Category: Americans Abroad

Who is Josh Cohen? Unheralded American goalkeeper set for Champions League spotlight

The California native is one of the least likely Americans to ever reach the Champions League group stage

The list of American players featuring in the Champions League group stage usually reads like a who’s who of the country’s best-known stars.

This year is no different: Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Giovanni Reyna are just a few of the USMNT players set to feature.

But then, there’s Josh Cohen.

Wait, who?

If you haven’t heard of the 30-year-old goalkeeper, you aren’t alone. Cohen’s path to the game’s biggest stage was as circuitous as they come, taking him on a tour of the American lower leagues before a move to Israeli side Maccabi Haifa gave him his big break.

Cohen’s journey in the U.S.

After playing at Division II UC San Diego, Cohen’s pro journey began with the Burlingame Dragons of the semi-pro PDL.

From there he moved on to the Orange County Blues and then to Phoenix Rising, where he became a starter in the USL. He then returned to his home state of California with Sacramento Republic FC.

Cohen really broke through with Sacramento, establishing himself as one of the USL’s best goalkeepers. Still, a move to MLS never seemed like it would happen.

“As I got further along in my USL career, I learned more about how professional soccer works in the U.S.,” Cohen told The Athletic in 2020.

“I was very naive when I first got into it. MLS has their way of thinking and the coaches, the GMs and decision makers, they view American players in a certain way. Once you have been profiled as an American USL player, it’s very hard to break out of that stigma.”

Cohen moves to Israel

With his path to MLS seemingly blocked, Cohen looked abroad for his next move. By virtue of being Jewish, he was able to join Israeli outfit Maccabi Haifa without occupying an international slot.

In Haifa, Cohen has taken his game to the next level and experienced success beyond any reasonable expectations.

Case in point: the 2020-21 season. Not only did Maccabi Haifi win the Israeli Premier League title, but Cohen was named the league’s player of the season — a rare honor for a goalkeeper.

Haifi won the title again last season, reaching this year’s Champions League qualifying rounds. But unlike last season, the Israeli club successfully navigated the gauntlet of the qualifying rounds by getting past Olympiacos, Apollon Limassol, and finally Red Star Belgrade to reach the coveted group stage.

That means six high-profile matches against some of Europe’s biggest sides — not bad for a player who never played Division 1 college soccer or in MLS. The road to success has been winding for Cohen, but he’s reached a level that most American players will only ever dream about.

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Timothy Weah’s injury could keep him out of the USMNT’s September games

The forward’s ankle problem appears to be worse than originally thought

Timothy Weah’s time on the sidelines is going to be longer than initially expected — and it also may have ruled out a potential transfer to Valencia.

Lille coach Paulo Fonseca said last week that Weah’s ankle injury would likely keep him out for the club’s first two games of the season.

But one week later, Lille president Olivier Létang said the injury would keep Weah out at least three more weeks, which could mean he misses the USMNT’s final two World Cup tuneups on September 23 and 27 against Japan and Saudi Arabia.

“For Timothy Weah, he is injured in the ankle and has three weeks of immobilization,” Létang said at a press conference on Saturday.

Létang also spoke about Weah’s potential transfer to Valencia, saying there had been some interest from the La Liga side but that 22-year-old is now set to stay in France.

“We spoke with Timo, but there were no more requests than that. Valencia was there,” Létang said. “… [Weah] is expected to stay too.”

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The Americans Abroad Five: Suddenly the strikers are red hot

Gregg Berhalter may have a selection headache when it comes to September’s roster

All of a sudden, the U.S. men’s national team has some striker options.

In one week. three USMNT forwards combined for five goals: Josh Sargent, Haji Wright and Jordan Pefok.

Like any striker not named Jesús Ferreira, the trio is right on the roster bubble for the World Cup and, more immediately, on the roster bubble for September’s final two tune-ups.

It’s unlikely that all three will be on the plane to Qatar but if they keep up their current form, they will give Gregg Berhalter a desired and unexpected problem: too many in-form forwards to fit on one roster.

