It was the week of young attackers, some known, some unknown. Read on and I should have a bunch of EPL, Ligue One, and MLS all this week...

For the week of August 11th:

GABRIEL AGBONLAHOR
Aston Villa (ENGLAND)



What characterizes the EPL Player of the Week? Does 3 goals in 7 minutes qualify? All rhetorical as Aston Villa's midfielder Agbonlahor hit in the 69th, 74th, and 76th minute pinning a 4-2 loss on Mark Hughes and Manchester City in the opening weekend. Gabby's hattrick was sort of "look what you're missing" statement to English national team boss Fabio Capello, who left him out of the squad appointed for the friendly vs. Czech Republic this Sunday. As Aston Villa's two-time Young Player of the Year, the 21-year speedster looks to surpass his career goalscoring record of 11 set last season. It was his first hattrick at the senior professional level, but expect him to vie for his first international cap this year if Capello ever decides to give him a chance. If you watched the EPL last year, you probably caught a glimpse of his emergence but - as seen by Villa's opener - his offseason development heading into this season has skipper Martin O'Neill anxious to see how 2008-09 is going to end up. I would expect him to have another big game against Stoke City next weekend.

NASSIM AKROUR
Grenoble (FRANCE)



Newly promoted Grenoble now sits atop Ligue One, thanks to Lyon's 1-1 deadlock with Lorient and a 34 year old Algerian striker named Nassim Akrour. Both wins he had a hand in, this last one scoring the gamewinner to Carlos Bocanegra's Rennes. It wasn't a fluke either (and I only say that because Grenoble is supposed to be this year's Derby County of Ligue One). Akrour teed up a 30-yard rocket off a cheeky backheel from Rennes castoff (though only on loan) Daniel Moreira. The veteran's international career with Algeria never really took off in contrast to his career with Grenoble, but he was a part of Algeria's 2nd round performance at this year's African Nations Cup. Right now, however, it's up to Akrour and Moreira to find a way to keep Grenoble moving.

MOUSSA DEMBELE
AZ Alkmaar/Belgium



Dembele stunned Italy this past week in their Olympic quarterfinal matchup which ended 3-2 in favor of Belgium. The stocky AZ Alkmaar forward countered each of Guiseppe Rossi's penalty kicks with a timely goal of his own - his last being the gamewinner. It was his second and third goals of the tournament and with Nigeria looming in the semifinals, he could add to it. Belgium is now set up nicely to have a good shot at making the final. Dembele tortured the Italian defense all game and continued to pile it on even when Rossi scored the go-ahead goal. A prime example of the growing Belgian talent, Dembele has started to attract the attention of the biggest European clubs (Real Madrid, Ajax, and Lyon) even without having played a full competitive season for his club team, AZ Alkmaar. His international career started in 2006, right after being signed by AZ, and he has been used sparingly since then (still scoring 3 times in only 8 caps). With his performance at the Games, it's safe to say there will be renewed interest on the club and international team level.

VEDAD IBISEVIC
TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (GERMANY)



Wait, what? Ibisevic is a Yank Abroad. No, not quite, but the 24-year old did develop and play his high school ball in St. Louis, eventually being named Freshman Player of the Year after signing on to play at the University of St. Louis. The Bosnian-born forward was then called up by Bosnia's U-21 team only to be discovered by Paris-St. Germain's scouting network. He played 13 times for PSG over two seasons, scoring 6 goals (and why have we never heard of him??). He eventually found his way to Hoffenheim, a town of only 3,200 people that now supports a German Bundesliga team. First game out, behind Ibisevic's brace - Hoffenheim surprised Cottbus 3-0 and made a strong, though early, statement to avoid relegation this year. Who would have known? For those interested, he scored a whopping 18 goals in 22 games his freshman year at St. Louis. Damn. Anyone got a clip or pictures of him from his days at St. Louis?