Team Donovan & Howard (Everton) Beats Team Dempsey (Fulham) 2-1 In FA Cup

I have no idea where U.S. men's head coach Jurgen Klinsmann was today but I would guess that he parked himself in front of a TV this afternoon to watch his three best players-Tim Howard, Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey-compete in an FA Cup match.

Howard and Donovan's club Everton won 2-1 over Dempsey's Fulham in a fifth-round game. What's more, Donovan (playing in his sixth game while on loan) provided both assists on strong aerial crosses from the right side.

It marked the first time that Everton beat Fulham in an FA Cup match after four consecutive losses.

"Landon's been great since he's been here,'' Everton assistant manager Steve Round said. "He's a real diamond of a guy, he's a very intelligent footballer and the lads all like him. You've seen the quality of his end product, whether it be from crosses or set plays.

"He's a top player."

Donovan and Dempsey had played on the last two World Cup teams for the U.S. and I would argue that they are the two best male field players that the United States has ever produced. This was only the seventh time that they'd played each with the last time taking place six years ago in MLS when Dempsey's New England Revolution topped Donovan's LA Galaxy 4-0.

After Fulham's Danny Murphy converted on a penalty kick in the 14th minute, Everton equalized in the 27th minute thanks to Denis Stracqualursi's first goal for the Toffees. Donovan's cross was perfectly placed as Stracqualursi headed it into the corner past Fulham goalkeeper David Stockdale.

It was a quiet day for Dempsey, his most notable chance was a header early in the second half that went over the crossbar. Donovan tried his luck from distance, to no avail but once again he showed off his underrated passing (specifically crossing) ability.

He whipped the ball to Marouane Fellaini, who put the header in the top corner for the game-winner in the 73rd minute.

Howard didn't have to make any crazy saves but you can bet that if Everton continues to advance in the FA Cup, it will be thanks to him. Apropos of nothing, he's still wearing that camouflage goalkeeper jersey that I've never seen anybody else have.

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Thierry Henry Returns On Loan To Arsenal In Smashing Fashion With A Winning Goal

It's pretty rare in professional sports that we see moments that can only be described as magical. It takes a lot for a cynical person like myself to sit back and say wow but yesterday's FA Cup match between Arsenal and Leeds provided such a moment that I will honestly never forget.

Thierry Henry made his debut for Arsenal; the former Gunners icon is on a two-month loan in London from the New York Red Bulls (MLS). Would you believe that after coming on as a substitute, he provided the winning goal in a 1-0 game that propelled Arsenal to the fourth round of the FA Cup?

The game was at Arsenal's home stadium, the Emirates, so Henry gets the proper reception when he comes on, after he scores and at the final whistle. Granted, there probably won't be many more goals or moments like this for Henry in the next few months but how sweet was last night? It proved that he still has something left in the tank after a long and glorious career.

On first blush, the classic finish by Henry into the side netting appears to be very close to offside but notice that Leeds has a defender on the other side of the box. That guy kept Henry onside; props on the through ball from Alex Song. It was perfectly placed, right on his foot. All Henry had to do was take one touch to settle it before curling it around Leeds's goalkeeper.

Just from my studying abroad experience in the winter and spring of 2005 in London, I will always have fond memories of Henry. He was at the top of his game then and he will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest goal-scorers of his generation. Furthermore, he's a good guy and he has done so much for the game of soccer both internationally (for France) and domestically (Arsenal, Barcelona).

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Clint Dempsey Notches The First Hat Trick Of His Professional Career, For Fulham

Pardon the delay but we'd like to catch up on something that happened over the weekend while the NFL playoffs began stateside.

Clint Dempsey scored the first hat trick of his professional career, something that he never did with the New England Revolution either, when he scored three times for Fulham on Saturday at Craven Cottage in a 4-0 win over Charlton in the 3rd round of the FA Cup.

The three goals pretty much summed up why Dempsey is such a feared goal-scorer. The first was a through ball that he finished over the goalkeeper with his right foot. Then he had a similar goal, except with his left. Finally, he stepped up to the line for a penalty kick and blasted it in while the crowd went crazy.

It topped off a big week for the pride of the United States since Dempsey made his Twitter debut (@clint_dempsey) a few days earlier. Normally, I wouldn't note something trivial like that but 1) I'm hopelessly addicted to Twitter and 2) Dempsey is by far the most successful American abroad. Needless to say, if you're on Twitter (step it up Shimer!), you need to follow Dempsey.

He's always been a pretty guarded and quiet guy so I'm looking forward to getting to know him better through Twitter. Now all we need is Tim Howard to follow his lead and get a Twitter handle, that would make my life complete.



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Stuart Holden makes his Bolton debut

Lost amidst the US-El Salvador game and the Champions League action of the last couple days, U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden made his debut last night for Bolton in their 4-0 loss to Tottenham in a fifth-round replay FA Cup match.

Holden was in the starting 11, one of five midfielders in Bolton's peculiar 4-5-1 formation. It was clearly a tough result but the good news is that he played all 90 minutes so his fitness must be at a decent level ahead of a likely World Cup roster spot.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/match?id=289035&cc=5901

Holden joined Bolton in January after playing with the Houston Dynamo of the MLS. He previously had a brief stint in England with Sunderland but that was cut short after getting injured in a bar fight in Newcastle. Happens to the best of us, right?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/id/746348/ce/uk/?cc=5901&ver=us

UPDATE: Defoe seals FA Cup win with hat trick

Defoe scored his hat trick outrunning the defense from his own end of the field as Leeds was pushing forward just seconds before the end in extra time as Tottenham won, 3-1. The Hotspurs will face Bolton in the next round of the FA Cup. Defoe now has reached 20 goals in all competitions for the team on top of his five goals for England.

Defoe on the mark

In the day's only FA Cup replay, Tottenham forward Jermain Defoe was yet again on the mark for for the Hotspurs late in the second half in the 73rd minute to put the team ahead of Leeds United, 2-1. So far Defoe has scored both of the Tottenham goals in the fourth round of the tournament to bring his season total to 19 in all competitions in what has been a career year.

Surely Defoe will partner Manchester United's Wayne Rooney - who has been in fine form himself - up front for England this summer at the World Cup.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=736027&sec=england&cc=5901

Although his striking partner at Tottenham Peter Crouch has recently outperformed Robbie Keane to the point that the White Hart Lane side sold Keane, and Crouch has more experience at the international level than Defoe - England simply does not perform at high enough level with crouch as one of the feature forwards as evidenced by a really lackluster 2006 World Cup.