Brenden Aaronson’s first Leeds goal came from him being a huge pest

It’s hard to think of a better way for Aaronson to get off the mark in England

There really could not have been a more appropriate way for Brenden Aaronson to score his first Leeds goal.

The forward, a player his USMNT teammate Weston McKennie lovingly called an “annoying gnat,” scored against Chelsea by effectively pestering goalkeeper Édouard Mendy into a huge error.

The former Philadelphia Union and Red Bull Salzburg star took advantage of Mendy dawdling on the ball and swiped it off the goalkeeper’s foot, leaving him with an empty net.

It was the first time in Premier League history that an American player scored for an American manager.

Aaronson nearly scored his first Premier League goal on opening day, but what appeared to be his late winner against Wolves was eventually ruled an own goal.

This one may have been more appropriate anyway.

Watch Aaronson’s first Premier League goal

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Haji Wright follows the lead of every other USMNT striker, bags a brace for Antalyaspor

If you’re a USMNT striker, you had a good weekend

Haji Wright just added to the great weekend U.S. men’s national team strikers are having.

Not long after Josh Sargent scored a brace for Norwich, and Jordan Pefok put up a goal and an assist for Union Berlin, Wright struck twice as Antalyaspor trounced Trabzonspor 5-2.

The first was pretty perfunctory: a penalty that he won after being wiped out by a Trabzonspor defender. Wright dusted himself off and converted the spot kick shortly before halftime.

The second took a little more work. Deep into stoppage time, a cross found Wright in the box, surrounded by two defenders. He brought the ball down on his chest, took a second touch, but all that got him was less space to operate in, and eventually a third defender to deal with.

No problem! Wright turned away from goal, then pivoted abruptly to his right, spinning away from the entire pack of Trabonspor players before firing a low shot that clipped a defender, looping over the ‘keeper and in.

Wright is up to three goals and an assist in three games to start the season for Antalyaspor, meaning that he’s been directly involved in two-thirds of their goals.

Watch Wright’s brace for Antalyaspor

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Jordon Pefok keeps rolling, scores again for Union Berlin

Good USMNT news: Pefok is on fire for Union Berlin

Jordan Pefok’s start at Union Berlin is everything U.S. men’s national team fans hoped it would be.

After scoring on his competitive debut in the DFB Pokal, and then scoring in his Bundesliga debut against city rivals Hertha Berlin, the USMNT striker did it again, producing a tidy run and finish to give Union a 35th minute opener against RB Leipzig on Saturday.

Despite countering with just three men against five from Leipzig, Union sliced through the visitors. Janik Haberer passed from the left for Sheraldo Becker, and Pefok maintained his run, waiting for the final Leipzig defender to turn towards the ball. Once he committed, Becker slipped Pefok in, and before any retreating defender could interfere, the USMNT striker took two touches, got Janis Blaswich to lean to his left, and fired into the opposite corner to give his side a 1-0 lead.

Pefok then turned provider for Becker, who scored six minutes later to give Union a surprise 2-0 lead.

Pefok’s excellent start to the season comes after stepping up a level, having moved to Berlin from Young Boys in Switzerland. At the moment at least, he has to be among Gregg Berhalter’s top options for the final World Cup warm-up matches for the USMNT, which are against Japan and Saudi Arabia next month.

Watch Pefok’s latest Union Berlin goal

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Xavi makes it clear he wants Sergiño Dest out

The end is nigh for the USMNT right back at Barcelona

If there was any question about Sergiño Dest’s future at Barcelona, the club’s manager Xavi made it even more clear on Saturday.

Dest was left out of Barcelona’s matchday squad entirely for last weekend’s La Liga opener against Rayo Vallecano. Speaking to the media ahead of Sunday’s game against Real Sociedad, Xavi talked candidly about his club’s right back situation.

“Being honest, we wanted to sign Cesar Azpilicueta [from Chelsea] and we couldn’t, so that’s the situation,” Xavi said.

“But we do have players to provide cover there. Ronald [Araujo] did well there last weekend, Sergi Roberto can play there and [Jules Koundé] can as well in case of an emergency.”

Asked if Dest is an option at right back, Xavi said: “He knows what the situation is.”

