Jozy Altidore made the most of his 14-minute substitute appearance on Wednesday evening, adding AZ's fifth and sixth goals in their rout of ADO Den Haag.

On a night when AZ starter Charlison Benschop bagged a hat trick, late sub Jozy Altidore has come on to hit a brace of his own, capping a 6-0 win at ADO Den Haag. They were both simple finishes, coming less than two minutes apart on assists by Brett Holman and Maarten Martens.Jozy had been without a goal since December 4th, but now his league total stands at seven and his haul across all

USA 2014 World Cup Squad Projection Version 1.5 - The 90th Minute Soccer Blog

It's been a few months since the initial projection and it's changed a bit with several friendlies taking place. Overall, the core of the team remains the same with the final spots still unclear. This projection is of what the team (23 man squad) will be for the World Cup (in 2014) and not during qualifying.

By Tony Edwards - San Jose, CA (Feb 7, 2012) US Soccer Players -- In today's edition, Peter Vermes' shocking plan to get the most out of Bobby Convey, David Beckham confronts a referee over a red card, how Peter Nowak is building the Union, and the struggles of Jozy Altidore's AZ Alkmaar. What is Peter Vermes' (early) plan to get the best out of Bobby Convey?

photo by Rick Osentoski/ISIphotos.com

It appears U.S. men's national team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann is making a concentrated effort to get to know CONCACAF teams prior to World Cup qualifying.

According to a report, the United States will travel to Canada to take on its northern rival in a friendly before World Cup qualifying begins in June.

Jozy Altidore saw a half of action as AZ's loss at Roda dropped them to third place while Charles Kazlauskas and Helmond continued their strong start to 2012.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

For the U.S. men's and women's national teams, it's a big weekend.

The women kick off their qualifying campaign for the 2012 Olympics Friday night in Canada, going up against the Dominican Republic. Just a couple of days later, Pia Sundhage's charges are at it again, facing Guatemala and hoping to secure maximum points before a final group showdown with Mexico.

Jozy Altidore was a late sub in AZ's rescheduled cup game with Ajax on Thursday, however the team's berth the quarterfinal was already sewn up thanks to a fine attacking display within the first hour.

Neil W. Blackmon Caleb Porter's U-23 side, the January camp edition, fell 4-0 to the Klinsmann Camp Cupcake edition of the USMNT this weekend, and while conceding four goals to the senior side may cause some alarm among those anxiously monitoring this group's progress, it's the lack of goals that was somewhat surprising to those [.

The January 19th replay between Jozy Altidore's AZ and Ajax will be a romping room indeed, as children will be comprising 85% of the audience at Amsterdam ArenA. At this point, Ajax are basically telling schools to bring all the kids for the afternoon do-over. I may need to go witness this for myself.

The Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) has decided the cup game between Ajax and Jozy Altidore's AZ will be replayed on January 19th. The decision comes after the original game was suspended in the first-half when a fan ran onto the field and charged AZ's goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado. AZ refused to continue after the referee red carded the keeper for defending himself.

Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar will play their final game before the month-long winter break on Wednesday evening when they travel to Amsterdam to face Ajax in the Dutch Cup.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With nearly full slates of action in the Premier League, Serie A and Ligue 1 and domestic cup play on the docket as well, plenty is on the line across Europe today.

A number of Americans are in action across the continent, as Clint Dempsey looks to keep his goal-scoring form going at Craven Cottage against Manchester United, while goalkeepers Tim Howard and Brad Guzan aim for clean sheets against Swansea City and Arsenal, respectively.

Jozy Altidore got the start for AZ in a 1-1 draw with Metalist. Both goals were scored in the 37th minute, advancing both teams to the next round. Adam Maher scored AZ's quick equalizer, with the club finishing ahead of Rapid Vienna on goal differential. Jonathan Spector and Birmingham City's 1-0 win over Maribor left them a point short of advancing to the next stage.

Garrett McInnis In the second iteration of the Yanks Are Coming "Top 23" series, the staff here at TYAC remains fairly settled regarding which players comprise the most important contributors to the USMNT, with most of the main contributers carrying over from the previous list. Only four players differ from the previous list of 23, [.

Dempsey faces a fight to stay in the Europa League. Fulham must get a result at home over Odense.

As the final matchday of the Europa League group stages approaches Wednesday and Thursday, so does the best chance to see Americans in action overseas on a TV near you. And with some of the Americans' teams in danger of crashing out of Europa, it may be the last chance for a while.

Jozy Altidore and AZ returned to their winning ways in grand fashion in a blowout win over De Graafschap while Charles Kazlauskas and Helmond Sport lost their fourth straight.

Jozy Altidore played the duration of Alkmaar's make-up game against Excelsior Rotterdam on Wednesday night, but was unable to spark the team to victory in a stale, scoreless draw.

Jozy Altidore was the only bright spot for AZ in their blowout loss to Heerenveen while Charles Kazlauskas missed Helmond's home loss to Emmen on card suspension.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Jozy Altidore has been no stranger to scoring nice goals this season, but the one he bagged this weekend is arguably among his best of the year.

Altidore finished off a beautiful passing sequence in AZ Alkmaar's match against Heerenveen when he got an open look from close range after a beautiful first touch that got him by a defender.

Jozy Altidore scored his fifth goal of the season for AZ Alkmaar, but lost 5-1, snapping an 11-game unbeaten streak.
How the rest of our Americans did check out Steve Goff's Washington Post blog.
Video of Jozy's goal.
Video from 723 Football Media


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Jozy Altidore scored his fifth goal of the season for AZ Alkmaar, but lost 5-1, snapping an 11-game unbeaten streak.
How the rest of our Americans did check out Steve Goff's Washington Post blog.
Video of Jozy's goal.
Video from 723 Football Media


Get the NEW Free Beer Movement "Pint Glass" shirt!

The move to Holland has done wonders for Jozy Altidore's scoring touch.

The American forward scored the lone goal in AZ's 5-1 defeat to Heerenveen. Altidore leveled the score in the 20th minute of the match, when he played a give-and-go with a teammate, the forward cut through two defenders before firing in the goal.

Photo by Michael Janosz/ISIphotos.com

MLS announced the 18-man roster that will be making the trip to the Netherlands for the Generation adidas tour, with four players from the Philadelphia Union, up-and-coming Real Salt Lake midfielder Luis Gil and last year's No. 1 pick in the MLS SuperDraft, Omar Salgado, headlining the team.

Securing victory over Slovenia was nice. And scoring three goals was even better, but until World Cup Qualification begins, the results still do not matter. Rather, it is the performance of individuals and how they help to shape the team's formation and tactics that are most important to evaluate as the pieces come together for Jurgen Klinsmann's US National Team.

Big night for U.S. soccer and the men's national team won in Europe for the first time in 3 1/2 years, beating Slovenia 3-2. Yes that is not a misprint. The U.Sc. scored three goals tonight, more than doubling the number of goals that they had scored in the previous six games under Jurgen Klinsmann.

U.S. Men's National Soccer Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann finally opted to start a formation with two strikers in Slovenia on Tuesday and it paid off with the most impressive offensive performance seen in Klinsmann's tenure.

Clint Dempsey tied Joe-Max Moore's mark of 24 U.S. goals and moved into 4th on the all-time list.

Serious questions were being asked of the U.S. men's national team's offense after six games in the Jurgen Klinsmann era, but the Americans answered some of them in their final game of the year.

The United States won its first game on European soil in three years with a 3-2 victory over Slovenia on a frigid and foggy night in Ljubljana, Slovenia on Tuesday.

TEAM USA - EL EQUIPO DE TODOS
SPECIAL NOTE: Soccer By Ives uncovered info from Panama that the USA will play a friendly in Panama City on Wed Jan 25.
-You can also expect to see another friendly match to be scheduled for Sat Jan 21 on USA soil.
dN
Today is Slovenia and what on paper should be an easier game than last Friday in Paris.

