Yanks Abroad: Promotion/relegation and European qualification

It is an absolutely amazing time around the world for football fandom. Our Yanks Abroad have been battling it out to earn their spot in European competition, to gain promotion, and to avoid relegation. Julian Green scored a goal to keep his team in the 2nd tier in Germany and Ethan Horvath was in goal as his team won the title and booked a UCL spot. On the other end, Bobby Wood was sent off early as Hamburg were relegated for the first time in club history.

Here are the highs & lows from the Yanks Abroad:

Julian Green
Green scored a classy goal in the 51st minute as Gruether Fürth drew with Heidenheim 1-1. He had four shots, two on target and completed 12/17 passes. The goal ended up saving them from being relegated to the third division in Germany. The man is a hero.

Theoson Jordan Siebatcheu
He scored a goal for newly promoted Reims in the 62nd minute. CLICK HERE for more on him. The goal highlight starts at 2:33.

Andrija Novakovich
Nova scored a penalty kick in the 75th minute of Telstar’s 4-2 loss at Graafschap. They lost 6-5 on aggregate in Dutch promotion playoffs. He had a good year and he’s earned a step up next season, be it back with his actual club of Reading, or elsewhere.

Romain Gall
Gall kept his hot streak going with an assist in the 35th minute of GIF Sundsvall’s 3-0 win over Brommapojkarna.

Ethan Horvath
Horvath fell out of favor with Club Brugge but picked up two starts in the last week. On Thursday they picked up a 3-1 win over Sporting Charleroi and drew with Standard Liege 1-1 on Sunday. Brugge won the title for the second time in three years and they will play in the UCL next season. Horvath made the save on the first effort, but the follow up was smashed passed him. VIDEO.

DeAndre Yedlin
Yedlin was tasked with covering Eden Hazard as Newcastle defeated Chelsea 3-0 on the final day of the season. Yedlin played well (although his stat line may not show it) and I think he is a in a good situation with Newcastle, who finish this season in 10th place.

Christian Pulisic
Pulisic started Borussia Dortmund’s 3-1 loss to Hoffenheim as a right wing-back. He played the full 90 but obviously was not a very good day. He did finish with 83% passing, but was dispossessed four times. BvB secured their spot in the Champions League next season, barely.

Weston McKennie
The 19-year-old looked really good in 90 minutes for Schalke 04’s 1-0 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. He did all the dirty work, winning tackles and duels, but also could have had a couple assists with some very nice passing (he finished with 85% completion). He could become an important player for Schalke next season, who finish the season as the Bundesliga’s best team not named Bayern Munich.

John Brooks
He played a full 90 minutes for the first time since December in a 4-1 win for Wolfsburg over Cologne. Brooks played pretty well but only had 42 touches. He finished with 34/36 passing, 12 accurate long balls, and three clearances.

Matt Miazga
Miazga went 90 minutes as Vitesse move passed Den Haag to face FC Utrecht for two legs in the Europa League Playoffs. He played well in defense winning ten duels and adding nine clearances, plus he even got off one shot on the day.

Tim Ream
Oh, Fulham. They made the promotion playoffs last season, losing in the Semi-finals. Then they had a big opportunity to clinch promotion on the final day of the season. And then on Friday they go down 1-0 to Derby County in first leg. They were 13 points better for the whole season but that has been erased as they prepare for the 2nd leg Monday afternoon. Although they lost, Ream played quite well. He completed 93% of his passes and he had three clearances and four interceptions.

Emerson Hyndman
He got his first appearance since January for AFC Bournemouth and played 59 minutes. He was serviceable in the first half but disappeared. Hyndman has had a lot of trouble finding minutes and may be in need of a switch where he can play regularly.

Erik Palmer-Brown
EPB made three 90-minute appearances in the last week for Kortrijk in Belgium. It is good to seem him carve out regular playing time over there.

Kenny Saief
He started but was subbed out 15 minutes into Gent’s 1-0 win over Anderlecht with a knee injury.

Bobby Wood
Poor Bobby. Earning a red card in the final game for Hamburger SV as they were relegated to the 2nd division for the first time in their 99-year history was a fitting end to his ugly season. He picked up two yellow cards in 71 minutes as they beat Gladbach 2-1. He needs out of there. The Hamburgers are not pleased: