Yanks in Europe: Silverware for Mo and DMB

Maurice Edu and DaMarcus Beasley became the first USMNT players to lift a trophy in 2010, as Rangers defeated St. Mirren by a score of 1-0 in the CIS Insurance Cup final (Scottish League Cup).  Edu came on as a halftime sub, while Beasley did not feature in the match. 

Edu was very lively throughout the second half, covering a lot of ground and winning a couple of set piece opportunities.  His task to control the center of the field was made all the more difficult by a 52nd minute red card to teammate Kevin Thomson and a 71st minute red to Danny Wilson.  With Rangers reduced to 9 men and the score still level at 0-0, Edu and company still pressed forward for the game-winner.  They eventually found it in the 84th via Kenny Miller, giving them the dramatic victory and another piece of silverware for their already crowded trophy case.

Edu looked very smooth and confident on the ball despite the relative chaos of the second half, and he was all the over the field, turning in a genuine box-to-box performance.  All in all, another positive step forward for Edu, who now looks to be in the lead for the USMNT's starting defensive midfielder role thanks to his rise and Ricardo Clark's stagnation. 

Elsewhere on the British Isles, Clint Dempsey came on in the 52nd of Fulham's match against Manchester City.  Coming on for Bobby Zamora, Dempsey played as a target striker for most of his time on the field.  Fulham managed to pull one back in the second half and nearly tied it up late, but a ball that was headed for a wide open Dempsey just eight yards out was knocked away with a hand that the referee didn't spot.  It denied the Cottagers a point and denied Dempsey another tally. 

USMNT fans should be pleased with the way Roy Hodgson is handling Dempsey's return from injury.  Rather than tossing him back into the fray as a starter, Hodgson has been using Deuce almost exclusively as a second half sub.  This seems to be paying dividends in the short term, as Dempsey is looking more and more confident on the ball, and it will hopefully help keep him healthy in the long run with South Africa now less than three months away.

There was one last player in action today, though I'm sure more than a few of you have already concluded that his World Cup dreams are over (and I really couldn't blame you, at this point).  Eddie Johnson started and went 90 minutes for Aris in their 1-1 draw today.  Aris were outplayed, but managed to secure a road draw thanks to a goal from, you guessed it, Eddie Johnson.  The goal, which can be seen here, was a nice bit of finishing from EJ (no, seriously), who hit a skipping pass first time just inside the near post to give his side the lead.  Later in the game, Eddie made some good runs to put himself in position for a couple of more scoring opportunities, but he was unable to make it a brace.  It was a good game for EJ, and regardless of where he stands with the USMNT, I'm glad the guy scored a goal today; the look of joy on his face and those of his teammates says a lot about how hard he's pressing and how much they want him to succeed.  Kind of reminds of his days at Cardiff City.
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Injured/Did Not Play

Jay DeMerit was not in the Watford match day squad, after suffering some sort of back injury.  They don't say how serious it is in that article, but I feel like if it was very serious, that would've said so.  For the sake of all our sanity, let's hope I'm right, or else we might spiral back into the injury panic that we've only just climbed out of.

Jay DeMerit (back injury)
Oguchi Onyewu (knee injury)
Benny Feilhaber (ankle injury)
Freddy Adu (unused substitute)
DaMarcus Beasley (unused substitute)

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