Americans Abroad

Cherundolo is strong, but Hannover cedes lead in 2-2 draw with Freiburg.

(Tuesday, September 14, 2004) -- Defender Steven Cherundolo was put right to work by Hannover 96 after the American returned from Panama City and the United States men's 1-1 draw with Panama.

Cherundolo did not see action in the Wednesday World Cup qualifier so, other than jet lag, he was rested for Hannover's 2-2 draw with visiting SC Freiburg. Hannover controlled the entire first half and was rewarded with goals by Jiri Stajner after 74 seconds and Roman Wallner in the eighth minute.

In the second half, Freiburg went from four to three defenders, bringing on striker Regis Dorn who rewarded his coach's decision by scoring in the 59th minute. Freiburg equalized in the 73rd minute when Ellory Cairo scored with Dorn missing a wide-open attempt for a potential winner a minute later.

Cherundolo put in a mostly strong effort despite his club wasting the two-goal advantage. U.S. attacker Clint Mathis, who played the first 57 minutes against Panama, dressed, but did not see action for Hannover.

Hannover coach Ewald Lienen made several offensive changes, looking for his club's first victory. Instead, Hannover, which travels to Werder Bremen this weekend, is 0-1-2 with two points, 17th among 18 teams in the 1Bundesliga.

Striker Conor Casey was given the weekend off by FSV Mainz 05 which surprised visiting Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 Saturday. Mainz possibly caught Leverkusen looking ahead to tomorrow's European Champions League match against Spanish power Real Madrid.

Casey, who played 62 minutes against Panama, saw his replacement Benjamin Auer score a second-half goal and be named to Kicker magazine's "Best 11" of the week. This might make it difficult for Casey to return to the starting lineup Saturday against Arminia Bielefeld.

Newly-promoted Mainz is tied with legendary powers Leverkusen and Bayern Munich for third place at 2-1-1 with seven points.

U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter was dressed and on the bench for Energie Cottbus for the first time in a 2Bundesliga match this season. Although he didn't see action in his team's 1-0 home victory over Rot-Weiss Oberhausen, Berhalter's return to the active roster after a severe facial injury, as well as a hernia operation, was earlier than expected.

Last weekend, Berhalter played for Cottbus in a friendly while the league was off for World Cup qualifiers. Steffen Baumgart scored the lone Cottbus goal Saturday in the 75th minute and Cottbus is tied for third place with Aachen at 2-0-2 with eight points.

Cottbus travels to Rot-Weiss Essen Sunday.

American striker John van Buskirk did not see action in Rot-Weiss Erfurt's 0-0 home draw against 1860 Munich Amateurs. Erfurt (1-0-2, 5) is fifth in the league and travels to Greuther Fürth Saturday.

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.