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World Player of the Week: Clint Dempsey - Fulham
Join Goal.com in saluting another player worthy of global recognition
9 Jan 2012 12:25:00
Getty Images
Welcome to Goal.com's regular feature: Goal.com World Player of the Week. Each week our worldwide team of editors will put forward a selected candidate, as chosen by Goal.com International, who deserves recognition for achieving something special that matchday. It won't necessarily be the best player in the world - at least not usually - but whoever we nominate will have accomplished something amazing. It might be for a particularly awesome performance or for something praiseworthy off the pitch - either way, the person in question deserves special attention...
Goal.com World Player of the Week #138: Clint Dempsey
Club: Fulham
Country: USA
Age: 28
Role: Midfielder
Achievement: Scored a hat-trick against Charlton Athletic
Clint Dempsey is one of the USA’s finest exports and the Fulham midfielder showcased that in two different competitions in England over the past week.
The 28-year-old was not the central cog in Fulham’s 2-1 comeback victory over 10-man Arsenal at Craven Cottage but he still was crucial in midfield for the Cottagers.
Then at the weekend, Dempsey starred in their 4-0 win against Charlton Athletic as he scored thrice to lead Martin Jol’s team to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It was also Dempsey’s first hat-trick as a professional and he was understandably pleased with it, revealing to Goal.com exclusively: “It’s nice because I can say I’ve done it.
“I’ve come close a lot of times, but I’ve just managed two goals as the highest [in any one game] and I’ve done that quite a few times now.
"It’s good to reach that milestone and hopefully there will be more to come.”
Congratulations to Clint Dempsey, Goal.com's 138th World Player of the Week!
Honourable mentions
Demba Ba - Newcastle United
Newcastle United registered a famous 3-0 victory over Manchester United in the Premier League last week and the man central to that triumph was a certain Demba Ba. He was a constant threat to the Red Devils’ defence and capped his performance with a brilliant strike.
Joe Cole - Lille
Joe Cole has revived himself since moving to Lille on loan from Liverpool in the summer. The English midfielder scored the first hat-trick of his career in Lille’s 6-0 victory over sixth division side Chantilly to help his side reach the Coupe de France last 32. Cole scored in the 22nd, 59th and 65th minutes.
Stevan Jovetic - Fiorentina
Stevan Jovetic is rated as one of the most promising players in Italy and the Montenegro international forward continued his progress. Over the weekend, he scored two goals, one from the penalty spot, in Fiorentina’s 3-0 away win against Novara in Serie A. It was the Viola’s first win in four matches.
Jordan Rhodes - Huddersfield Town
Jordan Rhodes continued his unbelievable scoring record with five goals for Huddersfield Town in their 6-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers on Friday. He has now netted 25 League One goals and has also scored very frequently for the Scotland U21 side.
Matt Simon - Central Coast
In the A-League, Matt Simon scored an emotional double on Wednesday in his farewell game for Central Coast before heading off to South Korea on Thursday to join Chunnam Dragons. The Mariners defeated Melbourne Victory 2-0 with Simon grabbing the opener inside the first 20 seconds. He said after the game that he could not have dreamt of a better farewell.
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Goal.com World Player of the Week #138: Clint Dempsey
Club: Fulham
Country: USA
Age: 28
Role: Midfielder
Achievement: Scored a hat-trick against Charlton Athletic
Clint Dempsey is one of the USA’s finest exports and the Fulham midfielder showcased that in two different competitions in England over the past week.
The 28-year-old was not the central cog in Fulham’s 2-1 comeback victory over 10-man Arsenal at Craven Cottage but he still was crucial in midfield for the Cottagers.
Then at the weekend, Dempsey starred in their 4-0 win against Charlton Athletic as he scored thrice to lead Martin Jol’s team to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It was also Dempsey’s first hat-trick as a professional and he was understandably pleased with it, revealing to Goal.com exclusively: “It’s nice because I can say I’ve done it.
“I’ve come close a lot of times, but I’ve just managed two goals as the highest [in any one game] and I’ve done that quite a few times now.
"It’s good to reach that milestone and hopefully there will be more to come.”
Congratulations to Clint Dempsey, Goal.com's 138th World Player of the Week!
