This much is clear when it comes to future U.S. goal scorers: their best chance, clearly, is to route their careers through Dutch club AZ Alkmaar.
OK, maybe it’s more coincidence than some kind of Dutch fairy dust, but there is something quite strange about how Jozy Altidore hit so frequently for the small Netherlands club last year – and how fellow U.S. international Aron Johannsson is doing the very same this year.
Johannsson scored yet again today, this time in an Eredivisie match against Heerenveen. He now has an absolutely sensational 18 goals in all competitions this year.
This comes just three days after 23-year-old striker scored twice to help his team advance into the KNVB Cup quarterfinals.
So it begs the question: can Johannsson possibly top Altidore’s record goal-scoring totals from one season back?
Before he moved during the summer to Premier League side Sunderland, Altidore scored 31 goals across in all competitions last season for Alkmaar. That shattered the old record for U.S. players abroad, one held by Clint Dempsey. His prolific scoring was among the reasons voters chose Altidore as U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year.
But here comes Johannsson, with 18 at this point … and four-plus months to chase down Altidore’s mark, one that’s not yet a year old.
Either way, Altidore’s U.S. national team record of scoring a goal in five consecutive matches (from June 2-Aug. 14) seems safe enough. That’s one Johannsson (or anyone else) will have a tough time breaking.
