Tag: Eredivisie

Gimenez making Mexico World Cup snub look worse with every goal

The striker has gone on to have the most prolific debut European season ever for a Mexican

When Santiago Giménez was omitted from Mexico’s World Cup roster in November, it was questionable. Now, it just seems laughable.

Giménez was bypassed in favor of the barely-fit Raúl Jiménez, and forwards like Henry Martín and Rogelio Funes Mori who have been prolific in Liga MX and less so with El Tri.

Giménez at the time was only 21 and unproven at the international level. But he’d showed plenty of promise in Liga MX and had started to translate that form to his new side Feyenoord, where he’d scored six goals in 18 games.

Mexico would end up being eliminated at the World Cup group stage, picking up one point in two scoreless opening matches before a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia in its finale proved too little, too late.

Meanwhile Giménez has gone on a goalscoring binge after his snub, proving on a weekly basis that Tata Martino made a grave mistake not taking him to Qatar.

Giménez has 12 goals in 17 league games since the turn of the year, including a current scoring streak of seven matches in a row.

Overall, Giménez has scored 22 times for Feyenoord this season, breaking the record for the most ever goals by a Mexico men’s international in their debut European season.

The 22-year-old looks likely to only stay at Feyenoord for one season, with some of Europe’s biggest clubs lining up for his signature (ironically his departure could open the door for USMNT forward Ricardo Pepi to replace him).

Giménez will undoubtedly be a major part of Mexico’s future, but El Tri fans are likely wondering what could have been if he were more involved in the recent past.

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Utrecht puts €12m price tag on USMNT midfielder Booth

The 21-year-old looks set to leave the Dutch club after just one season

Taylor Booth is likely to leave Utrecht this summer, but he won’t come cheaply.

The Dutch club’s technical director Jordy Zuidam said in an interview with ESPN that he is looking for €12 million in any deal for the 21-year-old American.

“I know there is a lot of interest from players like Booth and [Anastasios] Douvikas,” Zuidam said.

“If we want to keep the club healthy, we have to make transfers. We aim to sell for around €12 million. We should do that again next year. Then those are guys who represent a value. You also try to keep boys, but you have to be realistic and that will show in the coming period.”

An eight-figure sale would represent a tidy piece of business for Utrecht, which signed Booth on a free transfer from Bayern Munich only last summer.

Booth had very little first-team experience under his belt when he moved to the Eredivisie, but he quickly proved to be one of Utrecht’s most important creative players.

In March, De Telegraaf said that Ajax and PSV are keen on bringing Booth in this summer. There has also been reported interest from Spain and England.

Booth earned his first two U.S. national team caps in March, coming off the bench the team’s Nations League games against Grenada and El Salvador.

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Ricardo Pepi scores again, Groningen loses again

Imagine Groningen without Pepi

The contrast between Ricardo Pepi and Groningen in the Eredivisie couldn’t be more stark.

Pepi scored his seventh goal in his last 10 matches between club play and the U.S. men’s national team. The goal is his 11th in the league this season, and when you add in his three assists, he’s made a direct contribution to 50% of Groningen’s 28 goals.

It’s just that Groningen is in freefall as a club, squandering Pepi’s goal as Michiel Kramer’s 86th minute penalty gave RKC Waalwijk a 2-1 win on Saturday.

The defeat marked Groningen’s sixth straight Eredivisie loss, and the club is on a horrid 1W-3D-14L run. With just five games left to play and eight points between them and a promotion-relegation playoff spot, relegation seems certain.

Pepi, who is on a season-long loan, has been doing whatever he can to stave off the inevitable. His productivity on an otherwise doomed team, combined with his eagerness to avoid returning to Augsburg, should make him a hot commodity in this summer’s transfer market.

On Saturday, Pepi maintained his good form with another goal. After initially keeping a play alive by ensuring the ball didn’t run out of play, Pepi passed backwards as Groningen — who had fallen behind just seconds earlier — tried to find an opening in the massed RKC defense.

With the home side standing off, Groningen had time to get men forward, and left back Nordin Musampa pushed up into a more dangerous spot. With time and space, he curled a pinpoint cross in for Pepi, who had ghosted away from his markers to get wide open at the back post.

Watch Pepi strike again

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Augsburg willing to listen to offers for USMNT forward Pepi

Pepi has made clear that he wants to leave the German club as soon as possible

Augsburg sporting director Stefan Reuter has said the club is willing to consider “concrete and adequate offers” for unsettled forward Ricardo Pepi.

Pepi and his agent Jaime Garcia recently gave an explosive interview to Voetbal International, airing their grievances with Augsburg and underlining their desire to leave the Bundesliga club.

Augsburg signed the U.S. national team striker for a club-record fee of $20 million in January 2022, but Pepi struggled to find his feet in a half season with the club.

Garcia slammed Augsburg for its treatment of Pepi before it sent the forward on loan to FC Groningen in the Netherlands early this season.

