Yanks Abroad

[Scuba Steve]

Kamani Hill has ended up signing in Portugal.

Originally Posted by Yanks Abroad

HILL SIGNS IN PORTUGAL FOR THREE YEARS

American national team forward Kamani Hill has has signed with Portuguese team Vitoria SC of Guimaraes, for a three year period beginning next season, the team has confirmed to YA.

"Kamani Hill will play for Vitoria for the next three years," team representative Carla Freitas said. "He is only twenty three years old, and he plays outside midfield."

Hill was in Portugal for the last two weeks, on trial with the mid-table team in the northern city of Guimaraes. Earlier in the trial, he told YA that he felt very comfortable in his new surroundings.

The team says Hill fit in well with their group dynamic, and impressed coaches during his short stay.

Freitas says Hill has now returned to Germany to sort out matters there, and will begin his stint with the team this summer.

"He will have to wait to play for us," Freitas said. "He will only play for Vitoria next season. Right now, he has returned to Germany, and he'll be back in Portugal in July."

Vitoria SC, known as Vitoria Guimaraes to distinguish the side from a squad with the same name that plays in the southern town of Setubal, has a proud tradition in the Portuguese top flight.

Relegated for the first time in decades after a disappointing 2006 campaign, the squad bounced back to the top division the next year, and secured a birth in the Champions League Qualifying rounds with a third place finish in the 2007-2008 campaign.

Vitoria currently sits ninth in the Portuguese Liga, well out of European qualification contention, but safe from relegation as well.

[dena]

Who? How many caps does he have? I think i can remember one

[Scuba Steve]

Dos. One was against China in 2007, and the other, against Sweden, also in 2007. But he has had a whacky career path, and, will struggle to make an impact for 2014 I think at his current rate.

Hopefully he plays more games in Portugal than he did in Germany.

[Scuba Steve]

Our newest Yanks abroad.

Originally Posted by The Original Winger

Hi, my name is Jordan. I am 15 years old and I am going to Holland by myself on Wednesday for 12 days on a trial with FC Twente’s youth academy. I will leave LAX at 5:00 PM and arrive in Amsterdam 11 hours later. Someone from Twente will pick me up and we will drive out to the German border. I have been training really hard for this for a while now. If I make it, I will go and live there. I have been reading The Original Winger since it started and I am really happy to be writing for it. I will keep you updated on how I am doing throughout my trip.

Allow Me To Introduce… | TheOriginalWinger.com

[M1ZZ0U]

Originally Posted by hokiegooner

Dos. One was against China in 2007, and the other, against Sweden, also in 2007. But he has had a whacky career path, and, will struggle to make an impact for 2014 I think at his current rate.

Hopefully he plays more games in Portugal than he did in Germany.

Hill has great size but from what I've seen, he's far too much of a " jack of all trades " player without making a sincere impact at one position.

I remember hearing he has striker ability but never had a chance to see it because he played as a defender (primarily) at the u23 level tournament recently and even then, I was not impressed.

Either way, at least he seems to have the support of his new club which could be a good thing for his development.

[M1ZZ0U]

Originally Posted by hokiegooner

Our newest Yanks abroad.



Allow Me To Introduce… | TheOriginalWinger.com

That kid looks 10 with the build of a 6 year old.

Had you not posted it, I would have thought it was a joke.

[Scuba Steve]

Couple of guys playing today. I refuse to tell you who though. No points however for guessing that Adu is not playing.

[Scuba Steve]

A huge win for M'gladbach. I only saw the second half, but they came close several times in the second half to winning the game -- including a shot blocked off the line. But they had to wait until the 90th minute for the winner. With the win, they move up into 14th spot. With just two rounds remaining, they are three points clear.

As for Bradley, at least in the second half, he had little impact in the game. In fact, most of the midfielders had minimal impact on the game. Literally, the entire second half, one team would move quickly down the field, get off a cross or shot, which the keeper would take. And then he would start a quick counter attack going back the other way. And thats how the entire second half went. So I saw Bradley maybe have possession five times or so.

Not a bad performance, just one when he had a limited role.

[Scuba Steve]

A couple of goals worth mentioning today.

Charlie Davies scored again in the Swedish Cup, although Hammarby eventually lost, 4-2. And Alejandro Bedoya scored for Orebro in their 3-0 cup win. He scored in the 76th minute, which was the winning goal. So two goals today from a pair of players from the hated school of Boston College.

[M1ZZ0U]

Originally Posted by hokiegooner

A couple of goals worth mentioning today.

Charlie Davies scored again in the Swedish Cup, although Hammarby eventually lost, 4-2. And Alejandro Bedoya scored for Orebro in their 3-0 cup win. He scored in the 76th minute, which was the winning goal. So two goals today from a pair of players from the hated school of Boston College.

What are Davies stats this year?

It would seem, he's steadily made a positive impact for his Club, all year.

[dena]

I'm pretty sure the Swedish leauge just started, after digging him up on YA he has 2 goals in 5 leauge games.

[M1ZZ0U]

Originally Posted by denapro

I'm pretty sure the Swedish leauge just started, after digging him up on YA he has 2 goals in 5 leauge games.

Ah, in that case I need to research his stats last year because that was the basis of my assumption.

Seems to be doing quite well over there.

[USABluesfan]

I don't know if anyone said this, but for Hokiegooner, Bobby Convey plays for San Jose now.

[BMxJoga]

Originally Posted by USABluesfan

I don't know if anyone said this, but for Hokiegooner, Bobby Convey plays for San Jose now.

Yea, he sames to be regaining is form

[Scuba Steve]

Yeah, he was just saying that Convey was still on my list. And there were several players that I had to remove -- I realized that I had not edited the list since the second of February.

