Americans Abroad

Beasley scores in his Dutch league debut as Eindhoven rolls past Roosendaal 5-2.

Damarcus Beasley celebrates his first goal for PSV Eindhoven in the Dutch league opener. -- PSV Eindhoven web site photo --

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
SoccerTimes

(Sunday, August 15, 2004) -- United States midfielder DaMarcus Beasley scored in his Dutch Eredivisie debut for PSV Eindhoven which started its season Saturday by defeating RBC Roosendaal 5-2.

PSV trailed at the half, 2-1, but shifted into high gear with four goals in a 17-minute span, ending with Beasley scoring the final one in the 75th minute.

Beasley picked up a ball on the left side, made a solo run across the top of the penalty area past three defenders before stroking the ball into the far side of the goal past diving goalkeeper Maikel Aerts to make it 5-2. Three minutes later, Beasley was replaced by young Peruvian Jefferson Farfán who also was making his debut.

Claudio Reyna ran the midfield and was all over the field for City, at times attacking into the Fulham penalty area and, at other times, dropping far back to defend. Twice quality saves by Fulham's Dutch goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar foiled wonderful plays by Reyna. On the first, Reyna settled a ball at the top of the box, changed feet and rocketed a shot Van der Sar barely got to. On the other, Reyna's pinpoint pass found the head of Antoine Sibierski, but the Fulham keeper denied the shot.

Carlos Bocanegra had an up-and-down day on defense for Fulham. Early, he pushed far forward from his left-back position, almost resembling an attacking midfielder. Then, however, City started to attack down the right flank, using the diminutive, but speedy Shaun Wright-Phillips. Bocanegra had a tough time defending against his speed and was turned at times, but he hung tough and denied Wright-Phillips any quality chances.

Robbie Fowler put City ahead 1-0 in the 28th minute. Five minutes after Collins John tied the game at 1-1 for Fulham, American Brian McBride replaced him in the 63rd minute. John had been playing in the midfield and McBride came on to give Fulham two strikers as it attempted to push for a win. But after several good runs, McBride dropped further and further into the midfield in a defensive role as the match ground to a finish.

For the first time in 94 consecutive league and Cup matches, U.S. keeper Kasey Keller found himself on the Tottenham Hotspur bench with offseason acquisition Paul Robinson getting the start in goal for a 1-1 draw with visiting Liverpool. Liverpool went ahead 1-0 on a tally by Djibril Cisse in the 38th minute, but Spurs earned a draw after Jermain Defoe equalized in the 71st.

Neither keeper was very busy, but Robinson made one good save on a point-blank header.

U.S. keeper Brad Friedel was recovered enough from a strained thigh muscle to start for Blackburn Rovers who drew 1-1 with West Bromwich Albion. Friedel was not busy, but he made a pair of good saves on the way to the 1-1 draw.

In the 33rd minute, Frieldel was victimized when Albion free kick specialist Neil Clement hit a wicked kick that deflected off the Rovers wall, changing direction leaving Friedel stranded as the ball went into the net. Friedel kept the match close with a wonderful save on Nwankwo Kanu before Craig Short tied it for Blackburn in the 70th minute.

Manchester United, with American Tim Howard in goal, dropped its opener 1-0 at Chelsea today. In the 15th minute, the United defense broke down, leaving Howard to come out quickly to challenge Eidur Gudjohnsen, The Icelandic striker chipped the ball over him for the 1-0 lead.

For much of the second half, Chelsea packed its defense in, frustrating United.

Hahnemann was sharp all afternoon, making excellent saves on Albert Jarrett's header from Darren Currie's feed, and on a drive from Barry Hayles. American Bobby Convey started at left midfield and played an effective 70 minutes before tiring in place of Glen Little, who has a hamstring injury. Convey created some dangerous situations with crosses and also took corner and free kicks.

American Eddie Lewis had a quiet match on the left midfielder for Preston North End which fell to Gillingham 2-1 on Iwan Roberts' tally in the 78th minute. Lewis was hampered by a 44th-minute yellow card.

American central defender Jay DeMerit, a native of Green Bay, Wisc., who attended the University of Illinois-Chicago, has been on trial with Watford and is close to signing a one-year contract with the League Championship club, the team reported.

DeMerit impressed Watford manager Ray Lewington in an exhibition against Real Zaragoza and scored with the Watford reserves in a 4-3 triumph over the Coventry City reserves.

Watford spotted DeMerit playing with Northwood FC of the sixth-division Ryman Premier League in a preseason match against Watford. "I'm ecstatic Ray has decided to give me a chance," Demerit told the Watford web site. "I came here, worked hard in training and on the pitch, so I'm delighted he has shown faith in me. Playing against Watford was actually the first game I had played for Northwood and I could never have imagined that a couple of weeks later I would be playing for a Championship team."

DeMerit, 24, a four-year UIC player (1998-2001), started 63 straight games and scored 10 goals in his last three seasons with the Flames.

Midfielder Kenny Cooper scored for the Manchester United reserves in a 2-0 decision over the Nottingham Forest reserves in their league opener. The 6-foot-3 striker from Dallas hit a 33rd-minute header for his first reserve-team goal.

Cooper had another apparent tally just before the half disallowed for an offside call. Last week, he was given No. 37, a first squad number, and was made eligible for the Premier League season.

Ajax of Amsterdam won its opening Dutch Eredivisie match 3-2 over Twente. U.S. defender\midfielder John O'Brien continues to slowly return to fitness from a series of injuries and is yet to dress for any of Ajax's preseason or reserve matches.

Ajax signed Brazilian left defender Filipe Luís Kasmirski, 19, from Figueirense FC which could make it harder for O'Brien to earn his way back into the lineup.

In Belgium, American Oguchi Onyewu, who went the distance as a central defender, nearly scored on a first-half header, but Standard Liege fell to Charleroi 2-1.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman.