The weekend for Americans abroad followed the recent trend: Christian Pulisic continued redefining the limits of what’s possible for an American player and those who started their careers as MLS Homegrowns — Tanner Tessmann, James Sands and John Tolkin — are showing promise in Europe.
As always, here are the headlines — for better or for worse.
Pulisic saves Milan
It’s getting pleasantly repetitive to describe Christian Pulisic’s season for AC Milan. He is the best American player of all time and he’s enjoying in the best season of his career. This isn’t a case where you have to wait for him to retire and then look back and evaluate his career for context. In the context of the history of American players, we know where he fits in.
In seemingly every game, Pulisic does something important for AC Milan. This season, he has gone through different coaches, struggling teammates, and minor injuries of his own. But nothing has slowed him down.
Take Saturday’s game against relegation-battling Empoli. Milan had a lackluster first half on the road in Tuscany. But how does Milan turn things around? It is Pulisic. First Pulisic assisted Rafael Leão for a goal in the 68 th minute with a perfect cross to the far post. Then eight minutes later, the Hershey native then did very well to control a long ball and play it to his right and find a streaking Santiago Giménez who was able to make a run into the box.
Pulisic now has eight assists in Serie A this season and 12 goals and nine assists across all competitions. Even when he’s not scoring or assisting, he is making things happen. Despite all of this, Milan hasn’t been great and is still on the wrong side of the Champions League line for qualifying next season.
It would be a real disappointment if the top American player doesn’t play in the competition next year. As of now, they’re four points out of Europe and seven points out of the Champions League. That’s not significant ground to make up.
Sargent scores for Norwich
When Josh Sargent returned from surgery and a long layoff in January, Norwich coach Johannes Thorup said it was the equivalent of his team getting a major inbound transfer. It’s hard to argue as Sargent’s goal on Saturday in a 1-1 draw with Derby County was his fourth goal in the last three games. When he’s healthy and fit, he’s one of the best strikers in the Championship. Unfortunately for Norwich, keeping Sargent healthy hasn’t been easy.
Sargent was able to go the full 90 minutes against Derby and the result was very disappointing for the Canaries as Sargent’s 68th minute goal should have been enough. But Norwich conceded a penalty in stoppage time and had to settle for a point against a team in the bottom three. Had Norwich won the game, it would have ended the weekend in sixth place and in the promotion playoff positions.
But Sargent, who turns 25 in 10 days, is playing well and there is every reason to like Norwich’s chances to continue to rise if Sargent is healthy. For the national team, the health of Sargent is critical as Ricardo Pepi, Folarin Balogun and Haji Wright are all injured.
Downs continues meteoric rise
Damion Downs, 20, is in the mix for the young American breakout in Europe for the current season where he’s in the mix with players like Paxten Aaronson and Noahkai Banks. The German-born Downs is red hot right now and last weekend he scored the only goal for FC Cologne in a 1-0 win over Schalke.
Downs has 10 goals in all competitions (nine in the 2.Bundesliga). It was also the third straight game he has scored.
It came off a terrible mistake where a Schalke defender tried to chest the ball back to his keeper and didn’t get enough on it. It rolled to a Cologne attacker who played it to Downs for a simple tap-in. But when you play as well as Downs has been, the breaks go your way.
Downs still has quite a way to go to become the player he can be. But he’s also extremely athletic and has enough skill that always makes him a handful to defend. There are rumors that he could be a transfer target this summer and that seems extremely realistic. He looks like a first division player right now. But the question is what happens if Cologne earns promotion.
That looks realistic for the first-place team. Cologne will then have more means to keep a top young player.
It’s entirely possible that Downs could find his way on the USMNT roster in March given that Haji Wright, Ricardo Pepi and Folarin Balogun are injured.
Tolkin assists in Holstein Kiel tie
After having his hands full in his first Bundesliga start last weekend against Bayern Munich, Holstein Kiel’s new left back John Tolkin had a more manageable assignment against Bochum on Saturday. But this game was far more important for Holstein Kiel as it saw a matchup between the bottom two teams in the Bundesliga standings and it offered Holstein Kiel a chance to climb into the relegation playoff position and out of the automatic relegation playoffs.
The good news for Tolkin is that he had a very solid performance. The bad news is that Holstein Kiel had to settle for just a point at home in a 2-2 result. That is a costly missed opportunity that kept it in the bottom two. It trails Heidenheim for the relegation playoff position by just a point but is five points away from automatic safety.
Tolkin factored into both goals for Holstein Kiel. His cross in the third minute led to a handball call that gifted his team a penalty, which it capitalized on. Then in the 50th minute with Holstein Kiel down 2-1, Tolkin’s free kick set up David Zec’s equalizing goal.
Tolkin walked into a relegation battle and is looking to prove himself in the Bundesliga. He needed this performance to help keep himself in the starting lineup for the important games ahead.
For the national team, he is another player who might be in the running for a March call-up as the backup role behind Antonee Robinson that has never been claimed.
Miljevic impresses for Huracan
Matko Miljevic, 23, is a tough player to read. He has some talent but also has a history of disciplinary problems. His one run in MLS with Montreal went poorly, even before the ugly exit. But perhaps his talent is starting to speak for itself in Argentina.
Earning a start for Huracan on Friday night, Miljevic had a big game in a 2-0 win over Tigre. For the team’s second goal, Miljevic drew a foul that led to a penalty — which he took and converted. Miljevic also drew four fouls in this game and won a big percentage of his duels.
