Jozy Altidore has enjoyed a dream season with AZ Alkmaar, and he found the perfect way to cap things off by scoring yet another goal, only this time to help his team win a trophy.
Altidore's first-half strike proved to be the difference as AZ held on for a 2-1 victory over PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch Cup Final on Thursday.
Jozy Altidore of AZ Alkmaar (Google Creative Commons)
The storyline going into the final of the Dutch Cup on Thursday in Rotterdam mirrors the one going into Saturday's FA Cup Final.
PSV Eindhoven are sitting pretty in second place in the Eredivisie table and all they have to do to confirm their spot in Europe next season is win the cup on Thursday or earn a point in their final league match on Sunday.
Remember that ordeal last summer in which AZ Alkmaar refused to release Jozy Altidore to the U.S. Men's National Team until they absolutely had to, forcing him to miss a vital chunk of the team's preparatory camp?
Well, it's going to happen again in a few weeks' time.
Utrecht had a pretty dismal old weekend over in the Eredivisie, losing 6-0 to AZ Alkmaar and finishing the game with just nine men on the field.
In fact, Utrecht were already down to nine men on the half-an-hour mark with AZ's Yank striker Jozy Altidore scoring the two resulting penalties on his way to completing a first-half hat-trick within the space of seven minutes.
You won't see a more ridiculous own goal than this one all week as Utrecht defender Mike van dor Hoorn put's the ball into the back of his own net with absolutely no pressure on the defender what's so ever.
And with defending like this it was no surprise to see Alkmaar thump the visitors 6-0 with American striker Jozy Altidore grabbing a hat-trick.
The last time AZ Alkmaar met Ajax, Jozy Altidore inspired his club to a big 3-0 win in cup play.
AZ will be hoping that history repeats itself this weekend.
In dire need of three points to distance themselves from the drop zone, AZ will attempt to snap their six-game winless streak when they host Ajax on Sunday.
AZ Alkmaar's in-form striker Jozy Altidore scores this cheeky, while elegant 40 yard chip during his sides 3-0 Dutch Cup semi-final win over Ajax last night. That's 23 goals for the season for the American striker.
Jozy Altidore - AZ Alkmaar's scoring machine. With his two goals last night (and assist on the third), he sparked AZ to a 3-0 win against Ajax in the KNVB Cup semifinal. He has seven goals in the tournament, kicking up his total this season to 23 in all competitions. That number equals Clint Dempsey's tally from the 2011-12 season at Fulham.
It's a cliche to describe a chip as "cheeky." It seems virtually all chips are described that way. But if ever there was one deserving of such a label, it's Jozy Altidore's chip against Ajax from 40 yards out in AZ Alkmaar's 3-0 Dutch Cup semifinal win.
Altidore already had one goal on the day (and set up another) and with the match in its final minute of injury time, the result was already certain.
Having wasted an advantage to suffer a disappointing draw in last weekend's league action, Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar will be at it once again on Sunday afternoon when the welcome NAC Breda.
Jozy Altidore simply continues to add to the argument that he is the most in-form American right now.
Altidore scored his latest goal for AZ Alkmaar on Saturday, netting the club's first goal in a 2-2 draw against Roda JC Kerkrade. The goal was Altidore's 16th in the Eredivisie and 21st in all competitions this season and it put him two behind the Eredivisie's leading goal-scorer, Vitesse forward Wilfried Bony.
Only two days separate the release of Jurgen Klinsmann's roster prior to their match against Honduras. 24 have been called in to the World Cup qualifier and of the 24, seven are representatives of Major League Soccer. As is often the case, there were some surprises among the names called to represent the United States in San Pedro Sula.
AZ Alkmaar's dominant performance at Den Bosch in the quarterfinals of the Dutch Cup was marred by racist chants at American striker Jozy Altidore, prompting officials to momentarily stop play. Down 4-0 and with two Den Bosch players were shown straight red cards within the first hour of play, the home fans were feeling nasty and reportedly aimed monkey chants at AZ's Altidore and threw bottles.
Make that 15 Eredivisie goals and 19 across all competitions this season for Jozy Altidore.
Altidore scored his latest goal for AZ Alkmaar on Friday,netting the third goal for the club in a 4-1 victory over VVV Venlo. The U.S. Men's National Team striker put the game out of reach by running onto a through ball played in behind the defense and opening his hips before slotting a shot to the far post.
There's no rust on Jozy Altidore's game following the winter break in Holland, the U.S. striker hammering homea hat tricken route to a 4-1 win for AZ Alkmaar against Vitesse.
Jozy now has 14 goals in the league campaign, good for second best in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Jozy Altidore returned from the Dutch League's winter break in style, recording a hat-trick in AZ Alkmaar's 4-1 win against Vitesse Arnhem.
All three of Altidore's goals came in a 15-minute span in the second half and the hat-trick haul gives him 14 league goals on the season, tied for second-most in the Eredivisie.
Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar look to start 2013 with a win against Vitesse to open the Eredivisie's second half while Charles Kazlauskas and Helmond Sport take on Almere City.
American striker Jozy Altidore, currently of AZ Alkmaar, daubed the names of all 26 people (mainly children) who died in the tragic Newtown shooting before his recent Eredivisie game against Twente as a small, but non-the-less heartfelt tribute...
