A couple of guys in action on Thursday, including one goal.  Also of note, Charles Kazlauskas did not play in Helmond Sport’s 2-1 loss to VVV-Venlo in the first leg of the promotion playoffs.  He did pick up a yellow card in each of his last two games, so I am wondering if he missed today’s game due to yellow card accumulation.  The second leg will take place on Sunday.

Ryan Miller (Halmstads BK – Swedish Allsvenskan) – Ryan got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Halmstads BK’s 0-0 draw to Angelholms FF.

Justin Moose (SJK – Finnish Ykkönen) – Justin came off the bench and played 34 minutes in SJK’s 2-1 victory over PK-35 Vantaa.

Matt Pyzdrowski (Angelholms FF – Swedish Superettan) – Matt got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Angelholms FF’s 0-0 draw to Halmstads BK.

Aaron Wheeler (KooTeePee – Finnish Ykkönen) – Aaron scored a goal in KooTeePee’s 3-1 loss to RoPS.

Zak Whitbread will be looking for a new team this summer with Norwich City releasing the 28-year-old centerback on Thursday.

Whitbread, who appeared in 21 games this season across all competitions, has been hammered by the injury bug for most of his career and it looks like the Canaries have decided to go in a different direction.

Whitbread made the move from Millwall to Norwich City in 2009-10 and helped Norwich get promoted from League One to the Premier League in back-to-back seasons while starting in 43 games.

The Men’s National Team has an important stretch of five games ahead of it that culminates with the start of World Cup Qualifying. On Tuesday, head coach Jurgen Klinsmann announced the first group of players who will report to training camp in Orlando, Florida. Hear Klinsmann’s thoughts on the first 16 players on the camp roster, plus his reasoning behind approaching the next month as a ‘Five-Game Tournament.’

Do you like links?  Then you will like today’s post.

Still not over Timothy Chandler?  Brian Sciaretta and Ives Galarcep each give their thoughts on Chandler-gate.  I can’t wait until someone named Gate/Gait gets in trouble so we can have Gate-gate.

US U-20 forward Jerome Kiesewetter has left Hertha Berlin and has signed a new four-year deal with VfB Stuttgart.  Kiesewetter is a German-American who played with the US U-18 team at the 2011 Milk Cup and was part of the US U-23/U-20 camp in November.  He leaves behind Alfredo Morales and Anthony Brooks at Hertha Berlin, who were just relegated to the 2. Bundesliga.

With Hapoel Tel Aviv winning the State Cup, Leo Krupnik and Maccabi Netanya will be in next year’s Euopra League.

Mikkel Diskerud wants to make his loan deal to Gent a permanent move.

There are some rumors in Scotland that Dominic Cervi could be headed to MLS this summer.  Cervi has been with Celtic since 2008-09, but has yet to appear in any league games.

Greg Seltzer recently caught up with Gregg Berhalter about his great start to the season at Hammarby.

Seltzer also did an interview with Evian TG goalie Quentin Westberg about his first season in Ligue 1 since 2006.

The Guardian released their team of the year based on the game-by-game player ratings given by the readers and even they are shocked that Clint Dempsey did not make it.  He wasn’t even rated as the top player for Fulham this season.

Sticking with Dempsey, he will be participating in some All-Star game in Miami in June, which will also feature players like Didier Drogba, Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez among others.  It also looks like Carlos Bocanegra and Jozy Altidore will be playing in the game.  Here is the website for the game.

Not quite cool as the OT XI, but SI.com has some awards/honors for the various Americans playing abroad.

Brian Sciaretta has an interview up with Sacha Kljestan over at the NY Times soccer blog on Kljestan’s breakout season at Anderlecht.  Based on his quotes in this interview and the fact that he is celebrating his bachelor party this week (according to him on twitter), I don’t think he will be named to the USMNT roster this upcoming Sunday unless some midfielders pick up some injuries.

It should be interesting to see what happens this summer to Stuart Holden and Tim Ream as Bolton announced a plan to slash their wage bill by 50 percent before next season.

And finally, here are some more rumored/leaked kits for next season.

