John Brooks, Rubio Rubin, and Emerson Hyndman headline this week's roundup of Americans playing soccer abroad. Here is Brian Sciaretta's weekly take on the most relevant news and notes.

BY Brian Sciaretta Posted

December 01, 2014

1:46 PM SHARE THIS STORY



with good news from abroad? Really? While some key American soccer players still are struggling overseas, there was more good news than bad this past weekend—an encouraging trend.

Jozy Altidore, for one, looked useful off the bench for Sunderland in an impressive scoreless draw against Chelsea while Geoff Cameron and Stoke came up just short against Liverpool. Here are the top headlines from the last few days.

Chandler & Eintracht Down Dortmund

Timothy Chandler went a full 90 at right back for Eintracht Frankfurt in Sunday's convincing 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund. Chandler locked down the right side and Dortmund had very little success getting attacking his side of the field. The 24-year-old Frankfurt native finished the game with five interceptions and he even forced a turnover which started a chain of events that ultimately resulted in Frankfurt's second goal.

Chandler has been quietly performing better in recent weeks and Eintracht has moved comfortably into the middle of the Bundesliga table. Dortmund, however, has been one of the biggest disappointments in Europe this year as it shockingly sits in last place in the German top flight.

Brooks strong in Bayern loss

Bayern Munich can give opposing defenders sleepless nights but John Brooks handled the job well as the German powerhouse defeated Hertha Berlin 1-0. Brooks stood tall and limited Bayern’s opportunities: His aerial game has improved tremendously and he is maturing into a very solid central defender.

Brooks, a Berlin native, has endured ups and downs throughout 2014, having been called out by his coach on several occasions and getting demoted, temporarily, to Hertha's reserve team. Impressively, he has battled back into the starting lineup after each setback. This ability to fight through adversity is what Jurgen Klinsmann routinely says he wants from his players, and Brooks seems to deliver. It would be a safe prediction that he is going to be a very important part of the U.S. national team for years to come.

Cesar Romero’s phenomenal numbers

It's a rather safe bet that many Americans don’t follow the Armenian Premier League but it is well worth acknowledging American forward Cesar Romero’s strong season for his club, Pyunik. Romero scored two goals in Saturday’s 3-0 win over first place Ulisses, giving him a staggering 17 goals in 14 appearances. The second leading scorer in the league has nine on the season.

The win was Pyunik's sixth in a row, moving the club to within just one point of Ulisses for first place. Romero, 25, is a native of Chula Vista, California, and made 12 appearances for Chivas USA in 2012. He never found the back of the net in MLS but he did score twice for Chivas USA in U.S. Open Cup action.

Who knows what the next step will be for Romero next season but it would appear he has outgrown Armenia.

Torres, Gomez help Tigres advance

Jose Torres and Herculez Gomez are no longer part of the national team picture but on Saturday the American pair helped Tigres advance past Pachuca in the Liga MX playoffs. The 1-1 result was all Tigres needed to advance thanks to the league tiebreaker—it finished higher than Pachuca in the regular season. Tigres, which finished in second place, will play fourth place Toluca on Tuesday night.

While Gomez has been either an occasional starter or offensive substitute this season for Tigres, Torres has been a regular and he played every minute of the series against Pachuca. If Tigres can compete for the Liga Mx Aperutra title, his national team chances might not be over just yet.

Rubin and Hyndman show progress

Over the weekend U.S. U-20 stars Rubio Rubin at Utrecht and Emerson Hyndman at Fulham each earned starts for their respective clubs and both took advantage.

Fulham came up with an important 2-1 win over Brighton to continue its push into the middle of the English Championshiop table following a disastrous start to the season. Hyndman was given the start and played 62 minutes. Known for his quality passing, the Texan did not disappointing completing over 86% of his 43 passes. His play helped Fulham win the possession game and pick up a valuable three points.

Rubin, 18, has been a consistent starter for Utrecht this season and has featured in several different positions raging from wing, to the No. 10 spot, to his natural central forward role. He has picked up a few assists along the way but Saturday’s 83rd-minute goal—which gave Utrecht a 4-1 lead—was this first of his professional career.

To date, Rubin has made 11 Eredivisie appearances for Utrecht this season with nine coming in the starting lineup. The goal caps off a memorable month for the Oregon native: He earned his first full national team cap on November 14 when he started against Colombia in a 2-1 loss in London.

With these two players, the U.S. U-20 team could be very solid next summer at the World Cup—should the team qualify.

Brian Sciaretta is an American Soccer Now columnist and an ASN 100 panelist. Follow him on Twitter