Johann Smith on trial with Viktoria Plzen

Best beer in the world.......................

Soccer? Not so much.

Johann needs to stick around somewhere where he can play.

At this point, his soccer IQ isn't as impressive as his athleticism (which is considerable).

Now, back to beer ... mmmm, beer ...

I guess we can add Rijeka to the list of teams tempted by Smith's speed, but who still found him to be such an incomplete player that he wasn't worth playing.

He'd sure be something if he had some skills, but that looks less and less like it's going to happen. Let's hope he bucks the odds.

He simply doesn’t have the coordination to play this game at a profesional level .

I was talking about Plzen in particular

The only time I ever see a Czech team is in the Champions League when they're fodder for somebody like Arsenal..............so I really know nothing. Well, I know Peter Philipakos was there for a short period, so not "nothing."

I watched a US U20 friendly in the spring of 2007 during the run-up to the U20 World Cup. The game was in Rochester against Argentina. We played Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Danny Szetela, etc.................but I thought the best American player on the field that day was Johann Smith. The Argentine defenders simply couldn't keep up with him. He was beating the full-backs like rented mules. Then he got hurt, didn't make the World Cup team, and had essentially fallen off the face of the Earth.

Let's hope he can get some consistent playing time in the Czech Republic.

Apparently. You'd think a player would that much speed would be able to develop the minimum skills to be a serviceable player somewhere.

Johann Smith is now in Sweden trialling with Kalmar FF.

Here is an article on the trial (in Swedish)

In this article (in Swedish) Smith talks about heading to Sweden because Bob Bradley keeps an eye on that league and he wants to get in the NT picture. Seems a bit odd considering he was playing North America for awhile and never got Bob's attention and seems to be far from NT material at this point.
Also says he left Rijeka because they were having financial difficulties and were struggling to pay their players.

Listen, we all know why people go to Sweden and it has nothing to do with football, weather or culture...

I'm almost certain the one on the left is a man.

With the hots for Henryk Larsson?

Not that there's anything wrong with it ....

Notes on Smith's performance in the latest club friendly (In Swedish). He came on as a 2nd half sub and made an immediate impact. The manager seems pleased with his performance, and the author is of the opinion Smith will be offered a contract.

Smith ran into the bench at practice. The injury was initially thought to be career-threatening; however, it turned out to be minor. His trial with Kalmar will continue when he recovers.

http://yanks-abroad.com/get.php?mode=content&id=5962

Poor bench.

It didn't know Johann Smith has feet of stone.

Is this a joke?

EDIT: And if not, is there footage?

Maybe he should get Lasik while he recovers.

No video, but there are a couple pictures from immediately after:

God, that kid has been thru a lot. I root for these kids that continue to push for the dream despite encountering hurdle after hurdle (and benches apparently).

Well, perhaps if he had been a better hurdler he could have jumped the bench and this wouldn't have happened.