Jozy Altidore got back into his scoring groove on the weekend, scoring both goals in the 2-1 win for AZ Alkmaar against Zwolle. The goals increased Jozy's total to 14 across all competitions this year, and reflect the varied ways in which the increasingly versatile striker can finish.
AZ Alkmaar snapped their seven-game winless run on Saturday, and unsurprisingly Jozy Altidore played a big role in making that happen.
Altidore ended his scoring drought and lifted AZ to victory by finding the back of the net twice in a 2-1 win over PEC Zwolle. Altidore scored his first goal in the second minute of the match and added the eventual winner with a tap-in finish in the 33rd, giving AZ their first win since Nov.
Jozy Altidore has been playing some of the best soccer of his career since joining AZ Alkmaar in the summer of 2011, and at least one club has taken notice.
According to former U.S. Men's National Team midfielder and current AZ Director of Football Earnie Stewart, the Dutch team received a late bid for Altidore during this past summer's transfer window.
Jozy Altidore's place with the U.S. national team may be in limbo, but that isn't stopping him from continuing to score goals for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Altidore netted his ninth league goal of the season, and 12th in all competitions in AZ's 2-2 draw vs. ADO Den Haag. Altidore delivered a highlight-reel goal in the 64th minute to help AZ earn a point.
When Jozy Altidore steps onto the field for AZ Alkmaar this weekend, he will be looking to do more than just help the club grab its second win in its last five games.
He will also be aiming to score for the first time in more than a month.
Though he has delivered a pair of game-winning assists during the same time frame, Altidore has not found the back of the net in a league game since Sept.
From a collective standpoint, the U.S. Men's National Team forwards could not have asked for a better weekend as three different players found the back of the net and another delivered a late game-winning assist.
Clint Dempsey, Herculez Gomez and Terrence Boyd were the U.
Oranje Wednesdays: Thriller in Arnhem, AZ lose their cool is a post from: Just Football
The inhabitants of Arnhem and Enschede have witnessed some memorable moments already this season. It was the same again in their recent eagerly anticipated home games separated by nineteen hours. On this occasion it wasn't a tale of two cities, but of two penalty areas; one incident leading to a missed opportunity, the other bedlam.
Jurgen Klinsmann knew exactly what he was doing when he omitted Jozy Altidore from the roster. He sent a message to all players in the national team pool. The message sent and received is that being in good club form is not enough anymore, there is no entitlement to the national team.
U.S. Men's National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has dropped Jozy Altidore from the U.S. roster for the two upcoming critical World Cup qualifiers despite Altidore scoring nine goals in 10 games this season for Dutch side AZ Alkmaar.
Also dropped were striker Terrence Boyd and Chris Wondolowski as Klinmsann opted instead for an injured Landon Donovan and Eddie Johnson and Alan Gordon up-front.
The Dutch Cup Final is set to take place this evening in Rotterdam as AZ Alkmaar take on PSV Eindhoven in what should be a fantastic end to Holland's domestic cup. PSV Eindhoven currently sit second in the table while Alkmaar sit in tenth, but league tables won't matter this evening as both sides set their sights on silverware.
The Dutch Cup Final is set to take place this evening in Rotterdam as AZ Alkmaar take on PSV Eindhoven in what should be a fantastic end to Holland's domestic cup. PSV Eindhoven currently sit second in the table while Alkmaar sit in tenth, but league tables won't matter this evening as both sides set their sights on silverware.
It's Sunday again and we should be wary of some of the transfer news and one such case is a report that Newcastle are interested in PSV Eindhoven winger Jeremain Lens. Newcastle were interested in this player two years ago, while he was still at AZ Alkmaar and before he was sold to PSV [...]
If Ivan Gazidis has not been telling the Arsenal fans porkies, then Arsene Wenger is going to have asignificant amount of money to spend on players in the summer. He didn't use much in January, so should have well over £50 million to strengthen for next season.
The defence has certainly been a bit fragile, and one player who has the talent and strength to boost it seems to be looking for a move to England.
First of all, there are no official moves in the transfer market to report, no reports of bids made at all. There are, as usual, a few rumours doing the rounds. Yesterday there was a flurry of activity on some of the Arsenal websites after a story broke that Arsenal were in Barcelona for talks about the signing of their striker David Villa.
FC Utrecht didn't have the greatest first half against AZ Alkmaar at the weekend. Ex-Hull City striker Jozy Altidore had already scored a hat-trick when the away side made things worse for themselves when defender Mike van der Hoorn scored a ridiculous own goal just before the break. The ball was crossed into the box, [.
The U.S. strikeforce brings is bringing some serious goalscoring mojo from club to country heading into these qualifiers. From a record-setting year to a rookie making waves at a new team, the forwards are in form.
Jozy Altidore has scored 18 goals in league play and 25 in all competitions for AZ Alkmaar this season.
We'd be a little surprised if Newcastle bring in any midfielders in the January transfer window, since it seems our major requirements are some defenders and a striker, but we have again been linked with AZ Alkmaar's 19 year-old Dutch International midfielder Adam Maher. Adam Maher Dutch 19 year-old right footed midfielder The youngster [.
El futbolista Jozy Altidore juega en el AZ Alkmaar de la liga holandesa de fútbol, el viernes pasado decidió rendir tributó a las 26 víctimas de Newtown Connecticut.
El futbolista que forma parte de la selección de los Estados Unidos, escribió en sus zapatos de fútbol los 20 nombres de los niños y 6 maestros que fueron asesinados en la masacre de Newtown, Connecticut.
