Mad Brit Diary: Captain America is shot down again.

Claudio Reyna, clearly the most talented player ever produced in the United States, has suffered another injury. It's more bad luck for the New Jersey kid. His spirit is willing, but his body just keeps breaking. In Manchester City's 1-1 UEFA Cup tie with feisty Groclin of Poland, Reyna hobbled off with a hamstring injury and will likely be out two weeks, maybe longer.

Before leaving the game Reyna, who rarely wastes a ball, showed some lovely, nifty footwork, but blasted a sure goal over the bar from eight yards out in the third minute. It would have been a beauty and Reyna will surely wish that chance back as he rests up.

Reyna missed the 1994 World Cup because of injury. The Americans could have used his inventiveness back then. He played every minute of the 1998 World Cup, but the United States effort was a bust.

At the 2002 World Cup in South Korea, Reyna, struggling with an injury, but played some attractive football. He became the first-ever American named to the FIFA World Cup All-Star team. He didn't appear in the first game against Portugal, but played every minute of the other four games as the Americans stormed to quarterfinal under his captaincy. His clever play and creative touch stood out. No American can quite pass the ball like Reyna.

His vision is excellent, but Reyna has never been known to recover quickly from his battle wounds. Bad luck has haunted Claudio all his career. His list of injuries could equal Bryan Robson's -- well not quite, but you get the point. Reyna tore his anterior cruciate ligament last year playing with Sunderland in England's Premier League and lost eight months of soccer.

Reyna, now 30, has spent nearly a decade overseas and matured into a wise and inventive player. He began his overseas professional career started in 1994 when he joined Bayer Leverkusen of the German Bundesliga before moving on, transferring to Wolfsburg (1997-98). In 1999, he moved to Glasgow Rangers, the Scottish giant where he earned a reputation of being a solid holding midfielder.

In 2001 he moved to Sunderland for $6.8 million and, after the Black Cats were relegated, came this summer to Manchester City. When he moved to Sunderland, he was called on to play in a more attacking role. Now at City, Reyna looks a good fit in a steady and solid midfield alongside young Joey Barton, and the experienced Steve McManaman and Trevor Sinclair. Coach Kevin Keegan, famous for his attacking soccer -- even his defenders, Sun Jihai and Mike Tarnat love to rush forward -- can appreciate Reyna's flair.

Keegan has a lot of talent at City and practices a policy of rotating players, which doesn't please everyone, but sits well with Reyna, who now and then needs a rest from the high-speed EPL style of play. Reyna is a steady player who can patiently hold the ball while he looks for an avenue to make a pass. He may have lost a step or two with age, but there is no other American in the wings just yet ready to step into Reyna shoes.

Richard Mulrooney, Kyle Martino, Mark Lisi are not there yet. Meanwhile, Reyna has been giving soccer tips to fellow American and New Jersey lad, Tim Howard, who plays in goal for crosstown Manchester United.

Adu watch

Freddy Adu, the Potomac, Md., youth star, told The London Times that he wants to play for the biggest club in the world. "I'd love to end up in England some day playing for Manchester United," said the 14-year-old Adu.

United has been monitoring the striker for the last six months as has London-based Chelsea.

Stick to aspirin

Saaid Gaddafi, 28, the son of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, who plays for Perugia in Italy's Serie A, failed a drug test last month. The steroid nandrolone was found in his system.

The mailbox

Rich Perry writes: "Add Frank Yallop to the list of people for whom I feel nothing but sympathy and sorrow. I mean, his team loses to the Galaxy 2-0 in the first playoff game, and faces a good chance of being eliminated in the next game. But rather than talk about how his team was beaten by a team which obviously must have done it's job better, ol' Franky pointed out that if his team gets eliminated, it is actually the fault of Major League Soccer and its new playoff system. How can you not feel bad for the guy? Give me a break! I'll admit, when 80 percent of the teams qualify for the playoffs (and it's not even the top 80 percent in all cases), well the regular season is somewhat pointless.

"But c'mon, if you lose, it is because you were beaten by the other team, plain and simple. Like them or not, he knew the rules going in, and if L.A. goes through after performing better on the field under those rules than the Quakes did, who's fault is that? Should I send him a sympathy card?"

Heard a rumor, have a gripe or a tip? Feeling lonely? E-mail the Mad Brit at themadbrit3@aol.com.