March will be interesting for Miljevic. Pochettino surprisingly called him up in January and Miljevic scored against Venezuela. Gio Reyna isn’t playing much and Malik Tillman is hurt. Will Pochettino elect to call up Miljevic again, or will he go with someone like Paxten Aaronson or Diego Luna?
Other good news
There was plenty of other good news to report over the weekend as well.
Most of the Americans in Belgian top tier were involved in Westerlo’s 4-2 win over Standard Liege. Bryan Reynolds started and played 90 minutes for Westerlo at right back while Griffin Yow went 85 minutes at right wing. Marlon Fossey went 90 minutes for Standard. All three Americans played well while Yow was the best of the bunch.
In the 17th minute, Yow assisted on an equalizer scored by Isa Sakamoto and was active throughout his entire shift, putting Standard on its heels.
In France’s Ligue 1, Tanner Tessmann played 81 minutes for Lyon in a comfortable 4-0 win over Stade de Reims. The 2024 U.S. Olympic team captain has had uneven playing time in recent weeks, but he did a good job taking advantage of this opportunity and helping Lyon win the midfield battle. The win ensured that Lyon finished the weekend in sixth place.
In Germany, James Sands went 90 minutes for St. Pauli in a 2-0 loss away to RB Leipzig. The result wasn’t surprising given the gap between the teams but Sands continues to show well since moving to St. Pauli from New York City FC. Playing in the defensive midfield, Sands won 7/8 ground duels and 4/5 of his aerials. He is quietly looking to be in the mix for a March call-up.
In the FA Cup, Crystal Palace defeated Doncaster 2-0 in the FA Cup and Matt Turner earned a rare start and made four saves, including a pair of tough ones in the win. It’s important for him to play well whenever given the chance. Chris Richards also did well.
Staying in England in the Premier League 2, Daryl Dike took an important step in his comeback from his second ruptured Achilles’ injury when he played the first 30 minutes (as was pre-planned) for West Bromwich Albion 2 in a win over Newcastle United’s academy.
News on the negative side
Gianluca Busio and Venezia fell to Roma 1-0 in Venice and remained in the relegation zone with a five-point deficit for survival.
Mark McKenzie started for Toulouse in a 2-2 tie with Auxerre but was pulled at the half with an injury. The score was 0-0 when he left and this gives Pochettino another potential problem.
The wheels are starting to come off for Utrecht after a very strong start to the season. The latest disappointing result was a 1-0 loss at home to Almere City. The club now has three ties and a loss in its last four games. The club remains in third place but is now in danger of falling deeper as other clubs have caught up.
Paxten Aaronson went the distance in the loss, and he was far from the team’s problem (and was quite active at times). He has shown he is good enough to be an impact player in the league. That raises the bar where he must help be the team’s solution to its current woes.
In Germany, Gio Reyna did not move in January and continues to be limited to late-game cameo spots for Borussia Dortmund. The latest over the weekend was in a 2-1 loss at home to Stuttgart. He came into the game in the 85th minute.
Off the Beaten Path
Those who know the history of the Vietnam War will be aware of the Preah Sihanouk province in Cambodia. In April 1975, the port city was the last place to be evacuated by the United States Army immediately before the brutal Khmer Rouge took control of the county’s government. Only a month later, the Khmer Rouge seized the U.S. container ship SS Mayaguez and its crew. U.S. forces began a rescue mission for the crew, and it took place off the coast of Preah Sihanouk province.
For two days, the U.S. bombarded the city. Eventually the crew was released, but the U.S. military suffered 38 casualties, including three Marines left behind.
The province has not been known for soccer. That’s changed with the rise of Life FC, a club founded in 2023 that is based in the province’s capital of Sihanoukville.
Life FC immediately played in the Cambodian League 2 and it won promotion to the Cambodian Premier League in 2024. Life FC was the first club from the Preah Sihanouk province to play in either of the country’s top two flights.
Life FC boasts two American players, including the team captain, Seo-In Kim, who was born in South Korea but moved as a young child to Kansas, where he grew up.
Seo-In Kim took part in the U.S. Soccer’s Olympic Development (ODP) program and played college ball for Duke and UC Santa Barbara. His brother played for the Air Force Academy. Following college, Seo-In Kim bounced around the lower U.S. leagues such as USL League One and League Two, and NISA. He also played abroad in the Czech Republic and Malta. Now 29, Seo-In Kim has found success in Cambodia.
The second American came last month when defender Sam Strong joined the club. Strong and Kim were teammates at UC Santa Barbara in 2015-2016. It was during this time that Strong earned a surprising call-up to the U.S. U-23 team for a pair of camps when it was coached by Andi Herzog.
Like Kim, Strong bounced around the lower divisions of the United States before heading abroad, first in Thailand, then the Philippines, and now Cambodia.
Now teammates again for the first time since college, Kim and Strong have their work cut out for them. This past weekend Life FC lost to league leader Svay Rieng 3-1 at home. Both Kim and Strong started the match and it was Strong’s debut for the club. Life FC now sits ninth in the 11-team league and next week it visits fourth-place Ankor Tiger.
These games might indeed be far off the beaten path for American fans, but Strong and Kim both show that the American footprint in the game of soccer can extend to places least expected.
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