Honourable mentions
Demba Ba - Newcastle United
Newcastle United registered a famous 3-0 victory over Manchester United in the Premier League last week and the man central to that triumph was a certain Demba Ba. He was a constant threat to the Red Devils’ defence and capped his performance with a brilliant strike.
Joe Cole - Lille
Joe Cole has revived himself since moving to Lille on loan from Liverpool in the summer. The English midfielder scored the first hat-trick of his career in Lille’s 6-0 victory over sixth division side Chantilly to help his side reach the Coupe de France last 32. Cole scored in the 22nd, 59th and 65th minutes.
Stevan Jovetic - Fiorentina
Stevan Jovetic is rated as one of the most promising players in Italy and the Montenegro international forward continued his progress. Over the weekend, he scored two goals, one from the penalty spot, in Fiorentina’s 3-0 away win against Novara in Serie A. It was the Viola’s first win in four matches.
Jordan Rhodes - Huddersfield Town
Jordan Rhodes continued his unbelievable scoring record with five goals for Huddersfield Town in their 6-0 win over Wycombe Wanderers on Friday. He has now netted 25 League One goals and has also scored very frequently for the Scotland U21 side.
Matt Simon - Central Coast
In the A-League, Matt Simon scored an emotional double on Wednesday in his farewell game for Central Coast before heading off to South Korea on Thursday to join Chunnam Dragons. The Mariners defeated Melbourne Victory 2-0 with Simon grabbing the opener inside the first 20 seconds. He said after the game that he could not have dreamt of a better farewell.
Leave your notes of congratulations for Clint Dempsey below, or discuss who else deserves a place in the spotlight this week...
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|
| Open an account with Sportingbet today and get up to £50 in free bets! |
|
| Sign up with William Hill for a free bet up to £25 |
|
| Sign up with bet365 for a free bet up to £200 |
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| Sign up with Paddy Power - Bet £10, Get £20! |
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Live!
England 1-0 Belgium, Netherlands 2-0 Northern Ireland - follow all the international action LIVE! ahead of Euro 2012
With countries across the continent gearing up for their final warm-up games ahead of Euro 2012, join us for all the action from Saturday's friendlies. Get in touch with us via Twitter with your reaction.
Hosted by Joe Doyle
Hosted by Joe Doyle
19:38 BST
Here's Roy Hodgson's reaction to the result and some injury chat: "I'm very pleased, it's been a hard week and we've used a lot of players. There was a lot of disruption in the second-half with substitutions – some forced upon us, some we wanted to do. But it's still a very good end to the week playing against a good Belgian team here. Arguably even stronger than the Norwegian team we played last week and I've got to be more than happy that we've come out with another victory."
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
"[Gary] Cahill I suppose is slightly more of a concern for me because it is a jaw injury. We're desperately hoping the CT scan doesn't show any fracture and it's just going to be a bruising situation, which will be bad enough, but won't stop him taking part in the tournament. As far as John's [Terry] concerned he felt his hamstring a little bit. Again it wasn't a major thing when he came off but we still need to scan it just to be 100 per cent sure."
Suffice to say, if Cahill has broken his jaw, he won't play any part in the tournament.
19:35 BST
And another point from today: Eden Hazard wasn't great. Don't think you can judge him on one performance though. What do you think? Is it just a case of too much hype around the Chelsea-bound Belgian?
19:32 BST
We're getting plenty of people saying it was boring. PLENTY. But Spain scored seven goals in eight games at the World Cup and I didn't hear too many of their fans complaining. Or as Fran Stinchcombe points out on Twitter: "If we had lost but played free flowing attacking football would these people still have moaned?"
19:24 BST
No, no, no. I'll have none of that Emile Heskey shouting anymore! Hello, it's me, it's me, it's that D-O-Y-L-E. Yes, I'm Joe Doyle, and I'll be here for all the reaction to that England game. First things first, how did everyone see that game? Good performance? A touch boring? Let me know on Twitter.
19:17 BST
Right, that’s me, Danny Hart, done. Joe Doyle is itching to retain his LIVE! crown for the evening. England reaction, Netherlands-Northern Ireland updates and much, much more - Doyle will be across it all. England are gonna win the Euros! And remember: EMILE HESKEY. Cheerio!
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