* Everton (Tim Howard) home
* Tottenham (Brad Friedel) away and third
* FC Sochaux (Charlie Davies) home

A bunch of guys in Finland, Sweden and Norway played on Wednesday.

Daniel Antunez (Inter Turku – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Daniel got the start, went the full 90 minutes and scored a goal in Inter Turku’s 2-1 victory over KuPS.

Mike Banner (Jaro – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Mike got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Jaro’s 1-1 draw to VPS.

Rhett Bernstein (Mjøndalen – Norwegian Adeccoligaen) – Rhett got the start, played 90 minutes and received two yellow cards in Mjøndalen’s 3-1 loss to Sarpsborg 08.

Steve Clark (Hønefoss – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Steve got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Hønefoss’ 1-0 victory over Rosenborg.

Brian Edwards (Degerfors IF – Swedish Superettan) – Brian got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Degerfors IF’s 6-1 victory over Värnamo.

Josh Gatt (Molde FK – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Josh got the start, played 86 minutes and received a yellow card in Molde FK’s 2-0 victory over Fredrikstad.

Kyle Helton (Mjøndalen – Norwegian Adeccoligaen) – Kyle got the start, played 45 minutes and received a yellow card in Mjøndalen’s 3-1 loss to Sarpsborg 08.

Patrick Hopkins (Ljungskile SK – Swedish Superettan) – Patrick got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Ljungskile SK’s 2-2 draw to Varberg.

Etchu Tabe (KuPS – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Etchu got the start and played 64 minutes in KuPS’ 2-1 loss to Inter Turku.

Mason Trafford (IFK Mariehamn – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Mason got the start and went the full 90 minutes in IFK Mariehamn’s 5-2 loss to JJK.

Sebastian Troupe (Bærum – Norwegian Adeccoligaen) – Sebastian got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Bærum’s 3-1 loss to Bryne.

Steffen Vroom (Ljungskile SK – Swedish Superettan) – Steffen got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Ljungskile SK’s 2-2 draw to Varberg.

Here are the first 16 players out of the 29 expected to be called in.  The remaining 13 players will be called in next week, which will be a mix of foreign guys and MLS guys.  Here are some quotes from Klinsmann.

GOALKEEPERS (3): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (4): Carlos Bocanegra (Rangers), Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Alfredo Morales (Hertha Berlin)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona), Joe Corona (Club Tijuana), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04), Jose Torres (Pachuca), Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)

FORWARDS (1): Clint Dempsey (Fulham)

No Jozy?  Klinsmann has some quotes linked above on why they didn’t select Chandler.  Terrence Boyd is not listed, but has tweeted/claimed that he has been called in.

Thoughts/complaints/surprises?  Leave them in the comments.

Come on Klinsi, give us the goods.  Until then, here are a few things.

First off, we have our OT XI.  Complain away in the comments.  It already looks like one spot has some people disagreeing.  As I stated in the comments, while one player could be a better player than another, this is based on who had the best 2011-12 season in Howie’s and myself’s eyes.

Greg Seltzer gives us a quick rundown which Americans will/have a chance of playing in next year’s Champions League and Europa League.

Speaking of which, Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjælland had a great chance to take the lead in the Danish Superliga on Monday, but were only able to draw with Odense BK, meaning they are still in second place with two games left.

One American did win some silverware this past weekend, although it was only the U-19 German Cup.  US U-20 midfielder Caleb Stanko and Freiburg’s U-19 team defeated Hertha Berlin, 2-1, in the finals.

While we are waiting for the US roster, Scotland released their roster for the upcoming friendlies.

And the silly season is slowly beginning.  The guys at Yanks Abroad have two previews up (here and here).  As for the first rumor, there was some chatter this morning that Terrence Boyd had signed a deal with Eintracht Braunschweig in the 2. Bundesliga, but now his agent is claiming that he has not.

