The third round off European qualification completed during the week, further narrowing the list of Americans attempting to reach the various League Phases. Erik Palmer-Brown will breathe a sigh of relief after his team’s narrow win, while the American pair of Cameron Carter-Vickers and Auston Trusty at Celtic learned their opponents as they begin their adventure next week in the play-off round.
The road to the group stage of European competition continued rolling along, with the third qualification rounds of the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League all kicking off last week.
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.
After the “home leg” of the UEFA Conference League game ended 1-0 in favor of Maccabi Haifa in Budapest, the Israeli side headed to Belgium on Wednesday and were lucky to come away with a one-all draw after going down to 10 men late in the game.
Sam Vines was the only American on the field in Europa Conference League qualification to see his team advance to the next round, with Kyle McLagan, Christian Cappis and Kenny Saief all having their hearts broken in extra time.
It was wins all around for all Yanks competing in Europa Conference League qualifiers on Thursday, with Kanny Saief finding the net for Baku, Sam Vines going the distance for Antwerp and Kyle McLagan and Vikingur continuing their run.
