.

Such was the case on Saturday when Scally went 86 minutes for Borussia Monchengladbach in a 4-1 win over Holstein Kiel to move into 11th place (the Bundesliga table remains remarkably tight as only three points separate M’Gladbach and third place RB Leipzig).

 

Scally, 21, was not flashy but he was just consistently good with his passing and on the defensive end where no one really got past him, and he won most of his duels. In total, he had 69 touches and was 45/50 in his passing.

Less than a year ago, there were reports that M’Gladbach were looking to move past Scally at right back because he wasn’t developing quickly. That was then, this is now. The Long Island native has grown into a dependable Bundesliga right back who coaches can trust to help the team win week in and week out.

Jordan Pefok came into the game in the 56th minute on Saturday as his Union Berlin team played to a disappointing 1-1 home draw with last-place Bochum, who earned just their third point of the season. Bochum also was reduced to 10 players in just the 13th minute due to a red card. Pefok had just 7 touches but missed a big chance to score in the 86th minute when he got on the end of a corner but sent the header wide. Pefok, 28, still is yet to score this season and it continues to be a very tough run for him. 

This game had an unfortunate ending as Bochum's keeper was unable to continue after being hit in the head with an object from the crowd. Having used all their subs, the team's made a deal to end the game in a draw. It was the ugly side of the game that marred the weekend's games in Germany. 

Kevin Paredes is injured until 2025 and his Wolfsburg team lost away to Freiburg 3-2 on Friday to fall to sixth place. 

U.S U-20 central defender Noahkai Banks was not in the squad for Augsburg in a 2-0 loss at home to Bayer Leverkusen. He is still awaiting his first team debut for the 13th place team. 

Lennard Maloney missed Heidenhiem’s 3-1 loss at home to Stuttgart on Sunday with what was described as a “head injury.” We will likely get more details about that early in the week. But Heidenheim remained in 16th place (relegation playoff) with the loss and their season been in a tailspin after a good start. In Bundesliga play, Heidenheim has lost six in a row and has one point from their last nine games.

Timothy Chandler wasn’t in the squad for third place Eintracht Frankfurt in a 2-1 loss away to second place RB Leipzig on Sunday.

 

Yanks in the 2.Bundesliga

 

Damion Downs, 20, is crossing the line between an exciting young prospect to monitor and a player who could soon be in the USMNT player pool. On Sunday, Downs scored, drew a penalty, and assisted for FC Cologne in a 3-1 win over Nurnberg to end the weekend in second place of the 2.Bundesliga. It was the best game of the young German-America forward’s career, so far.

Downs opened the scoring in the sixth minute with an very nice strike with his right foot inside of the near post.

In the 15th minute, Downs was fouled in the box to award Cologne a penalty, which was converted by Florian Kainz.

Then in the 31st minute, Downs hit a through-ball on a counterattack that played Denis Huseinbasic into the box for a goal that made it 3-0.

Downs now has seven goals on the 2.Bundesliga season and is one of the best young center forwards in Germany’s second tier. With him, he brings a unique blend of athleticism, strength, and skill that makes it hard to defend. We also saw this towards the end of last season when he scored twice in the Bundesliga as Cologne were relegated.

 

What makes Downs interesting to watch this season is that Cologne are in a promotion hunt and they are also one of the biggest clubs in the league. There is a lot of pressure for Cologne to earn promotion and Downs will be important in getting them there. He has a lot of responsibility, and that will only help him develop.

It is tough to say where Downs stands with the USMNT as we don’t yet have an idea how Mauricio Pochettino plans to integrate new players. But Downs is putting himself in a position where he will be tough to ignore if he keeps it up into 2025.

One week after suffering their first loss of the season, Paderborn played to a 1-1 away draw at 9th place Magdeburg on Saturday. American defensive midfielder Santiago Castaneda, 20, continues to start every game for Paderborn and played 69 minutes in this game. He has hit a bit of a rough patch the past two games after a strong start to the season. He only had 24 touches, lost most of his duels, and wasn’t part of anything noteworthy. This is to be expected of a player his age, there will be growing pains. But we will see how he gets through it. It also comes at a time when there were reports of Bundesliga interest in him. Paderborn still remains in a good position for its promotional race.