Despite it being an international friendly, no one really expected the US to come out and beat France. Although the US put in a hardworking effort, the same lack of scoring and midfield play again doomed the US to a loss under new-ish boss Jurgen Klinsmann. I still stand by my view of not judging him until World Cup Qualifying begins and we get a look at a full, veteran, "A" side US team.

Tough one.

Can't call them "snap judgments" because they took way too long. TSG's Tuesday will be along shortly with the official review.

Here are some thoughts that I want to spill out on the screen. We'll give it the "Good, Bad, Ugly" treatment because it works well here.

Gloves?

Cherundolo is one of three players on the U.S. roster who is the captain of his club team
Here's all the news and notes you need to get prepped for the USA's first match against France since 1979, and the first ever in the famed Stade de France. A few to get you started ..

After battling through a round of midweek Europa League contests, the Americans in Europe took on teams in their respecitve domestic leauges. Here is a recap of this weekend's games.
Jozy Altidore started and played 86 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 3-0 victory against ADO Den Haag in the Dutch Eredivisie, and the side remains at the top of the table by a margin of five points.

Red Bulls Fans May Have a Euro 2012 Rooting Interest After AllThe 2011 MLS Cup final participants are now set following yesterday's conference finals, and for the first time in a number of years none of the lowest playoff seeds made it through to the championship. Whether that's the result of a slightly more equitable playoff format that punished poor regular season performance is anyone's guess.

By IAN HOLLIDAY

Will this be the year that the spending sprees that brought Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Karim Benzema and Jose Mourinho, among others, to Real Madrid finally translate into a La Liga title? There's a lot of season left to be played, but this weekend's results will be cause for optimism among fans of the Merengues.

By FRANCO PANIZO

Jozy Altidore has reason to celebrate, and not just because it's his birthday.

Altidore found the back of the net for the first time since Sept. 29 by capping the scoring in AZ Alkmaar's 3-0 victory over ADO Den Haag on the day he turned 22 years old.

AZ forward Jozy Altidore has applied the 83rd minute capper on a 3-0 win over ADO Den Haag. Celebrating his birthday, the (now) 22-year old hypnotized two defenders and danced around the keeper. I'll get the clip up as quickly as I can, you're gonna love it.And if you're keeping score, that's four Eredivisie goals and eight overall as we near the 1/3 marker on the season.

AZ forward Jozy Altidore has applied the 83rd minute capper on a 3-0 win over ADO Den Haag. Celebrating his birthday, the (now) 22-year old hypnotized two defenders and danced around the keeper. I'll get the clip up as quickly as I can, you're gonna love it.And if you're keeping score, that's four Eredivisie goals and eight overall as we near the 1/3 marker on the season.

As Klinsmann's roster to face France & Slovenia

"Morales, where'd you learn to play son?"

G: Tim Howard, Bill Hamid

The skinny: Just calling this "Double H" from now on. By the way truth Bill Hamid's email address begins with "YoungTimHoward"

DEF: D: Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Steve Cherundolo, Clarence Goodson, Alfredo Morales, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Oguchi Onyewu

The skinny: Was a 1st team call-up part of Morales's deal to play for the US?

Pretty standard roster again this time around, with a couple of changes. USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann continues to get some heat for his selection of Michael Orozco Fiscal. Follow me after the jump for the full roster.

Goalkeepers (2): Tim Howard, Bill Hamid

Defenders (7): Steve Cherundolo, Oguchi Onyewu, Carlos Bocanegra, Timmy Chandler, Clarence Goodson, Michael Orozco Fiscal, Alfredo Morales

Midfielders (9): Michael Bradley, Maurice Edu, Clint Dempsey, Brek Shea, Danny Williams, Fabian Johnson, Kyle Beckerman, Jermaine Jones, Robbie Rogers

Forwards (4): Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Jozy Altidore, Edson Buddle

The German infusion of talent continues, as newcomer Alfredo Morales of Hertha BSC will make his debut on the USMNT roster.