AMSTERDAM — A pair of Americans laced up for domestic cup action on Thursday, with mild struggles continuing for Oguchi Onyewu and Sporting CP in a 1-1 Taça da Liga share against second-flight visitors Moreirense.
Mere moments after Diego Capel's 28th-minute opener gave the home side a lead, the US center back fell a step behind to allow Nabil Ghillas space for a scissor-kick equalizer. The Lions have now posted four draws and a loss from their first five 2012 matches across all competitions and stand third in their Taça da Liga third-round group through two games.
Earlier in the day, Jozy Altidore worked a helpful final 12 minutes as AZ Alkmaar closed out a 3-2 victory at Ajax to reach the KNVB Cup quarterfinals.
For AZ, it was their first Amsterdam win of any kind in just over 30 years. The afternoon match, replayed due to a pitch invasion incident that forced the game be abandoned last month, made for quite the rare scene with more than 20,000 area children and their chaperones the only spectators allowed into the stadium.