Greuther Furth continues to move away from the relegation zone after posting its second consecutive win, this time a 1-0 win over Hannover. The club now sits in 12th place. Julian Green played 79 minutes for Furth while U.S. Olympic team defender Max Dietz is out injured. Green was relatively quiet other than a pair of shots from outside the box that were both blocked.

Eintracht Braunschweig fell into the automatic relegation positions at 17th place after a 3-0 loss at home to surprising leaders Elversberg on Sunday. Johan Gomez, 23, played 68 minutes at forward for Braunschweig and didn’t do much of anything – failing to get his only shot on target in the 9th minute.

John Brooks remains out for Hertha BSC, which lost 2-1 at home to Preussen Munster on Friday, a disappointing result which dropped them to 11th place. 

 

Yanks in Ligue 1

 

Mark McKenzie and Toulouse continued their climb up the Ligue 1 table with a 2-1 win at home over St. Etienne on Friday. The United States national team central defender played on the left side of a three-man back line, going the full 90 minutes in the win. Toulouse was in control of this game and McKenzie was not terribly tested defensively, but when he was, he did his job. He was not at fault for the St. Etienne goal, he did not commit a foul, his passing out of the back was strong, he won all of his duels, and he made three interceptions. 

McKenzie continues to have a strong first season in France, and his last two months have been especially strong.  Among the national team players in Europe this season, he is one of the players on the rise. Toulouse now ends the day in eighth place and, after a poor start, is surprisingly in a push to qualify for Europe next season. 

 

United States national team forward Folarin Balogun is still out after re-injuring his shoulder two weeks ago. He missed Monaco’s 0-0 away draw with his former club, Stade de Reims, on Saturday. Monaco remain in 3rd place with the point. He is not expected back until late January or February. 

Tanner Tessmann was an unused substitute for 5th place Lyon in a 3-1 loss away to leaders Paris St Germain. The recent U.S Olympic team captain has been up and down with his minutes since joining Lyon despite playing well whenever given the chance. But that is the difficulties in trying to break into a very good club such as this Lyon team. 

Le Havre sunk into the automatic relegation positions in 17th place in the 18-team Ligue 1 on Sunday with a 3-0 loss at home to Strasbourg. American winger Emmanuel Sabbi, 26, came into the game for Le Havre in the 64th minute trailing 2-0 and was not able to make much of an impact. He had a flurry of good chances in the 68th and 69th minute but missed the target close to goal from the right side – once with a header, the other with his right foot. After a solid 2023/24 season, the final product has not been there for Sabbi in 2024/25 as he is without a goal or an assist.

Meanwhile, Caleb Wiley, 19, continues to miss a lot of time with different injuries. First it was knee tendonitis, now it is a shoulder injury.

 

Yanks in the Netherlands

 

PSV was upset on Sunday in a 1-0 loss on the road to Heerenveen. Malik Tillman was the only Yank to start for PSV and he played the entire game. Ricardo Pepi came into the game in the 67th minute for PS3 as they pushed for an equalizer, which never came. Richard Ledezma did not play for PSV. 

Tillman was among the most active players for PSV in the loss. He drew three fouls, and had four shots (his only shot on target was in the 13th minute from a tight angle). Still, it was a rare Eredivisie game where Tillman didn’t put his team over the top. 

The same could be said for Pepi, who only has 7 touches in 23 minutes, 0 shots, and 1/3 in passing. He just wasn’t involved. 

PSV is entitled to a bad game every now and then. This was that time. They still have a six point lead on top of the table.

The concern is also that the team struggled in the Champions Leaguemidweek, where they were blanked 1-0 by Brest. Their offense has hit a rough patch. 