“We appreciate the investment the club has made, but once he came in, it seemed they didn’t know how to handle such an investment,” Pepi’s agent said.

“The manager didn’t speak to him, the director wanted him so badly that he twice did not show up for an appointment with Ricardo that he had scheduled himself. The coach talks about him at a press conference, but does not respond to a message Ricardo sent him for four days. Is that respectful?”

Augsburg responds

Though Pepi has a contract with Augsburg through 2026, Reuter said the club is willing to grant his wish — but only if the right offer arrives.

“Ricardo has a long-term contract with us. With his qualities, he fits in very well with our style of play. The coach also thinks highly of him. Of course I understand what his agent has said,” Reuter told Sky Germany.

“But the facts are clear and there have been no inquiries, let alone offers, for him so far. So a sale is not an issue for us at the moment.

“As always, we would consider concrete and adequate offers. But we will discuss that directly with him and the agent, not through the public.”

Pepi, who has 10 Eredivisie goals this season, has been linked with a move to Dutch powers PSV and Feyenoord, as well as to the Premier League.

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Pepi makes Eredivisie team of the month for still-struggling Groningen

If Groningen avoids relegation, Pepi will be an enormous factor

Whatever happens to Groningen this season, no one can say that Ricardo Pepi let them down.

The U.S. men’s national team striker made the Eredivisie team of the month for February, joining a team almost entirely comprised of players from the league’s three historical giants.

Pepi has been directly involved in nearly half of Groningen’s goals this season, and scored twice in their four February matches. Those games didn’t exactly go well for Groningen — they went 1W-2D-1L in February, and remain in the relegation zone — but that win did at least break an 11-game run without a victory.

In fact, by Eredivisie relegation scrap standards, Groningen’s five points this past month is actually pretty good. Collectively, the league’s bottom six teams won just three games in the month, and Groningen’s 3-0 win over Excelsior (who sit in 15th place, making them the final safe team in the table) on Saturday got them within three points of surviving this season.

Pepi wasn’t the lone CONCACAF representative on the list, as Mexico defender Edson Álvarez (Ajax) ended up on the team as well. The Eredivisie team of the month is determined by some blend of fan voting and data from Stats Perform that is probably better not known.

The USMNT striker may have tilted the vote in his favor with a little recency bias, as he saved his standout performance for that Excelsior victory.

Pepi scored a clinical goal, took five shots (more than Excelsior’s entire team managed on the day), and completed four of five attempted dribbles as Groningen got a win they probably couldn’t do without.

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Kudus pays tribute to Atsu — and referee lets him off without a yellow

“This is beyond football. We are talking about life and death”

Mohammed Kudus scored a free kick for Ajax against Sparta Rotterdam on Sunday, and proceeded to celebrate by lifting his jersey over his head.

According to the laws of the game, that would necessitate an automatic yellow card. But this wasn’t an ordinary celebration, and referee Pol van Boekel knew it.

Kudus scored late in Ajax’s 4-0 win and revealed a shirt with the message “R.I.P. Atsu” — a tribute to Christian Atsu, who was found dead under the rubble in the aftermath of the devastating earthquakes that struck Turkey and Syria earlier this month.

After a 12-day search, Atsu’s body was finally found on Saturday, the day before Ajax took the pitch.

Speaking to ESPN after the game, Kudus said that Van Boekel allowed his tribute to go unpunished because the message went beyond sport.

“We all know what’s going on in Turkey and that part of the world,” the 22-year-old said. “Atsu was the one close to me but I dedicate that goal to him and everyone who had families and all the people involved in the Turkey earthquakes.

“We are footballers but this is beyond football. We are talking about life and death. The ref told me this is not allowed but he understands because this is a bigger situation than just playing football.

“A big respect from me to the referee for understanding the whole situation.”

Kudus said that his fellow Ghanaian had served as a mentor to him.

“I learned a lot from watching him, he also regularly gave me advice. Everything I gave today was for him.

“If I hadn’t have scored, I would have shown the shirt after the game.”

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¡Partidazo del Guti! El clásico ante Ajax fue para PSV con gol del mexicano

El Guti tuvo una destacada actuación confirmando el buen nivel que tendrá en Qatar 2022 un gol suyo puso a su equipo líder de la Eredivisie

El clásico de la Eredivisie entre PSV y Ajax tuvo sabor muy mexicano con los tres aztecas en el terreno de juego y una estupenda actuación de Erick Gutiérrez que le dio el triunfo a su equipo.

El PSV con el Guti como titular, aseguró el liderato de la Eredivisie al derrotar.a su máximo rival el Ajax que también arrancó con sus mexicanos en el 11 inicial con Edson Álvarez que terminó amonestado y Jorge Sánchez que sigue sin encontrarle el ritmo a la liga pues un error suyo desencadenó el primer gol del PSV.

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El Guti tuvo una destacada actuación confirmando el buen nivel que tendrá en Qatar 2022 pues su equipo es líder de la Eredivisie y el mexicano sigue anotando goles, sumando el tercero en su cuenta personal esta campaña.

