Aron Johannsson Continues His Scoring Assault, Get Excited, US Soccer Fans

Aron Jóhannsson scored again over the weekend for AZ in the Dutch Eredivisie. It gives the newfound American striker seven league goals and nine overall this season. It comes on the heels of his first goal for the U.S. in last week’s win over Panama in World Cup qualifying.

Like Jozy Altidore a season ago at AZ, Jóhannsson is on track to be the highest-scoring American playing in a major European league. Altidore scored 31 times for AZ in 2012-13 — a new record for Americans in Europe.

It’s an interesting contrast. Altidore moved to Sunderland in England over the summer and has yet to score in the Premier League for his new club — which has only one point after eight games. Sunderland was smacked around 4-0 by Swansea this weekend and Altidore didn’t enter the match until the 82nd minute.

Altidore is clearly going to be on the U.S. World Cup roster, barring injury. It’s probably too soon to start worrying about his form, but the mess at Sunderland does bear watching. It also bears watching how much more effective the U.S. looked vs. Panama when Jurgen Klinsmann paired Altidore and Johannsson together in the second half. The pair spent the early part of 2013 at AZ together, so they clearly have more chemistry than most international teammates.