 

It was a missed opportunity for 2nd place Utrecht to make the Eredivisie race more exciting. With leaders PSV losing over the weekend to Heerenveen, Utrecht was hosting Go Ahead Eagles. In the 12th minute, Utrecht was even at 1-1 and Go Ahead Eagles were down to 10 men following a red card. But Utrecht blew the opportunity and needed an equalizer in the seventh minute of stoppage time just to earn a point in a 3-3 draw. Instead of ending the weekend in second place and four points behind PSV, Utrecht now sits third and six points behind PSV (and now behind Ajax on goal differential).

Paxten Aaronson started and played 90 minutes for Utrecht but wasn’t able to make much happen as Go Ahead Eagles bunkered deep and sat compact with their defense. Aaronson was limited to five shots, all from outside the box. He only had five passes into the attacking third and four touches inside the Go Ahead Eagles’ box. The early red card made it a different game than the one Aaronson typically thrives as there was less open space for him to exploit or find his teammates.

Meanwhile, Taylor Booth was not part of the Utrecht squad.

 

Yanks in Belgium

 

Marlon Fossey played the full 90 minutes for Standard Liege in a 0-0 away draw with Beerschot on Saturday. The point moved Standard into 9th place in the Pro League.

Fossey, 26, was his usual involved self in the game as he played right wingback and frequently pushed forward into the attack. What is important to note about Fossey this season is that he is become especially effective in the air as he wins almost all of headers these days – both offensively and defensively. In the attack, he got on the end of crosses in the 18th and 65th minute but missed with his headers wide. Defensively, he won 5/5 of his aerial duels. It has been like this all season for Fossey.

He’s good player for Standard and he thrives in the Pro League with his athleticism (he grew up playing both soccer and gymnastics). It might be harder for him at higher levels, but he has a very positive role right now for Standard and is an asset to the club.

Neither Griffin Yow nor Bryan Reynolds had a performance to remember for Westerlo in a 3-1 loss away to sixth-place Union SG. With the loss, Westerlo fell to 10th place in the First Division. Reynolds started and played 76 minutes while Yow came into the game in the 59th minute. Yow is typically very direct and aggressive to attack, but he wasn’t able to create a chance or get a shot off in his 30 minutes (where he was limited to 16 touches).  Reynolds was also limited in his effectiveness at right back.

Kahveh Zahiroleslam will be out until late January at the earliest and the American forward did not take part in St. Truiden’s 2-0 loss at home to Anderlecht on Sunday. St. Truiden ends the weekend in 13th place in the 16-team league.

 

Yanks in Italy

 

Three Americans started in a 2-2 draw between Juventus and Venezia on Saturday. Gianluca Busio, 23, played all 90 minutes for Venezia. Weston McKennie played all 90 minutes for Juventus and Tim Weah was subbed out after a 65-minute shift at right wing for the home team.

It was a very brutal result for Venezia which was in minutes of climbing out of the basement of Serie A with a win (taking the lead in the 83rd minute) but conceded a stoppage time penalty with a tough handball call and squandered two critical points.

Busio again played well for Venezia and in the 31st minute he had big shot stopped with a diving block from Khéphren Thuram-Ulien. It’s a tough situation for Busio to be in another relegation battle, but he is showcasing himself well to be sold if Venezia move down. He might not be a regular starter for a bigger Serie A team, but he can add value.

Meanwhile, McKennie looked more like the useful two-way player he can be as he won all four of his ground duels, didn’t lose the ball on the dribble, and was solid with his passing from distance to switch the point of attack.

Weah, on the other hand, had an off day and didn’t create much nor did have any shots. Weah has been gaining in importance and effectiveness for Juventus in recent months but this was an off game for him.

With the draw, Juventus end the weekend firmly in 6th place (three points behind fifth place Lazio and three points ahead of seventh place Bologna).

It was announced on Saturday that Yunus Musah picked up an injury later in the week in training, and he would miss Sunday’s game for AC Milan against Genoa. The way it was described, it did not seem major. But it is still worth monitoring in the weeks ahead. Both Musah and Pulisic were unavailable for Milan and both were missed in a 0-0 draw at the San Siro. Milan end the weekend in 8th place in Serie A. 

In a matchup between two Serie B teams vying for promotion, Pisa defeated Bari 2–0 in northern Italy on Friday. 

