In the early-rounds of qualification to reach the group stages for the three European competitions, Rokas Pukštas was the only American to earn a start for his team, however the most memorable performance of the round was a limited cameo by former USMNT player Aron Jóhannson.
Hajduk Split 2 – 0 HB Tórshavn
United States U-20 player Rokas Pukštas earned the start for his Croatian team Hajduk Split in Europa Conference League qualification on Thursday night, helping them to a comfortable two-goal advantage over Faroese team HB Torshavn after the home leg.
The game was the team’s first competitive outing since Italian legend Gennaro Gattuso officially took the reigns in mid-June, and the second time in three seasons that one of the most promising young midfielder for the United States has played under the fiery 2006 World Cup winner, after he coached Yunus Musah’s Valencia for the 2022-23 season.
Defender Filip Uremovic put the hosts in the lead in the 19th minute; after a corner was headed on by Anthony Kalik at the near post, Uremovic was waiting all alone at the far side, with an open goal for his one-yard header.
Ten minutes later Kalik was tripped up by a Tórshavn defender while trying to run onto a low diagonal pass into the area from Marko Livaja, leading the referee to immediately point to the spot. Livaja did the honors, burying his attempt just to the left of centre as the keeper weakly committed in the other direction.
With the relatively safe two-goal lead in the books, the team will travel north of the arctic circle to the Torsvoellur Stadium to try to hold their lead in Thursday night’s second leg.
Around the rest of Europe, a number of teams with Americans on the roster were also seeking to reach the next round of qualification for the Champions, Europa or Europa Conference Leagues. While in most cases, American players were either injured, unused substitutes or simply inactive, several did have short cameos.
A breakdown of the action for all of the teams is below.
Champions League Qualification
Matthew Olosunde was not in uniform for Welsh team The New Saints FC, as they were soundly beaten by Hungarian champions Ferencvaros by a 5-0 margin in Budapest. They will host the return leg on Tuesday in their home stadium of Park Hall, needing a miracle to advance to the next round. Should they fail to overcome the deficit, their European adventure will continue in the third round of Conference League qualification.
Europa League Qualification
Erik Palmer-Brown was not present for his Greek team Panathinaikos on Thursday night, who held on to a narrow 2-1 advantage in the home leg of their qualifier against Bulgarians Botev Plodiv. They will travel to Plovdiv for Thursday’s second leg.
Europa Conference League Qualification
Former USMNT player Aron Jóhannsson has a short, but memorable outing for Icelandic team Valur in Conference League qualification on Thursday night, picking up a pair of yellow cards to be sent off within eight minutes of entering the field as a 73rd minute substitute. The team held on for a scoreless draw against Scottish side St. Mirren, with the return leg to be played in Scotland on Thursday night.
American midfielder Evan Rotundo played the final six minutes for his Luxembourgese club F91 Dudelange on Thursday night, but the team was easily overpowered by Swedes BK Häcken. While Dudelange did score a pair of penalties in the first half, they had no answer for Häcken’s six-goal onslaught. They face the daunting task of trying to overturn the margin when they head north to visit Sweden on Wednesday night.
Christin Cappis was an unused substitute on Thursday night as Brøndby IF smashed Kosovo’s KF Llapi on Thursday night by a 6-0 margin. Justin Che, who missed the final leg of Brøndby’s preseason preparations due to injury, was not in the gameday roster for presumably the same reason. The team should have no problems to hold onto their advantage when they visit Kosovo for the return leg on Thursday.
Chicago-born defender Vukašin Bulatović was an unused substitute for Serbian team Radnički 1923 on Thursday night as they took a narrow 1-0 advantage in the home leg over FK Mornar. The team will make the short trip to the Montenegrin coast for next Wednesday’s return leg.
Kenny Saief had to watch from the bench as Maccabi Haifa’s European run likely saw the first step towards a quick end, after the lost by a 3-0 margin in the first leg to Azerbaijani team Sabah FK. While technically the home leg, the game took place on neutral ground in Hungary’s Várkerti Stadion, meaning that they will have to travel again for the second leg in Sabah’s Bank Respublika Arena on Thursday.
