SoccerBlogs

By FRANCO PANIZO

By the time the weekend is over, Josh Gatt and Molde FK could be celebrating a second Norwegian championship.

Molde hosts Honefoss on Sunday in the clubs' penultimate match of the Eliteserien season and a win combined with another favorable result would give Gatt and his team a second straight league title.

Blurry Image: Gatt's Twitter.

Photo courtesy of Molde FK

By FRANCO PANIZO

Josh Gatt has been a shining star for Molde FK this year, helping the Norwegian club in its quest to repeat as league champions with six goals in the first six months of the Tippeligaen campaign.

Molde FK winger Josh Gatt has just used his considerable speed to brûlée a pair of Vålerenga defenders before opening the scoring after only three minutes. The Roadrunner (trademark) now has goals in three straight league games and six for the season, second-best on the team. Clip to come... - Greg Seltzer

Molde FK winger Josh Gatt bagged his third of the young season on 26 minutes and it stood up as winner in a 2-0 defeat of Sandnes. We'll get that clip up ASAP...- Greg Seltzer

Josh Gatt has been locked up by Molde FK, signing a contract through 2015. Since signing in January 2011 he's scored four and as you may recall, he was called up for for the Olympics qualifiers before the club refused to release him (sigh!).Now this is just my intuition typing here, but I think this contract is more about making sure the team gets paid when Gatt does get sold off.

It is turning into a landmark day for U.S. youth internationals.

On the heels of Joe Gyau signing a three-year deal with Hoffenheim, Josh Gatt has signed a three-year deal with Norwegian club Molde FK, extending his stay with the club through 2015.

Gatt, 20, has played all 270 minutes for Molde in the early going this season, including a highlight-reel goal in the club's season-opening victory.

U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has consistently repeated his mantra that he wants U.S. players competing on the biggest teams, against the biggest clubs, and in the biggest competitions. When he reviews the group stage tables for the UEFA Champions League and the Europe League, he will certainly like what he sees.

Here is the USA Roster for the 2 upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica.

Matches + Scores:
-Fri Sep 7
Jamaica v USA
-Fri Sep 11
USA v Jamaica


Roster
G:
Brad Guzan - Aston Villa
Tim Howard - Everton
Sean Johnson - Chicago Fire
Nick Rimando - Real Salt Lake
D:
Carlos Bocanegra - Racing Santander
Geoff Cameron - Stoke City
Steve Cherundolo - Hannover
Maurice Edu - Stoke City
Clarence Goodson - Brondby
Fabian Johnson - Hoffenheim
Michael Orozco - San Luis
Michael Parkhurst - Nordsjaelland
Jonathan Spector - Birmingham
M:
Kyle Beckerman - Real Salt Lake
Joe Corona - Tijuana
Joshua Gatt - Molde
Jermaine Jones - Schalke
Brek Shea - Dallas
Jose Torres - Pachuca
Danny Williams - Hoffenheim
Graham Zusi - Sporting Kansas City
F:
Jozy Altidore - AZ
Terrence Boyd - Rapid Vienna
Clint Dempsey - Tottenham
Herculez Gomez - Santos Laguna


This is a great looking roster.

Josh Gatt and Molde look to defend their top spot, Steve Clark hopes to backstop Honefoss back into European contention and Villyan Bijev wants a Start debut in Norway.

Josh Gatt helped fire Molde to the top of the Norwegian standings, while Kyle Helton, Rhett Bernstein and Mjondalen bumped up its chances of promotion with a win.

We are waiting on two clips, because Josh Gatt hopped off the bench to bang home Molde's only goal in a 2-1 loss to Viking. He's now scored in two straight and has four on the league season. And so we wait double...- Greg Seltzer

Both Molde's Josh Gatt (in Norway) and SønderjyskE's Conor O' Brien (on Danish Superliga opening day) rang the bell in victories today. Clips to come...- Greg Seltzer

Josh Gatt and Molde used a strong second half performance to record the win, and Steve Clark, Kenneth di Vita Jensen and Honefoss stole a point on the road.

Josh Gatt and Molde look to continue their winning streak as the media circus surrounding their coach dies down, while Steve Clark, Kenneth di Vita Jensen and Honefoss try to claim another upset.

Josh Gatt and Molde took care of business against Sandnes Ulf, while Steve Clark and Honefoss recorded their second upset this week.

Josh Gatt and Molde hope to continue its three-game winning streak, while Ricardo Clark, Sean Cunningham and Stabaek play for the first time since the death of a teammate.

Almost every American playing in Norway picked up at least a yellow card, as Josh Gatt and Molde and Steve Clark and Honefoss recorded wins.

Josh Gatt and Molde look to continue their momentum against Fredrikstad, while Steve Clark, Kenneth di Vita Jensen and Honefoss hope to end their recent losing streak against Rosenborg.

Josh Gatt and Molde socked a reeling Stabaek team, while Steve Clark, Kenneth di Vita Jensen and Honefoss took a shellacking by the hands of Odd Grenland.

Word on the street is that one Josh Gatt got himself a goal and an assist in Molde's 5-0 blowout of Stabaek. Ricardo Clark has the misfortune of being on the wrong side of that scoreline. Also, Sean Cunningham started for Molde and Erik Benjaminsen came off the bench early for a Mix-less Stabaek. Clip(s) to be mercilessly hunted down .

Sean Cunningham faces his parent team when Josh Gatt and Molde travel to Stabaek, while Steve Clark, Kenneth di Vita Jensen and Honefoss hope to return to their winning ways against Odd Grenland.

Sebastian Troupe and Baerum lost to local rival Asker, while Josh Gatt and Molde and Ricardo Clark, Sean Cunningham and Stabaek survived scares in the second round of the Norwegian Cup.

Steve Clark and Honefoss recorded their first loss of the season, while Molde's Joshua Gatt made an appearance for the first time in almost a month.

A quartet of Americans faces each other when Honefoss travels to Stabaek, while Josh Gatt and Molde look to continue their title defense away at Viking Stavanger.

US U-23 and Molde winger Josh Gatt today signed a three year extension that will keep him with the defending Norwegian Champions through 2015.

Josh Gatt and Molde returned to its winning ways, Ricardo Clark, Sean Cunningham and Stabaek fell into last place in the league and Sebastian Troupe and Baerum recorded a dramatic point at home.

Josh Gatt and Molde losst to Haugesund, while Ricardo Clark, Sean Cunningham and Stabaek were pummeled in Fredrikstad.

Josh Gatt went down with a hamstring injury, while Kyle Helton and Mjondalen continued to march toward promotion with a win this weekend in Norway.

This is not a prediction of who Coach Klinsi will summon for the Jamaica doubleheader in just a couple hours, it's who I would call. G - Howard, GuzanD - Cherundolo, Parkhurst, Goodson, Bocanegra, Lichaj, Castillo D/M -Â Cameron, SpectorM - Edu, Jones, Diskerud, Kljestan, Feilhaber, Dempsey, DavisA - Altidore, Boyd, Wondolowski, Johnson, Shea, Gatt -- A few notes: - Starters in boldface.

Bryan Gerzicich and Kiryat Shmona will look to bounce back at home against Zilina while Molde should have no problem protecting their aggregate lead over Ventspils despite Josh Gatt's likely absence.

We should start keeping count of all the opening day goals scored by Americans Abroad in 2012. You may remember Josh Gatt did it for Molde back in March, Conor O'Brien did the trick with SønderjyskE last weekend and Terrence Boyd bagged a pair for Rapid Vienna yesterday. And last night, Herculez Gomez rung up #5 by hitting the 2-1 winner against San Luis.

Saturday provides another fresh start for Charlie Davies, one which he hopes is just the beginning of the turning point that launches him back to his form of old.

A week after signing with Randers FC in Denmark, Davies, who has drawn the No. 8 jersey, has been named to the 21-man squad that will travel to Sonderjyske for the club's season-opening game in the Danish Superliga and could very well make his debut.

Josh Gatt and Molde face off against Steve Clark, Kenneth di Vita Jensen and Honefoss in a matchup of two top six teams.

Add Andrew Wooten to the list of young U.S. internationals who will have their club futures secured for the next few years.

Wooten, a German-American forward who was part of the U.S. Under-23 player pool leading up to Olympic qualifying, will sign his first professional contract, a three-year-deal, with FC Kaiserslautern this week, according to reports out of Germany.