Andrija Novakovich, 28, started and played 61 minutes for Bari. The forward from Wisconsin has been playing well as of late, but was not able to get anything going in this game. He had just 14 touches (1 inside the Pisa box), 5 completed passes, and 0 shots. Bari fell to 6th place in the loss. 

After seeing his playing time plumet over the past two months, Kristoffer Lund played the full 90 for Palermo on Sunday. The bad news is that Palermo dropped a 2-1 decision at home to Catanzaro and now has just two wins over its last 10 games. That stretch has seen the team fall to 9th place in Serie B.

Despite the loss, Lund, 22, was decent in the game. He connected on 22/23 of his passes and defensively he was solid. His best moments came later in the second half in quick succession. In the 77th minute when his pass set up Francesco di Mariano for a shot that was blocked. Then a minute later he sent a cross that found Roberto Insigne for a shot that missed the target.

For Lund, the big questions moving forward are whether he will continue to start and whether Palermo will get back on track to join the promotion hunt? Lund has fallen in the national team depth chart and within his club. He needs to just raise his game to help his standing with both teams.

 

Yanks in Spain

 

Johnny Cardoso, 23, played the entire game for Real Betis on Sunday in a 2-1 away win over Villarreal. The win was even more impressive given that Real Betis played down a man starting in the 34th minute (at a time when Real Betis was up 1-0).

Cardoso played a very smart game in helping his team stay organized defensively and in making important plays. He finished with six clearances and five interceptions. He also had 11 ball recoveries and drew two fouls.

He showed an intelligent side to his game on Sunday and played an important role as to why Real Betis was able to escape with a hard fought, short-handed, away win over the now 6th place team in La Liga. The win also moved Real Betis into 9th place.

 

Luca de la Torre, 26, was an unused substitute for Celta Vigo in a 1-0 loss to Sevilla. Celta fell to 12th place with the loss. We will find out if the San Diego native is entering the final month of his time with the club. In the summer it was rumored to be possible. 

 

Yanks Elsewhere

 

In the Scottish Leagues Cup final, Celtic defeated Rangers 5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 draw. Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty both started in central defense for Celtic but Trusty was replaced at halftime. CCV ended up playing the full 120 minutes in yet another trophy for the USMNT defender. It wasn’t the greatest game for CCV, but he battled hard for the win.

 

In the Swiss Super League, Konrad de la Fuente played the final 18 minutes for Lausanne in a huge 4-1 win over first place Lugano on Sunday. The win moved Lausanne into third place. The winger from Miami didn’t do much outside of a missed shot from distance in the 76th minute.

Rokas Pukstas, 20 played just stoppage time for Hajduk Split in a 2-2 draw with Rijeka on Sunday. It was a matchup between the top two teams of Croatia’s HNL and Rijeka remained in first on goal differential with the draw. The former U.S. U-20 attacking midfielder has had a tougher season than expected after showing promise in 2023/24. He’s no longer an automatic starter and it leaves people wondering if he is distracted by transferring. In August, it was reported he was on his way out but a deal with Parma couldn’t be reached. The problem is that he has not helped to maintain his high value with his performances in the past four months.

In the Greek Super League, Jonathan Gomez was an unused sub for 2nd place PAOK in a 1-0 away win over Panetolikos on Sunday. Erik Palmer-Brown was not in the squad for 4th place Panathinaikos in 1-0 away win over Levadiakos.

 In Slovakia Superliga, Zyen Jones started at right wing for 7th place FC Kosice in 1-0 loss away to Spartak Trnava. Staying in the league, Iowa-born forward Eduvie Ikoba played the final 21 minutes for 6th place Zemplin Michalovce in a 0-0 draw with Trencin. 

In League One, Charlie Kelman played the final 23 minutes for Leyton Orient in a 0-0 draw with Burton Albion on Saturday to rise into 15th place. Last month, Leyton Orient was in the bottom three. But they have enjoyed a nice rise in recent weeks.

Also in League One, Barnsley defeated Exeter City to move into 7th place. Donovan Pines went 90 minutes in central defender in the win while goalkeeper Gaga Slonina was out injured. 

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