Americans Abroad.

Stewart, NAC Breda stun host Ajax, O'Brien 3-1; Keller to have ankle surgery, is out at least eight weeks.

(Monday, November 19, 2001) -- It not often that two Americans face one another at a high level in Europe, but that happened yesterday in Amsterdam in the Dutch Honor Division with Earnie Stewart contributing a beautiful goal and two assists for Brazilian Cristiano which powered NAC Breda to a 3-1 triumph over midfielder John O’Brien and Ajax who suffered a rare home loss.

Meanwhile, in England’s Premier League, United States keeper Kasey Keller will undergo surgery to remove bone spurs from his left ankle and will be sidelined at least eight weeks.

"Kasey Keller will be having a small operation next week," said Tottenham Hotspur manager Glenn Hoddle who signed 42-year-old Dave Beasant to a two-month contract to back up Neil Sullivan.

Stewart excelled in every aspect of the NAC-Ajax match and narrowly missed scoring on two other occasions. O’Brien was a key player for Ajax, playing in the defensive midfield, also taking all of Ajax’s free kicks and corners.

Ajax scored first, leading 1-0 after eight minutes, but came up empty after creating two other golden chances in the first 15 minutes.

NAC countered with four speedy attackers and quickly pulled back into the match. A Stewart free kick in the 30th minute found the head of Cristiano who drew NAC level at 1-1.

Then, in the 50th minute, Stewart earned his place on the Eredivisie season’s highlight reel. He pounced on a loose ball about 30 yards and struck a rocket that found the absolute upper right corner with Ajax keeper Fred Grim barely having enough time to turn his head before NAC led 2-1.

In the 65th minute, Stewart again found Cristiano who made it 3-1. Then twice more the two combined, once a Cristiano pass put Stewart in alone on Grim, but his point blank shot was high. Then off a short corner Stewart came in from the left forcing Grim into a fine save.

Ajax, which lost for the first time at home this season, seemed flat at times and had difficulty handling NAC’s four swift attackers. O’Brien played in front of four Ajax defenders, roaming from side to side, serving as the primary link between the back line and attack. Despite his accurate free kicks and corners, Ajax could not stay in the match.

Back in England’s Premiership, Blackburn Rovers continued unbeaten at home after a 1-1 draw with league- leading Liverpool. It was American Brad Friedel’s first time in Blackburn’s goal against his former teammates and he was very sharp, contributing two critical saves to maintain the tie.

Liverpool went ahead 1-0 in the 30th minute after Rovers gave away the ball in midfield. Steven Gerrard found Michael Owen in the box and the diminutive England international outjumped Henning Berg to send a powerful 12 yard header, his 14th strike in 12 league games, just past the fingertips of a diving Friedel.

"I think we've got to be disappointed that Owen was the one who scored a header against us," Friedel told reporters. "But having said that, he's got an incredible leap and he managed to get up a little bit in front of Henning. So although he's the smallest guy on the pitch, he's probably got the highest leap and you've got to take that into consideration."

Blackburn pulled even off a Tugay corner in the 52nd minute, with a centrally-located Garry Flitcroft who attempted a shot, but instead deflected the ball to Matt Jansen who nailed a low shot to make it 1-1.

In the 62nd minute, a brilliant move freed Robbie Fowler who tried to chip over Friedel, but the American palmed it away. Deep into stoppage time, Liverpool substitute Danny Murphy appeared well offside as he was put through alone on Friedel. The flag, however, stayed down and Friedel charged out of his goal and forced Murphy to shoot wide.

"It was a strange game," Friedel said. "I think the first half put everyone to sleep a little bit and it was a bit like a boxing match or a game of chess or something like that. But if you do open yourself up to the pace of their forwards, then you could easily find yourself four down at halftime."

The numbers game at Everton continues to work against U.S. striker\midfielder Joe-Max Moore. On a roster featuring 10 talented strikers and attacking midfielders, Moore finds himself relegated often to reserve-team duty.

