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U.S. men's schedule, results
Friedel strains thigh muscle in Rovers exhibition, will miss two weeks.
Casey joins Mainz as injury problems persist.
Berhalter suffers serious setback to recovery; O'Brien returns to light training.
Keller, Vanney face uncertain situations with clubs overseas.
Russell leads upset win in final game for Sogndal.
Powerful Rosenborg about to acquire Russell from Sogndal.
Beasley is the target of the English, Dutch.
Sanneh appears ready to leave FC Nürnberg.
Sanneh appears ready to leave FC Nürnberg.
Casey signs to play for Mainz in 1Bundesliga.
Casey scores key goal that keeps Karlsruhe in 2Bundesliga.
Howard becomes first American to win FA Cup in Man. United's triumph.
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Americans Abroad Keller is engaged in battle for starting job in Tottenham goal.By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
(August 3, 2004) -- United States goalkeeper Kasey Keller's duel with young Englishman Paul Robinson for the Tottenham Hotspur starting spot seems to be coming down to the wire. Last week, Robinson was in goal for the first time as Spurs were defeated in Glasgow by Rangers 2-0. Before the match, Spurs manager Jacques Santini was quoted as saying that for the first time in the preseason, he would start his best 11, and that included Robinson who, from all accounts, played well despite giving up a pair of goals. On Saturday, however, Keller came up big in a 2-0 shutout of Nottingham Forest. In the opening minutes, Keller twice stopped David Johnson -- once on a point-blank blast -- and then made a save on Marlon King in a "Man of the Match" caliber performance. "This was a very important win for morale, just two weeks away from the start of the Premiership. Santini told reporters "Kasey has given me a big problem. He was outstanding and both goalkeepers are in my thoughts." Fulham concluded its preseason tour of Scotland with a 2-0 win over Hearts at Tynecastle Saturday afternoon. As he has so far this preseason, Fulham manager Chris Coleman started 30-year-old French defender Jerome Bonnissel over American Carlos Bocanegra on the left side. Bonnissel, with experience in France, Italy and Scotland, had ankle surgery last year and missed much of the season with Glasgow Rangers. Bocanegra made his first appearance of the preseason, coming off the bench at halftime to replace Bonnissel. U.S. striker Brian McBride came on in the 77th minute for Andy Cole, who scored one of Fulham's goals. U.S attacker Clint Mathis converted a penalty kick as a substitute for Hannover 96 of Germany's 1Bundesliga in an easy 2-0 decision over Bulgaria's CSKA Sofia. In stoppage time, Mathis pulled a leg muscle, but the injury was not considered serious. In the 71st minute, Mathis replaced Portugese international Ricardo Sousa, who seems to be the choice ahead of Mathis in the midfield. In the 79th minute, Mathis was required to put away two penalty kicks, the first negated when a teammate was ruled to have invaded the box before the kick. U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo was strong over 90 minutes for Hannover. Earlier in the week, Mathis started when Hannover, using mostly reserves, drew 1-1 with Eintracht Frankfurt of the 2Bundesliga. In Belgium, American defender Oguchi Onyewu went the distance for Standard Liege in a 3-1 loss to Wolfsburg of the 1Bundesliga. The Germans outplayed the young Belgian team, but Onyewu had a very good first half before tiring after intermission. In Norway, American defender Robbie Russell made his debut for Rosenborg in a 1-1 draw with Viking in the Tippaligaen. Russell received a yellow card in the 74th minute and was replaced five minutes later. American Brian West assisted the winning goal for Fredrikstad in its hard-fought 2-1 decision over Molde. West was not supposed to play because of minor ankle and hamstring injuries, but he went 84 minutes. American defender Wade Barrett, back in training after a hamstring injury, is close to returning for Fredrikstad, but did not play.
Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman. |
