Americans Abroad

Beasley scores in return to PSV starting lineup.

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
and Chris Courtney (in Belgium)
SoccerTimes

(Tuesday, October 5, 2004) -- United States midfielder DaMarcus Beasley was back in the starting lineup and gave PSV Eindhoven an outstanding performance, scoring a goal in a 3-0 victory Saturday over FC Groningen 3-0 in the Netherlands' Ededivisie.

Beasley had not started the previous three matches, but right winger Ji-Sung Park was injured, so Jefferson Farfan, who had replaced Beasley on the left side, was moved to replace Park, leaving an opening for Beasley.

In the 32nd minute, with PSV ahead 1-0 on a fifth-minute own goal, Mark van Bommel sent Beasley down the left flank with a fine pass. Beasley beat defender Kurt Elshot, who tugged at the American's shirt, and then put the ball under goalkeeper Bas Roorda.

Beasley was replaced by Johan Vonlanthen in the 77th minute.

Beasley's last start was against Arsenal in a September 14 Champions League game in which he was removed for Farfan in the 59th minute. Hiddink said he made the change because Beasley was being moved off the ball too easily. Later, Hiddink expressed concern about the slight stature of the American who is listed at 5-foot-8, 145 pounds by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

PSV is in first place at 6-0-1 with 19 points, three points ahead of Feyenoord Rotterdam and FC Utrecht, both 5-1-1, and four points in front of Ajax Amsterdam (4-0-3)

On September 27, U.S. defender\midfielder John O'Brien played his first full match since March, going the distance with the Ajax reserves in a 3-3 draw with PSV. O'Brien did not seem to noticeably tire.

This weekend, O'Brien was back in action at right back, playing the first half with Ajax2 for a 3-0 decision over Heracles Almelo. O'Brien's natural position is on the left side, but the Ajax first team is deep there, so he apparently is being readied to play the right side when he rejoins the "A" team.

In the 26th minute, Convey slotted the ball into the lower corner from 12 yards after a right-wing cross from Glen Little. Just before halftime, he made it 3-0, beating several defenders to break clear on goal before finding net with a low shot.

Convey created several more chances in the second half.

"Bobby is a good player. He needs time to settle, but that will give him a lift," reserve coach Brian McDermott said. "He enjoyed himself more and more as it went on. He's got real quality."

In England's Premier League, U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel conceded a late goal and Blackburn Rovers had to settle for a 2-2 draw with Aston Villa Saturday.

A glaring defensive lapse let Villa take the lead in the 25th minute. Ulises de la Cruz advanced the ball toward the box and Juan Pablo Angel made a run into space. No defender went with him and the Colombian finished expertly with a low strike past Friedel from 15 yards.

Friedel then shut down Villa with several fine saves, including on a direct kick from Nolberto Solano which the keeper touched over the crossbar, a well-placed flick by Carlton Cole, and a blast from Lee Hendrie. Rovers went ahead 2-1 on Brett Emerton's tally in the 63rd minute, but Villa pulled even when Hendrie controlled Gavin McCann's corner kick and played it back to Olof Mellberg for an equalizing drive through a knot of players in the 80th minute.

On September 27, Rovers traveled to Charlton Athletic and, despite controlling play for long periods, came away with a 1-0 loss.

Friedel had some troubled clearances, but on the whole played well. The only goal came off a corner kick in the 49th minute when defender Talal El Karkouri met the ball at the near post and headed it sharply down at Friedel's feet and it went under the keeper.

In the 84th minute, Friedel made a sparkling leg save, denying Radostin Kishishev point-blank from six yards. Rovers are 1-4-3, their six points putting them in 17th place.

Last night, in a reversal of the usual, U.S. striker Brian McBride started for Fulham while American defender Carlos Bocanegra came off the bench for a 2-0 loss to Crystal Palace. Fulham (2-4-2, 8) was reduced to 10 players when Ian Pearce was sent off in the sixth minute against Palace (1-5-2, 5) which won for the first time since being promoted to the Premiership and is tied for last place.

McBride partnered with Tomasz Radzinski on the Fulham front line, but had little to do but backtrack and play defense as Palace poured on the pressure. In the 66th minute, Bocanegra came on for defensive midfielder Alain Goma who had replaced Radzinski in the ninth minute. At the same time, McBride went off replaced by Collins John.

Manchester City manager Kevin Keegan had hoped to have midfielder Claudio Reyna ready despite his mild quadriceps strain, but the American was not able to go and sat out City's 0-0 draw with Southampton.

Paul Robinsion had a strong match in net for Tottenham Hotspur, earning a 1-0 clean sheet against Everton while U.S. keeper Kasey Keller watched from the bench.