Hopefully, I will be adding some names soon enough.

[thuda1991]

Feilhaber is starting for AGF today, with White on the bench.
Califf did well for FCM, and Parkhurst did well for FCN.
Tracy is injured.

[Scuba Steve]

Nice to see Benny getting a start today. Seems like he is going to making a push to get back into the NT just at the right time.

[thuda1991]

I didn't see more than the first 30 mins, but he did well in them, making many good passes. I'm sure he'll have a breakthrough next season.
Parkhurst played his, IMO, best game for Nordsjælland yesterday, giving SøndejyskE star Ken Ilsø trouble. Ilsø didn't have a single finish in 89 minutes, which means that he did the job very well.

[Scuba Steve]

Que gol del gringo Torres. (30 seconds in)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material.

I AGREE

**Edit

I forgot it was del, and not de el

[dena]

It's a golazo as well!

Good job Paco

[BMxJoga]

What a goal

[Scuba Steve]

Alejandro Bedoya

Interview with him after he scored in the cup game for Orebro.

[Scuba Steve]

Nice article on Edu. Would be interesting to see if this pans out in the future.

Originally Posted by Evening Times

Bet on Rangers midfielder Maurice Edu to spark a Yankee holler for SPL American idols

ONE was reared in arguably the most famous footballing institution in the world, surrounded by the best players on the planet.

The other served his apprenticeship in a country where football - or soccer - isn't even close to being the top sport.

Yet last weekend, it was American Maurice Edu who emerged from his Old Firm debut as top dog over former Barcelona kid Marc Crosas.

Edu was hailed for his part in Rangers' 1-0 triumph as Crosas failed to hit the mark in his first experience of the fixture from the start.

Having spent most of this season as a bit-part player, the £2.5million signing from Major League Soccer side Toronto FC has exploded on to the Ibrox stage at a time when the stakes could not be higher.

Thrown into the SPL maelstrom out of necessity as Barry Ferguson's ill-advised conduct forced him to drop out of the team, Edu has now started his side's last six matches.

And it is perhaps no coincidence that Walter Smith's side have banked maximum points from every one to storm back into contention for the title as well as secure a Scottish Cup Final place.

So was Edu's successful display in the Old Firm cauldron as much of a success for the MLS coaching system in the States as it was for the 22-year-old midfielder?

Former Morton, Chelsea, Falkirk, Hibs and St Mirren defender Joe McLaughlin now runs soccericonUSA and spends his time luring players from Britain to America on scholarships to bolster the emerging scene Stateside.

In the past, Rangers well were served by American imports such as Claudio Reyna and they forked out £750,000 on DaMarcus Beasley last summer.

But McLaughlin believes Edu is now among the first of several stars and stripes kids who will successfully make the transition to foreign shores and become a new generation of American idols.

He said: "Maurice's performance at the weekend certainly seems to have attracted a fair bit of attention and, having watched some of his previous displays as well, I certainly feel he is showing just how good a player he is.

"He has had to bide his time, but it is obvious he has been picking up as much as he possibly can during that time.

"To come in at this stage of the season and perform consistently well for Rangers in the middle of the park only confirms how big a talent he is.

"Old Firm matches are where Celtic and Rangers players prove themselves. If you can handle that fixture, and especially one that could determine the outcome of the championship, then you can pretty much handle anything."

While many would look at Edu's switch from the MLS to the SPL as a major step up for the young midfielder, McLaughlin insists the player has been brought up in top quality facilities and under the careful eye of some of the most astute coaches in the States.

"You have got to see the facilities the colleges in America have to offer to believe it," explained the Inverclyde man.

"I'm not being funny, but the facilities Edu would have used at the University of Maryland would have been better than what Murray Park has to offer.

"Most major colleges have a stadium with a capacity of around 70,000, which host the American football matches and they have the best training pitches and gyms.

"There will be around 10 physiotherapists looking after the players and extremely respected coaches.

"In some cases, the head soccer coach at a particular college has moved to become an MLS manager and the standard of player at these colleges is very high.

"The top college sides in American would beat most First Division clubs over here and some clubs in the lower reaches of the SPL.

"So, even though Edu was at college and was also working towards a degree, he was basically living life as a professional footballer."

One huge advantage in signing a player who has come through such a route is their attitude, according to McLaughlin.

He declared: "American players always show a great desire to work hard, to learn and to conduct themselves in the proper manner.

"Davie Weir, who I played with at Falkirk, came through the American college system and he is as good a professional as you'll come across.

"Look at Andy Dorman. He has turned out to be a fantastic find for St Mirren and now they could be about to make big money on him.

"There are other players in America who would do fantastic jobs for SPL clubs but the problem, of course, is trying to secure work permits for them as they need to have played a vast amount of international matches in the last couple of years."

McLaughlin hopes Edu's progress at Rangers will help tempt Scottish kids to consider trying to come through the American college system themselves.

He said: "There are guys who haven't quite made the grade at clubs here in Britain, but moved out there, got a degree and became far better players in the process. Dorman is the perfect example of that.

"I'm always looking for players who have maybe been freed by clubs here in Scotland and, providing they meet the requirements, then it could be a fantastic opportunity for them."

[efterklang]

Why can't I see videos when people post them? I get a box with this message: "IMPORTANT NOTICE: No media files are hosted on these forums. By clicking the link below you agree to view content from an external website. We can not be held responsible for the suitability or legality of this material."

[Scuba Steve]

There is a little button on the bottom right hand side of the box that says "I Agree"

You hit that, and then the video will open then.