With the major European leagues wrapping up (some in legendary fashion), it’s time to revisit a SoccerOverThere.com favorite: the OT XI. Before discussing this year’s OT XI, let’s review the honorees from 2010-11:

Unlike the 2009-10 OT XI that saw three guys return to the States, all of last year’s honorees were in theory eligible for this year’s team, although extended injuries (Holden, Lichaj) and less than ideal club moves (Yelldell, Bedoya) played a factor. Before unveiling this year’s team, we must recognize the gentlemen who were gunning for a three-peat, having earned spots on both the 2009-10 and 2010-11 squads:

- Clarence Goodson

- Clint Dempsey

Will Clay and Deuce three-peat? The answer lies below:

Breaking down the team:

Goalkeeper
Tim Howard, Everton (England)
Did you realize that Everton finished joint-third in the goals allowed column in the Premier League this season? After a somewhat forgettable Gold Cup, Howard had one of his better club seasons, allowing his fewest goals since 2008-09 despite a record-setting offensive season in the Premier League. For just the second time in 25 years and the seventh time in the last 50 seasons, the Toffees finished ahead of rivals Liverpool (alone in 7th) despite having a transfer budget so meager they were forced to rent a winger from Major League Soccer. Howard becomes the third keeper in as many years to earn this honor.

Defenders
Jonathan Spector, Birmingham City (England)
Michael Parkhurst, FC Nordsjælland (Denmark)
Oguchi Onyewu, Sporting CP (Portugal)
Fabian Johnson, TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (Germany)
It’s a story of renewed careers at the backline. Jonathan Spector, largely a reserve as West Ham United sank to relegation a year before, helped Birmingham City to the promotion playoffs despite missing several weeks with an injury. Meanwhile, Oguchi Onyewu, seemingly bound to never recover from his 2009 knee injury, landed at a surprisingly big club and surprisingly became a regular starter in Portugal’s second-best defense and a Europa League semifinalist. Michael Parkhurst’s consistency blosomed into a great year as poor little Nordsjælland are surprise title and Champions League contenders, allowing just 22 goals in 30 matches. Meanwhile, in Germany, hybrid wingback Fabian Johnson provided some quality minutes at leftback, sparking debate about whether he could in fact be the First Great American Leftback.

Midfielders
Bryan Gerzicich, Hapoel Ironi Kiryat Shmona (Israel)
Josh Gatt, Molde (Norway)
Michael Bradley, Chievo Verona (Italy)
Sacha Kljestan, Anderlecht (Belgium)
Clint Dempsey, Fulham (England)
Bryan Gerzichich and Kiryat Shmona were surprise champions of Israel. The plucky bunch from the tiny border city, 4th in 2010-11, ran away with the Israeli Premier League by an astonishing 17 points in the regular season and holding on in the playoffs to advance to Champions League qualifying in part because of Gerzicich’s play in the midfield. Meanwhile, another Yank starred for a surprise champion in Norway, as Josh Gatt played pretty much everywhere on the right in helping Molde FK celebrate its centennial with its first top-flight title and making the would-be college sophomore a favorite of coach and Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjær. Michael Bradley rebounded from a nightmare loan spell with Aston Villa last year to put together one of his finest seasons of his career, with the now-minted “General Bradley” helping Chievo to a top-half finish despite having the league’s second-worst offense. Elsewhere, Sacha Kljestan was yet another champion in the midfield, turning in consistently strong performances as Anderlecht won its 31st title and move into the Champions League group stages. Finally, Clint Dempsey is pretty much awesome.

Forward
Jozy Altidore, AZ (Netherlands)
After a forgettable three years in Europe (six goals in 77 appearances with four different clubs), Jozy Altidore moved to the Netherlands and finally found his touch. Despite a few benchings, Altidore consistently returned to the lineup because he scored goals. He scored 15th in the Eredivisie (good for 7th in the league) and 19 in all competitions, nearly matching his career total. Additionally, playing as the center forward in AZ’s 4-3-3, he finally embraced the finer parts of the #9 role, making nice near post runs and showing the best holdup play of his career. Despite a late slump, AZ and Altidore will be in the Europa League next year, and the team’s leading scorer will be looked upon to build on a strong debut year.

2011-12 MVP
Clint Dempsey, M/F, Fulham
Whenever Dempsey retires or moves back to MLS, we might have to rename this award the Clint Dempsey Trophy. After winning deserving MVP awards the past two seasons, Deuce had his best season yet, moving from “nice/quality player” to “elite”. Dempsey finished 4th in the Premier League in goals with 17 and finished with 23 goals across the board, surpassing his total combined from the last two seasons. He blitzed past former teammate Brian McBride to become the leading scorer by an American in England, went over 50 goals for his career, and may have earned his way to a Champions League transfer. He’s a great American, my friends.

Goal of the Year
Perhaps no goal was more symbolic of Gatt’s performance than his flying, slaloming run against Start that put a defender on the ground and solidified his spot as perhaps the most exciting American youngster.

Performance of the Year
We were all impressed when Dempsey scored a hat trick in a 4-0 FA Cup win over League One’s Charlton, but we were really impressed when he went and had a hat trick two weeks later against a Premier League side. Dempsey destroyed a Champions League-contending Newcastle on January 21, even passing on a penalty kick when sitting on two goals to earn the hat trick the real way. (Indeed, had Dempsey taken Fulham’s penalty kicks that day, he could have earned himself a Golden Helmet of Mambrino five goals. Yeah, he can ball.

Howie’s Pick – Charles Kazlauskas (Helmond Sport – Dutch Eerste Divisie)

Charles Kazlauskas scored the winning goal for Helmond Sport in their 1-0 Eredivisie promotion playoffs win over Eindhoven.

Matt’s Pick – Charles Kazlauskas (Helmond Sport – Dutch Eerste Divisie)

Lots of good options this week (Maurice Edu or Josh Gatt), but I also went with Charles Kazlauskas.  Kazlauskas scored in each leg of Helmond Sport’s promotion playoffs and now they have a two-legged series with VVV-Venlo with a spot in next year’s Eredivisie on the line.

A few Americans took the field in Norway this weekend with Josh Gatt scoring and assisting on one goal each in Molde FK’s 5-0 victory over Ricardo Clark, Sean Cunningham, Erik Benjaminsen (making his first career league appearance) and Stabæk (highlights here).

In Scotland, Maurice Edu (twice) and Alejandro Bedoya both picked up some assists in Rangers’ 4-0 victory (highlights here).

Royal-Dominique Fennell had a busy Saturday, first scoring an own goal, but making up for it and scoring in the correct goal in Stuttgarter Kickers’ 3-2 victory over Jann George and Nurnberg II.

Sacha Kljestan didn’t play today with the league title already clinched, but Anderlecht played their last game of the season.  Kljestan tweeted this photo after the game of himself with the trophy.

Gregg Berhalter’s coaching debut at Hammarby has continued its good run this weekend, pulling out another victory.  They are now 5-0-1 on the season.

It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns for Americans this weekend.  Bolton Wanderers were only able to get a 2-2 draw to Stoke City, so despite Manchester City’s out-of-this-world comeback over QPR, Tim Ream and Stuart Holden will be playing in the League Championship next season.

Here is how everyone did this weekend.

Daniel Antunez (Inter Turku – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Daniel got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Inter Turku’s 2-1 victory over JJK.

Mike Banner (Jaro – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Mike got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Jaro’s 1-0 loss to Honka.

Shawn Barry (LASK Linz – Austrian Football First League) – Shawn came off the bench and played seven minutes in LASK Linz’s 1-1 draw to Grödig.

Alejandro Bedoya (Rangers – Scottish Premier League) – Alejandro got the start, played 81 minutes and received a yellow card in Rangers’ 4-0 victory over St. Johnstone.

Erik Benjaminsen (Stabæk – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Erik came off the bench and played 74 minutes in Stabæk’s 5-0 loss to Molde FK.

Rhett Bernstein (Mjøndalen – Norwegian Adeccoligaen) – Rhett got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Mjøndalen’s 2-1 victory over Hødd.

Terrence Boyd (Borussia Dortmund II – German Regionalliga) – Terrence got the start, played 45 minutes and received a yellow card in Borussia Dortmund II’s 2-0 victory over Bochum II.

Michael Bradley (Chievo Verona – Italian Serie A) – Michael got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Chievo Verona’s 1-0 victory over Lecce.

Dzenan Catic (Kaiserslautern II – German Regionalliga) – Dzenan got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Kaiserslautern II’s 1-0 victory over Idar-Oberstein.