That situation will likely end with Dest leaving the club before the transfer window slams shut at the end of the month.

The American international has been heavily linked with Manchester United in recent days, with the Independent reporting on Friday that the Red Devils were “making progress” on signing Dest.

Dest’s next destination is still unclear but it’s becoming increasingly likely the right back will see his Barcelona career end after two seasons.

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There may be hope yet for Josh Sargent — if he can actually play striker

Playing as a striker for the first time since January, Sargent scored for the first time since January

If you just looked at the stats for Josh Sargent, you’d be missing the full picture.

Prior to Tuesday’s game against Huddersfield, Sargent had not scored a goal since January. For a striker, that is obviously not ideal.

But that’s the thing: Sargent is a striker. And since January, the 22-year-old had not actually played striker.

With normal No. 9 Teemu Pukki injured on Tuesday, Norwich boss Dean Smith opted to give Sargent the spot at his preferred spot.

Playing striker for the first time since January, Sargent scored for the first time since January.

It was a complete performance for Sargent in a 2-1 win, the first of the Championship season for the Canaries. The American also played a role in his side’s second goal and drew a second-half red card after he was taken down from behind on a breakaway.

“Obviously, it’s been a while since I’ve scored and to be able to play in my favorite position, I felt it was a very good opportunity,” Sargent said in quotes published on The Athletic. “To get that goal was huge for me and also the team.”

One goal, of course, won’t be enough for Sargent, either at the club level or to get him back in the mix for the U.S. national team.

How Smith opts to utilize Sargent when Pukki is back healthy will be vital. If Sargent is shuffled out wide again, his potential to hit a run of goals will suffer, as will his national team chances.

The USMNT striker position is still highly unsettled with just a few months until the World Cup. If Sargent can get a run of games at forward and produce, a last-gasp run at a spot in Qatar isn’t yet out of the question.

“Nothing is settled yet,” Sargent said. “All I can do is do my best here, score as many goals as I can and hopefully put myself in a good position to get called up.”

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Ledezma out with ‘ankle damage’ as PSV issues vague injury update

The 21-year-old is out “for the time being,” though the club did not elaborate on the length of his absence

PSV has issued an injury update on Richy Ledezma, saying the American is out “for the time being” with “ankle damage” suffered over the weekend.

The 21-year-old was the victim of a red-card challenge from Go Ahead Eagles defender Mats Deijl that forced him out of PSV’s 5-2 win on Saturday.

Deijl’s tackle was so egregious that he visited the PSV locker room post-game to apologize.

The injury was especially unfortunate for Ledezma, who was making his first start for PSV since the 2020-21 season after he missed a year with an ACL tear suffered in December 2020.

Ledezma made it back for PSV near the end of last season, scoring his first pro goal in May. It is unclear exactly how long Ledezma will be out this time around, but the injury is a tough blow for a player just starting to make an impact again at one of the Eredivisie’s top sides.

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What is going on with American prospects at Wolfsburg?

The Bundesliga club has a less-than-stellar track record with young American players

Two years ago, the Bundesliga website ran an article titled “Why do Wolfsburg have so many young Americans?”

In it, no fewer than four top American prospects were mentioned: Ulysses Llanez, Michael Edwards, Bryang Kayo and Kobe Hernandez-Foster.

All four of them teenagers. All four U.S. youth internationals. And now, two years later, all four of them are gone.

It is through that lens that we must now analyze the situation another top American prospect, Kevin Paredes, is experiencing at the club. It was only this January when Wolfsburg paid D.C. United over $7 million to sign the teenage left back, who had already been called into the U.S. senior national team.

But Paredes has played just 13 total minutes for Wolfsburg thus far. Worryingly, the 19-year-old wasn’t even named to the matchday squad for the club’s first two Bundesliga games this season.

Wolfsburg has been a successful destination for at least one American in the recent past. John Brooks left the club at the end of last season after five years in which he was usually a starter.

But things haven’t gone as well recently when Wolfsburg has signed up-and-coming young Americans, rather than those already established in the German top flight.

As another young American struggles to break through, the situation at Wolfsburg is worth reviewing.