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Reyna helps dominant Manchester City drop Birmingham City 4-1.
Convey, Hahnemann help Reading thrash Brighton 5-1.
Onyewu returns, Standard shuts out Anderlecht 2-0 for share of first place.
Reyna returns, City regains punch in beating Charlton 5-2.
Cherundolo scores, helps Hannover to first win at Dortmund since 1964.
Keller, Gladbach waste two-goal lead, draw 2-2 with Hertha Berlin.
McBride scores pair, lifting Fulham to 2-1 win over Bolton.
Convey, Hahnemann help Reading climb into first place.
Convey goal, assist lead Reading past Hull 3-1.
Beasley sidelined by hamstring injury.
Friedel, Rovers come back from bad loss to beat Charlton 4-1.
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Americans Abroad Keller is ranked second among goalkeepers in Bundesliga.
SoccerTimes (Monday, December 26, 2005) -- American Kasey Keller is the second-ranked goalkeeper in the Bundesliga as Germany's top league enters its winter break. And Borussia Monchengladbach's Keller is second by the slimmest of margins. According to ratings by Kicker, the magazine that rates all players in all Bundesliga matches, Keller has an average rating of 2.69, trailing only MSV Duisburg's Georg Koch, whose rating is 2.68. With Keller in goal for all but one match, Monchengladbach (6-4-7) has been one of the pleasant surprises of the Bundesliga, tied for sixth place with VfB Stuttgart (5-2-10) at 25 points. G'ladbach finished the 2004-05 season in 15th place, one point above the relegation zone at 8-14-12 with 36 points Behind Keller in the rankings are a pair of Bundesliga veterans, Hannover 96's Robert Enke and Hertha Berlin's Christian Fiedler, both with 2.71 averages. In the Kicker rankings, 1.0 is the best score and 5.0 is the worst. A rating around 3.2 is considered average. Keller, 36, the former University of Portland star was named last week United States Soccer Federation "Male Athlete of the Year" for the third time. He also captured the award in 1997 and 1999. Keller is playing for his sixth team in his 15 years playing professional soccer overseas. When he started at Millwall in 1990, he was the first to play in England on a U.S. passport. He helped pave the way for many other Americans to play in Europe. After Millwood, Keller went to Leicester City, before heading to Spain's Rayo Vallecano. He returned to England to join Tottenham Hotspur. He also played with Southampton on a one-month loan from Tottenham. He joined Monchengladbach in the winter break of the 2004-05 season. "The change has been massive for Americans, but there is still a long ways to go," Keller recently told Associated Press. "We're breaking down a lot of stereotypes. The football people know, but you still get a lot of that from non-football people." Keller has become a favorite of the Moenchengladbach fans, who now unfurl banners reading "Kasey The Wall." "Kasey has been outstanding," G'ladbach coach Horst Koeppel told AP. "I prefer to say defense is a team effort, but he alone has won us points."
Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent. E-mail Robert Wagman. |