Another U.S. keeper, Tim Howard was not dressed for Manchester United's 1-1- draw with Middlesbrough. Howard also did not dress during the week when United which had little trouble dispatching Turkey's Fenerbahce 6-2 at home in the European Champions League.

U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis was in the starting lineup twice in little more than 48 hours for Preston North End which needed to face Leicester City twice in the Carling Cup before advancing.

On Saturday, the two teams battled to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes with North End's goal coming when Preston goalkeeper Andy Lonergan let loose a length-of-the-field punt which his opposite number Kevin Pressman lost the ball in the sun. The ball bounced over Pressman into the net. Lewis, after creating a number of chances in the first half, came off after 59 minutes.

The draw required a replay yesterday when Richard Cresswell scored three times, including a stoppage-time penalty kick to tie the game and a goal in the 113th minute en route to a 3-2 overtime triumph. Lewis was replaced by defender Callum Davidson in the 68th minute, two minutes after Claude Davis was sent off for Preston.

Last Tuesday night, Lewis assisted on a 66th-minute goal by Cresswell that allowed North End to escape with a 1-1 draw at home against Plymouth in manager Billy Davies' first game as permanent boss. Preston dominated the game but for the first hour, could not finish its chances and was trailing until Lewis sent a perfect corner kick into the center of the box for Cresswell to head smartly into the corner of the net.

American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and Reading continue to play well, but dropped out of the second-tier English League Championship lead after being held 0-0 by visiting Burnley. Actually, Reading could have gone down to defeat without two sparkling saves from its keeper. He stopped Richard Chaplow midway through the first half and John McGreal in the last minute for the shutout.

Last Tuesday, Hahnemann had another strong match in Reading's 1-1 draw at Ipswich Town. Shefki Kuqi beat Hahnemann in the 10th minute, but after that he turned away a number of Ipswich shots. Those included Tommy Miller's close-range blast, a header from Kuqi he tipped round the post, and a blast from Jason de Vos.

Convey came on in the 81st minute.

Wigan (6-0-6) and Ipswich (7-2-3) are tied for the League Championship lead with 24 points, one ahead of Reading (7-3-2).

In his new position, Onyewu had a tendency to spend too much time forward, not always getting back when needed, but he made key stops in the middle, frustrating Bochum's strikers with his physical marking and well-timed tackles.

Onyewu went into the attack on set pieces and was on the receiving end of three corner kicks, but converted none. Perhaps his best chance came in the 54th minute when a corner from the right squirted through to the far post where Onyewu collected, touched twice but had his shot saved by Bochum's Dutch keeper Rein Van Duijnhoven. Onyewu also flicked a corner to a teammate who muffed the chance to score.

Standard advanced when, in the last moments of stoppage time, Portuguese winger Sérgio Conceição ran down the left flank, sent a cross through defender Edu's legs and over to Jorge Wiston Curbelo, who beat the keeper with a nice left footed shot.

After the match, Onyewu and a few teammates took off their jerseys and threw them into the stands for their fans who made the trip over to Germany.

On Saturday, Standard defeated Moeskroen 2-0 for its third straight league victory. Onyewu agains played 90 minutes in front of a home crowd that included a number fans waving American flags.

In France, U.S. defender Greg Vanney, who was not invited in by U.S. manager Bruce Arena for two upcoming World Cup qualifiers, watched from the Bastia bench in a 2-1 home loss to Paris St. Germain.

In Spain's second division, American striker Kenny Cooper started for Academica and played 70 minutes in a 2-1 win against Gil Vicente. Cooper was slowed by a broken nose and came out after tiring.

In Norway's top-tier Tippeligaen, Fredrikstad climbed out of the relegation zone after a 2-2 draw at Lyn. American defender Wade Barrett and midfielder Brian West both played 90 minutes with West being involved in both goals. The first came on a rebound of West's shot and he assisted the equalizer in the 90th minute.

In the Swedish second division American, Brian Dunseth continues to lead Boden's defense, as the team tries to avoid relegation. He has played 90 minutes in each of Boden's last three matches, a 2-1 away loss to Gais, a 1-1 draw at home against Öster and a surprising 4-1 victory over league-leading Häcken.

Dunseth received a caution against Häcken and sat out Sunday's 2-0 loss at Västerås

In European Champions League play, Norway's Rosenborg, with American Robbie Russell coming on late and turning in a strong effort on defense, managed a surprising 1-1 draw with English Premier League-leading Arsenal 1-1 at home at Lerkendal Stadium.

Arsenal went up in the sixth minute, but the Rosenborg defense kept the Gunners at bay for the rest of the night to earn a much-needed point. Russell came on for Christer Basma in the 74th minute.

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