A little rest did Olivier Occean a whole lot of good.
The Québécois striker was left out of Canada’s recent 2-0 loss to Panama due to injury, but he was back in action last weekend as his club Eintracht Frankfurt kept pace with Bayern Munich atop the German Bundesliga.
On Sunday, Occean scored the club’s second goal – his first career goal in Germany’s top flight – as Frankfurt maintained their perfect start to the new season with a 3-2 win over Hamburger SV.
Just days after returning from national team duty, Simeon Jackson was back in action with Norwich City in England. Jackson started and played 63 minutes in Norwich’s 0-0 draw with West Ham United.
In Norway, goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld took a stamp on his ankle in the first half of Vålerenga's 3-0 loss to Rosenborg on Sunday. Hirschfeld lasted until halftime but couldn’t continue into the second half. The club’s medical staff said he suffered a bone bruise, but should be fit enough for their next game next week.
The international break wasn’t so good to Canadian Atiba Hutchinson and his Dutch club team, PSV Eindhoven. Heading into the break, Hutchinson (above) had scored two goals in as many games and PSV had won three in a row, but in his first game back on Sunday, Hutchinson played the full 90 minutes as PSV dropped a 1-0 setback to Utrecht.
PSV sit in fifth place with nine points through five games in the early stages of the Eredivisie season.
Since being relegated from Germany’s top flight, Kevin McKenna and FC Köln have had their difficulties getting settled in the 2. Bundesliga. On Monday, McKenna was back in the lineup after missing some time prior to the international break with an ankle injury, as Köln earned just their second point in five games this season with a 0-0 draw with St. Pauli. Köln sit in 16th place in the second-tier league’s standings.
In Turkey, goalkeeper Milan Borjan is getting some consistent playing time as a starter for Sivasspor. On Sunday, he put on another solid display in his second straight start, but his team’s offense didn’t get going as Trabzonspor beat Sivasspor 1-0.
In Borjan’s two starts this season he’s only given up one goal, but his team haven’t scored a single goal to help him out.
Stevenage are enjoying a great start to the English League One season and forward Marcus Haber has seen quite a few minutes. On Saturday, Haber played the whole game as Stevenage tied Crewe Alexandra 2-2.
Haber then came on 15 minutes into the second half as Stevenage beat Walsall 3-1. Seven games into the season, Stevenage are in second place with 15 points.
In Cyprus, three teams are off to perfect start after two games, including AEK Larnaca and Canadian midfielder Issey Nakajima-Farran.
Nakajima-Farran started and played 82 minutes on Sunday as Larnaca beat Apollon 2-0.
In South America, forward Lucas Cavallini was looking to score in his second consecutive game with Uruguayan club Juventud de las Piedras. Yet it wasn’t to be, as his club was shut out by Cerro 2-0 on Sunday in a game that saw three red cards.
Back in Germany, defender Adam Straith was in action on Saturday, going 90 as his Saarbrücken lost 2-0 to Rot-Weiss Erfurt, a result that leaves Straith’s side in 13th place nine games into the season.
Nana Attakora began his new career in Finland last Friday, making his debut for Haka. The former Toronto FC defender played the full 90 minutes as Haka played Mariehamn – who had fellow Canadian Mason Trafford in the lineup – to a 1-1 draw.
Haka sit in 11th place in the 12-team Veikkausliiga, just one place above Frank Jonke and club team Jaro. On Monday, Jonke and Jaro played KuPS to a 1-1 result, their second straight draw.
Forward Riley O’Neill had a busy week with MyPa. O’Neill featured in his team's 0-0 draw with league leaders Inter Turku last Friday, and again just three days later in their 4-1 loss to HJK. MyPa are in fifth place, one point back of Mariehamn for fourth.
The S-League in Singapore has entered its final two months, and forward Jordan Webb is still looking to break into double digits in scoring for the season. Webb remains stuck on nine as his team, Hougang United, could only tie Gombak United 0-0 on Sunday. Hougang sit in eighth place.
Midfielder Sherif El-Masri also saw action in Singapore this week, logging 85 minutes for Young Lions in a 3-1 loss to DPMM FC.