He did not dress for the full side’s 0-0 draw with Chelsea or the reserve side’s 3-1 loss to Manchester United last week when Paul Gascoigne, Idan Tal, Danny Cadamarteri, and Kevin McLeod' all started for the reserves. Moore will get a reserve start this week against Sunderland.

Things probably got worse for Moore with Everton’s signing of Swedish star Jesper Blomqvist from Manchester United. Blomqvist hasn't played a competitive match since 1999 because of knee problems, but he says he is fit again and, if so, he could push Moore even further down on the Blue’s bench.

In that Everton-Manchester United reserve match, young American keeper Paul Rachubka went the full 90 minutes for Man U and was impressive. He remains Manchester’s fourth-choice keeper behind Fabien Barthez, Roy Carrol and Raimond van der Goouw, but the-youth team graduate has been signed to a longer-term contract and is well thought of.

In the first division, American attacker Jovan Kirovski impressed Crystal Palace’s caretaker\manager Steve Kember with a goal and an assists in a 4-1 victory over Crewe Saturday.

Once again, Kirovski showed he is much more comfortable in the midfield, behind strikers Clinton Morrison and Dougie Freedman. After Palace led 1-0 on a Crewe own goal, a brilliant strike by Morrison off a pass from Kirovski made it 2-0.

Taking a feed from Morrison, Kirovski's scored in the 34th minute, firing a right-footed from the edge of the penalty area that left keeper Ademola Bankole no chance as the ball nestled firmly into the bottom corner.

U.S.defender Gregg Berhalter dressed for Palace, but did not play.

It looks like Kember will be around for awhile after Palace chairman Simon Jordan admitted he is in no hurry find a full-time replacement for departed Steve Bruce.

American keeper Ian Feuer watched from the Wimbledon bench a 1-1 draw with Barnsley.

On loan from Fulham, American keeper Marcus Hahnemann is extending his loan to third-division Rochdale (11-4-3, 26 points), probably through the end of the year. On Saturday he was solid in a 2-0 decision over Bristol Rovers to move within a point of league-leading Plymouth (11-2-5).

Hahnemann did well on a free kick by Andy Thomson in the 17th minute, and then, a minute into the second half, stopped Alvin Bubb point-blank.

In Scotland’s Premier League, American Claudio Reyna found himself as one of only two midfielders employed by Glasgow Rangers as they warmed up for a UEFA Cup visit by Paris St. Germain with an easy 4-0 win over Dunfermline.

With regular defenders Craig Moore and Tony Vidmar away on international duty with Australia, Rangers manager Dick Advocaat employed an odd, but effective 5-2-3 formation, in which both outside defenders pushed forward and Reyna acted as the link between defense and offense.

Rangers (10-1-3, 33 points) remained in second place, seven points behind Celtic (13-0-1) and seven points ahead of Livingston (7-2-5).

In Germany’s Bundesliga, American Tony Sanneh chipped in a key assist during a strong midfielder effort for Nuernberg which defeated Hansa Rostock 2-0. Sanneh looked fit and fully recovered from a leg strain that saw him leave a match early and then miss a match two weeks ago.

American defender Cory Gibbs went the distance for St. Pauli which was humbled by a 5-1 thrashing by Kaiserslautern. St. Pauli looked like the last place team it is and Gibbs inexperience was evident as his on-the-job training continues in an extremely trying situation.

In the Second Bundesliga, Hannover 96 drew 0-0 against FC Saarbrucken in an odd match. Essentially, Hannover played two defenders and six midfielders, including U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo pushing more forward than usual does.

Newly-arrived American Conor Casey came on at half time, also in the midfield, but Hannover could not find net, despite an 11-4 shots advantage.

In France, U.S. defender David Regis served the final match of his three-game suspension, watching Metz fall to Sochaux 2-0.

Senior correspondent Robert Wagman compiled and edited this column. He can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com.