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U.S. men's schedule, results
O'Brien returns to Ajax lineup; Friedel logs another strong effort.
Berhalter is central to Energie Cottbus rise in Bundesliga table.
Hahnemann, Berhalter are central to Reading, Cottbus victories.
Sanneh to undergo procedure for ailing back; Gibbs breaks ribs.
Americans shine in England while U.S. men come up short against Argentina.
McBride continues to spark Everton rise to top of Premier League table.
Rovers, Friedel rally to remain in FA Cup; O'Brien remains injured.
Sanneh courtship with West Brom is over after exchange of barbs.
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Americans Abroad Walker returns to Chile and quickly minds Colo Colo net.By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
(Monday, March 10, 2003) -- American goalkeeper Jonny Walker is back in Chile and it didn't take long for him to be pressed into action. Colo Colo, with two keepers injured, signed him and immediately put him in net yesterday. Walker responded with a solid effort in a 1-1 draw with Universidad de Concepcion. "I have no apartment, no car and my belongings are all in a container somewhere in the Pacific, still on their way to the U.S.." Walker said upon his arrival in Santiago. Even though Walker he had not played a match in several months, he made a half-dozen fine saves including two on Juan Jose Ribera. He was only beaten on a header by Rodrigo Rain off a perfect corner kick from Ribera. On Thursday, Walker will start for Colo Colo is a Copa Liberatadores match against Barcelona of Ecuador. After success playing for Universidad Católica in the Chilean League, Walker returned the U.S. with hopes of playing in Major League Soccer. After his negotiations to join the San Jose Earthquakes fell apart over issues such as length of contract, Walker headed for Europe to attempt to find a team before Colo-Colo came calling. With the FA Cup predominating the weekend in England, few Americans played. One who did was midfielder Eddie Lewis, who had two fine matches, helping Preston North End stretch its winning streak in the First Division to three in a row. Although he did not score, Lewis had a fine Saturday with Preston defeating Derby 4-2. Lewis crossed well from the left side and two of his corner kicks started plays that ended up with goals. On Tuesday, Preston defeated Watford 1-0 on Graham Alexander's early penalty kick in a match where neither side produced much offensive effort. With 10 matches left, Preston (12-12-11, 47 points) is in a four-way tie for 12th place, but only three points behind (Ipswich (13-11-11) which is in seventh place, atop a group of 11 teams within four points of each other. Wolverhampton (15-9-11, 56) sits in sixth, the last position that earns entrance into a four-team promotion playoff. Reading (19-12-4, 61) looks sure to be in that playoff. On Wednesday, with American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann in net, Reading edged eighth-place Norwich (13-11-10, 50), using an own goal in the 74th minute for the 1-0 decision. It was a quiet night for both keepers with Hahnemann required to make one tough save, stopping a well-placed header from Steen Nedergaard. In the Netherlands, U.S. defender John O'Brien is back and Ajax Amsterdam won two games this week. O'Brien opened both matches, making it three straight starts since missing the entire season with an Achilles heel injury. On Saturday, Ajax easily defeated FC Zwolle 5-0 in the Dutch Eredivisie. O'Brien started at left back and moved forward often to add to the Ajax attack. At times, O'Brien moved over to act as a central defender while others pushed forward. He will likely start Tuesday against Valencia in the European Champions League. In the Dutch Eredivisie, Ajax (16-2-5, 53) is in second place, seven points behind PSV Eindhoeven (19-1-3). Last Tuesday, O'Brien went the distance in a more defensive role as Ajax easily dispatched FC Groningen 4-1 to advance to the Amstel Cup semifinals. In Germany, Energie Cottbus is back in the Bundesliga basement after losing a seccod straight game, 3-2 to VfL Wolfsburg, after going 3-0-1 coming out of the winter break. American Gregg Berhalter went 90 minutes in the center of a Cottbus defense that did not play well. U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo did well for Hannover 96 which defeated Hansa Rostock 3-1. U.S. defender Tony Sanneh is back training and sat on FC Nürnberg's bench Saturday while the club's injury-depleted defense came apart in losing 5-0 to FC Kaiserslautern. Sanneh is recovering from minor back surgery. In France, David Regis made a late appearance for Troyes which was shut out 2-0 by Montpellier. The U.S. defender started the last five matches for Troyes, but did not get into this match until the 76th minute. Troyes (6-16-8, 26) is in last place in Ligue 1. American defender Greg Vanney, who appeared on his way out at Bastia, dressed for the first time in weeks, but never left the bench in a 1-1 draw with Strasbourg. American back Oguchi Onyewu returned to Metz after a trip back to the U.S. to take college exams. He was not on the roster Saturday for a 2-1 league victory over Beauvais, instead playing with the Metz reserves this weekend.
Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent and can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com. Gary Davidson is a SoccerTimes managing editor and can be e-mailed at editor@soccertimes.com. |
