Americans Abroad

Casey helps Mainz to tough 1-1 draw with Hertha Berlin.

By Harris King (in Bamberg, Germany)
SoccerTimes

(Tuesday, August 31, 2004) -- U.S. striker Conor Casey made his first 1Bundesliga start Saturday for recently-promoted 1. FSV Mainz 05 and helped his team earn a hard-fought 1-1 draw with Hertha BSC Berlin.

Casey and his teammates have an uphill battle almost every week when playing against teams with much bigger budgets, but on the field Saturday there was not a lot of difference to be seen between the clubs.

The Mainz offense had a hard time putting Berlin under any pressure and Casey more often than not was left up to his own devices to create scoring opportunities. Overall, however, the team played with a lot of discipline, especially the back four, and was able to keep Berlin's attack in check.

Berlin's only goal was scored by Fredi Bobic in the 67th when the combination of a Mainz defensive mistake and a subsequent lucky deflection allowed Gilberto da Silva Melo to pass to a wide-open Bobic.

Mainz didn't fold after the goal and Jürgen Kramny scored 11 minutes later on a direct kick from 18 yards out. After drawing even, Mainz was able to protect the draw before 35,000 in Berlin's recently renovated and very loud Olympic Sstadium. Mainz is 1-1-1, a good start to a season in which some observers believe the club is over its ahead at the top level.

Casey received a yellow card in the game. After a week off, Mainz will host Bayer Leverkusen September 11.

On Sunday, Hannover 96 doubled its American presence by having both U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo and striker Clint Mathis in the starting lineup for a 1-1 road draw with Borussia Dortmund.

Hannover's goal came on the last play of the game when 6-foot-5 inch Per Mertesacker outjumped Dortmund's 6-7 Jan Koller to head the ball home off of a corner kick for his first ever league goal. Hannover goalkeeper Robert Enke had also been called forward on the play.

Mathis, who had been recovering from a preseason injury, put in an outstanding effort in his 65 minutes on the field. In the fourth minute, he received a long pass on the right side of the goal from Michael Tarnat and only had the keeper to beat to put Hannover ahead. Mathis' shot was stopped by the outstanding positioning and reflexes of Dortmund keeper Guillaume Warmuz.

For the rest of his time on the field, Mathis was very active, playing behind the two Hannover strikers in the offensive midfield and communicating well with off-season addition Ricardo Sousa, who played on the left side of the offensive midfield. Eventually, Mathis ran out of steam and his play was warmly acknowledged as he left the field by the Hannover fans who made the trip to Dortmund.

Cherundolo put in another fine effort at his right back position. Hannover's next match is scheduled for September 12 at home against SC Freiburg. The Bundesliga will be off next weekend for World Cup qualifiers.

Berhalter's stand-in as captain, Zsolt Löw, was ejected after receiving two yellow cards and Cottbus will be down to its third-in-charge for its next game in two weeks against visiting Rot-Weiss Oberhausen.

American striker John van Buskirk of Rot-Weiss Erfurt did not see action in his team's 0-0 draw on the road to Rot-Weiss Essen. On September 13, Erfurt will host 1860 Munich in a nationally-televised Monday night game.

On Sunday, Hamburg traveled to American striker Ryan Coiner and Union Berlin and came away with a hard-fought 2-1 victory. Joy started and played 90 minutes in both games. The two victories allowed Hamburg (4-0-1) to move into a tie for first place with Eintracht Braunschweig (4-1-1) at 13 points though Hamburg has a game in hand.

Berlin's Wednesday game against American midfielder Joe Enochs and VfL Osnabrück ended in a 1-0 defeat. Coiner played a full 90 minutes while Enochs didn't see action until the 74th minute. The two Berlin losses led to dropped it to 2-3-1 and 12th place in the league.

On Saturday, Osnabrück traveled to SC Paderborn and fell 2-1 with Enochs not seeing action. The setback was the first of the season for Osanbrück (2-1-2) and left the team in a tie for eighth place.

American striker Jacob Thomas and VfB Lübeck also played twice last week. On Wednesday, Lübeck took a break from its usual high-scoring affairs and drew 0-0 on the road to KFC Uerdingen. On Saturday, Lübeck defeated the Hertha BSC Amateurs 2-0 at home. Thomas was also a starter in this game and played 57 minutes, receiving a yellow card before being given the rest of the day off. Lübeck (3-2-1, 10) is in fourth place.

In Regionalliga Süd action, American midfielder Grover Gibson of SSV Jahn Regensburg scored his first goal of the season in a 2-0 victory Tuesday on the road to 1860 Munich Amateurs. Having returned home on Saturday, Regensburg put in a much weaker effort and lost 2-1 to the first-place Kickers Offenbach. Gibson did not see action in that game after having being scratched from the lineup shortly before the kickoff. Regensburg (2-2, 6) is currently 11th in the league.

American defender Pellegrino Matarazzo of SV Wehen returned to action after his recent broken toe, entering in the 64th minute of his team's Wednesday 2-2 home draw against TSG Hoffenheim.

On Sunday, Matarazzo was once again a second-half substitute and helped secure the 0-0 draw with the host FC Bayern Munich Aamateurs. Bayern is in essence a 2Bundelsiga side, but due to its status as a youth team of the parent club, was not allowed to be promoted after winning the Regionalliga Süd last season. Wehen (2-0-2, 8) is currently third in the table.

American defender Josh Grenier of TuS Koblenz received a yellow card in a 90-minute effort during a convincing 3-1 upset over host Hoffenheim. American defender Eric Lukin of Kolblenz joined the fray in the 90th minute for Koblenz (2-1-1, 7) which is currently tied for fifth place.

Former U.S. international Michael Mason and SV Elversberg, with its American coach Brent Goulet, defeated the 1860 Munich Amateurs 1-0 Sunday. Mason went the distance for 12th-place Elversberg. (1-1-2, 5).

American striker Jonathan Cummings did not see action in either of VfR Aalen's games this week, a 3-1 loss at home to Sportfreunde Siegen and 4-1 defeat on the road to SV Darmstadt 98. Aalen (0-4, 0) has gotten off to an atrocious start and is tied for last place

Harris King, an American from South Carolina, has lived in Germany for five years. He is a Business English lecturer at the University of Bamberg. E-mail Harris King.