Ricardo Clark (Stabæk – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Ricardo got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Stabæk’s 5-0 loss to Molde FK.

Steve Clark (Hønefoss – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Steve got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Hønefoss’ 4-1 loss to Odd Grenland.

Sean Cunningham (Stabæk – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Sean got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Stabæk’s 5-0 loss to Molde FK.

Kenneth Di Vita Jensen (Hønefoss – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Kenneth came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Hønefoss’ 4-1 loss to Odd Grenland.

Maurice Edu (Rangers – Scottish Premier League) – Maurice got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Rangers’ 4-0 victory over St. Johnstone.

Brian Edwards (Degerfors IF – Swedish Superettan) – Brian got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Degerfors IF’s 1-0 loss to Varberg.

Royal-Dominique Fennell (Stuttgarter Kickers – German Regionalliga) – Royal-Dominique got the start, went the full 90 minutes, scored an own goal and scored a goal in Stuttgarter Kickers’ 3-2 victory over Nurnberg II.

Josh Gatt (Molde FK – Norwegian Eliteserien) – Josh got the start, went the full 90 minutes and scored a goal in Molde FK’s 5-0 victory over Stabæk.

Jann George (Nurnberg II – German Regionalliga) – Jann got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Nurnberg II’s 3-2 loss to Stuttgarter Kickers.

Clarence Goodson (Brøndby IF – Danish Superliga) – Clarence got the start, went the full 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Brøndby IF’s 5-1 loss to AGF Aarhus.

Kyle Helton (Mjøndalen – Norwegian Adeccoligaen) – Kyle got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Mjøndalen’s 2-1 victory over Hødd.

Patrick Hopkins (Ljungskile SK – Swedish Superettan) – Patrick got the start and played 40 minutes in Ljungskile SK’s 1-1 draw to Brage.

Tim Howard (Everton – English Premier League) – Tim got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Everton’s 3-1 victory over Newcastle United.

Jared Jeffrey (Mainz II – German Regionalliga) – Jared got the start and played 75 minuted in Mainz II’s 1-0 loss to Verl.

Charles Kazlauskas (Helmond Sport – Dutch Eerste Divisie) – Charles got the start, played 64 minutes, received a yellow card and scored a goal in Helmond Sport’s 2-0 victory over Eindhoven in the promotion playoffs.

Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa – English Premier League) – Eric got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Aston Villa’s 2-0 loss to Norwich City.

Ryan Miller (Halmstads BK – Swedish Allsvenskan) – Ryan got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Halmstads BK’s 3-2 victory over Jönköpings Södra.

Conor O’Brien (SønderjyskE – Danish Superliga) – Conor got the start and went the full 90 minutes in SønderjyskE’s 2-2 draw to Copenhagen.

Babajide Ogunbiyi (Viborg FF – Danish 1st Division) – Babajide got the start and went the full 90  minutes in Viborg FF’s 1-1 draw to Hobro.

Tim Ream (Bolton Wanderers – English Premier League) – Tim got the start and went the full 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-2 draw to Stoke City.

Brad Rusin (HB Køge – Danish Superliga) – Brad came off the bench and played 30 minutes in HB Køge’s 3-1 loss to Silkeborg.

Billy Schuler (Hammarby IF – Swedish Superettan) – Billy came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Hammarby IF’s 1-0 victory over Värnamo.

Etchu Tabe (KuPS – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Etchu came off the bench and played 45 minutes in KuPS’ 2-0 loss to HJK.

Mason Trafford (IFK Mariehamn – Finnish Veikkausliiga) – Mason got the start and went the full 90 minutes in IFK Mariehamn’s 2-0 victory over Lahti.

Sebastian Troupe (Bærum – Norwegian Adeccoligaen) – Sebastian got the start and played 86 minutes in Bærum’s 2-1 loss to Tromsdalen.

Steffen Vroom (Ljungskile SK – Swedish Superettan) – Steffen came off the bench and played 27 minutes in Ljungskile SK’s 1-1 draw to Brage.

Chris Wright (Magdeburg – German Regionalliga) – Chris got the start and played 62 minutes in Magdeburg’s 2-0 loss to Lübeck.