Para Edson Álvarez y el Ajax la crítica por caer de local en una nueva derrota ante su gente que resulta muy dolorosa pues en este clásico se trataba de la disputa por el liderato de la competencia el cual no pudo asegurar el cuadro de Amsterdam que atraviesa una mini crisis de resultados.

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Chucky Lozano y Jorge Sánchez anotan gol y son los mexicanos destacados en Europa

Gran fin de semana para Chucky Lozano con el Napoli y Jorge Sánchez con el Ajax pues sus equipos ganaron y contaron con gol de los mexicanos

Gran fin de semana para Chucky Lozano con el Napoli y Jorge Sánchez con el Ajax pues sus equipos ganaron y contaron con la aportación goleadora de los mexicanos.

El Chucky Lozano marcó su tercer gol consecutivo en tres partidos con el Napoli, marcando en Champions League y en la Serie A donde su equipo mantuvo el liderato del campeonato y el mexicano marcó el 2-1 parcial del 3-2 final con el que los del sur de Italia vencieron al Bolonia.

El volante mexicano del Napoli aprovechó un rebote en el área y casi sin ángulo mandar la pelota al fondo de las redes para permitir que su equipo retomara la ventaja en el marcador al comenzar la segunda mitad.

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Para Jorge Sánchez su gol con el Ajax significó su estreno como goleador en el futbol europeo en la goleada de su equipo 7-1 al Excelsior.

El mexicano también aprovechó un rebote del portero rival para de primera instancia mandar el balón al fondo de las redes y celebrarlo de manera muy especial con su compatriota Edson Álvarez quien lo felicitó y le dijo palabras al oido.

Incluso la cuenta del Ajax destacó la labor de los mexicanos en el terreno de juego posteando una frase “Viva la Mexico” en agradecimiento al gran partido que brindaron los jugadores aztecas de los de Ámsterdam.

 

 

Ricardo Pepi shakes off USMNT’s struggles, scores again for Groningen

Pepi bounced back from a rough USMNT window in the best way

Ricardo Pepi is wasting no time in bouncing back from an unpleasant international break.

The U.S. men’s national team struggled in the September FIFA window, with Pepi among the players who didn’t come away from friendlies against Japan and Saudi Arabia looking their best.

However, a key aspect for a good striker is to shake it off and be ready for the next one, and that’s just what Pepi did Saturday, scoring for Groningen in his first game back as they squared off with AZ.

In many ways, the goal was incredibly simple. Groningen, trailing 2-0 at the time, took a goal kick short. With AZ pressing high, defender Neraysho Kasanwirjo ended up going long to find an outlet.

From there, the goal was all Pepi. His slashing run across the path of Maxim Dekker cut the defender (who eventually stumbled and fell down) off. Still, AZ’s Sam Beukema had the better angle to chase the bouncing ball down, getting in front of Pepi as the ball bounced into the box.

Beukema couldn’t put the brakes on fast enough, though, and that gave Pepi a chance to muscle his way within reach of the ball. He took a touch, spinning away from Beukema as both fell to the ground, but still had the composure to swing around and fire a shot off before goalkeeper Hobie Verhulst could close the angle down.

It’s still early days for Pepi with Groningen, but the move is looking like exactly what he needed. In three appearances since moving there on loan from Augsburg, the USMNT No. 9 has been involved with a goal in every game. He got an assist in his debut, and scored in Groningen’s next match, ending a nearly year-long slump in front of goal.

Watch Pepi get on the scoresheet for Groningen

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¿Santi Giménez para titular en Qatar? Marcó de nuevo con Feyenoord

Ni Raúl Jiménez ni Rogelio Funes Mori han conseguido el promedio goleador de Giménez en la campaña

El presente de Santiago Giménez con Feyenoord luce muy prometedor, el atacante mexicano anotó de nueva cuenta con su equipo en el derby de Rotterdam y marcó tres goles en la semana.

El delantero mexicano anotó el 3-0 en la goleada de su equipo ante el Sparta Rotterdam de la Eredivisie, un clásico en el que el mexicano salió ovacionado al convertir su cuarto gol con su nueva escuadra.

Giménez aprovechó una buena descolgada para marcar el pase dentro del área y definir de manera exquisita para ampliar la ventaja del Feyenoord en el marcador.

¿Está Chaquito para titular en Qatar 2022?

Los números indican que si, pues ni Raúl Jiménez ni Rogelio Funes Mori han conseguido el promedio goleador de Giménez en la campaña y deja la puerta abierta a la decisión del Tata Martino sobre su titularidad en la Copa del Mundo.

Aunque conociendo al Tata Martino y su necedad de utilizar siempre a los mismos futbolistas, no dudamos que sea Jiménez del Wolverhampton quien alinee en la Copa del Mundo, sin embargo Santi Giménez está metiendo mucha presión a la delantera azteca pues con creces se está ganando un lugar incluso como titular al llegar en mejor momento.

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