Yanks Abroad: Donovan returns, Pulisic assists

The Americans around the globe gave us plenty to talk about over the weekend as we got some action from unlikely places. Andrija Novakovich scored yet again in the second tier of Dutch football and Jann George got one as well in the 2. Bundesliga. But a 35-year-old Landon Donovan playing for the first time in 2 years is the real crazy part. Don’t analyze it, don’t dissect it. It just isn’t worth it.

Here are the highs & lows of our Yanks Abroad:

Christian Pulisic
Pulisic assisted his new teammate Michy Batshuayi to open the scoring as Borussia Dortmund defeated Hamburger SV 2-0. Dortmund have finally found their swag in the last couple matches and we can expect more of this from Pulisic in the coming months.

DeAndre Yedlin
He was part of a backline that shut out Manchester United by a final of 1-0. Yedlin held his own and played well, although he was beaten a couple times. Without those three points, Newcastle United would be in the relegation zone, but they jumped up to 13th place with the big win at St. James Park. Yedlin continues to be a very important player for the Premier League side.

Andrija Novakovich
21-year-old Novakovich scored his 12th league goal in the 2nd division in the Netherlands as Telstar drew with Ajax II by a final of 3-3.

Landon Donovan
Yes... that’s right. The United States legend returned from retirement (again), coming on for the final 7 minutes of Leon’s 2-1 win. It’s hard to judge too much on the short appearance, but he immediately had some very poor touches and bad passes. Just a reminder that he had made only 6 professional appearances (in 2016) since his 1st retirement all the way back in 2014.

Antonee Robinson
The 20-year-old Robinson picked up an assist against Tim Ream and Fulham as he went all 90 minutes for Bolton Wanderers.

Bobby Wood
Unfortunately, on the other side of Dortmund’s shutout over Hamburg was Bobby Wood. He started up top alongside Filip Kostic but was only able to muster one shot. Wood was subbed out in the 54th min for an 18 year old Jann-Fiete Arp.

Tim Ream
The Fulham man went the distance at center-back in a 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers. He completed 55 of 60 passes with five interceptions and seven clearances, but he was out muscled losing many of his duels and aerials.

Cameron Carter-Vickers
The Tottenham loanee played 90 minutes and helped earn a shutout as Ipswitch Town drew with Burton Albion 0-0. But CCV turned in some pretty poor numbers on the day, finishing with just 67% passing from the CB position.

Aron Johannsson
He has finally started to see regular time on the field with 2 straight starts, even scoring a goal last week. He was subbed out in the 65th minute as Werder Bremen defeated Wolfsburg 3-1 on Sunday.

Timmy Chandler
His Eintracht Frankfurt side beat FC Köln 4-2, with Chandler playing all 90 minutes.

Jorge Villafaña
The left back went 90 minutes for Santos Laguna as they shutout Guadalajara by a final of 2-0.

Alfredo Morales
Morales went 90 minutes for Ingolstadt in a 0-0 draw against Ezergebirge Aue in the second tier of German football.

Julian Green
Green got the start at striker for Greuther Furth in a 1-0 win over Dynamo Dresden, picking up a yellow card in the 12th minute.

Jann George
The 25-year-old German-American scored for Jahn Regensburg in a 2-0 win over Heidenheim, before subbing out in the 89th minute. I think he mishit the shot, and the keeper looks ridiculous, but they all count the same!

Kenny Saief
The Gent loanee went 90 minutes for Anderlecht as they were shutout by Oostende 2-0.

William Yarbrough
He went 90 minutes in goal for Leon in a 2-1 win over Puebla.

What were your highlight performances for the Americans playing abroad?