Americans Abroad.

Kirovksi is "Man of the Match" for Crystal Palace in 4-0 win over Wimbledon.

(Tuesday, October 16, 2001) -- United States striker Jovan Kirovski scored one goal, assisted a second and forced an own goal, earning "Man of the Match" honors, sparking Crystal Palace to a 4-0 rout of London rival Wimbledon Saturday.

"If there is a better free transfer around I'm yet to see him," Palace manager Steve Bruce said of his American. " I knew him as a kid at Manchester United where he played with the likes of David Beckham and he was the outstanding player."

In the 32nd minute, Kirovski slotted a pass through to Clinton Morrison who put the Eagles ahead 1-0. Then, in the 41st minute, Kirovski freed himself from his mark in the left side of the box, settled under Dougie Freedman’s well-placed cross and buried a powerful six-yard half volley off the goalkeeper’s fingertips into the top left corner to put Palace up 2-0 at the break.

With Palace leading 3-0, Kirovski drove a cross into the box that a Wimbledon defender played into his own net to make it 4-0 in the 84th minute.

Midweek, Kirovski was deeply involved in a Worthington Cup match at Sheffield Wednesday which Palace lost on penalty kicks after finishing 2-2. Palace saw its four-game winning streak against a team it had dispatched 4-1 in a league match 11 days earlier.

After 90 minutes, the score stood 1-1, with each team scoring in 30 minutes of overtime. Kirovski made a darting run in the 105th minute to catch up with a cross from Clinton Morrison, but Wednesday keeper Kevin Pressman made a diving save, only to have the rebound tapped in by midfielder Aki Rihilati.

Palace could not hold the lead with Wimbledon tying matters at 2-2 eight minutes later. Kirovski had another good chance near the end, but was denied by one of three great saves by Pressman in the last three minutes.

In the tiebreaker, Palace fell quickly behind 3-1 in penalty kicks, when Kirovski also failed, ending the match.

U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter is closer to returning from his broken jaw. He has not suited for the full team, but did play, wearing a full face mask, in a 3-1 victory over Northampton Town in a reserve match. He played well enough, but did commit a foul leading to a penalty kick.

Goalkeeper Kasey Keller, just returned from U.S World Cup qualifying action, did not play last Tuesday in Tottenham Hotspur’s 4-0 victory over Tranmere in the Worthington Cup’s third round.

Keller also sat yesterday while Rovers snapped a two-game home losing streak by sending Derby County to its fifth straight setback 3-1.

Despite two losses in the past week, midfielder John Thorrington continued his fine play in the second division for Huddersfield Town.

On Saturday, Huddersfield went down to Brighton 2-1. Thorrington twice setting up strikers for what should have been easy goals, only to see weak shots easily saved. He also almost scored once on a free kick, and again on a low curving shot in the second half that sailed inches wide.

In a midweek match against Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield fell 3-2 in a driving rainstorm. Thorrington started out playing right midfield in a 4-4-2 alignment and his long runs down the flank provided one of the few bright spots on what was otherwise a dismal night for Huddersfield.

Thorrington’s second half was quiet until the 75th minute when he was moved to the front line and he became more involved in the attack which produced a 90th-minute goal, but not an equalizer. He outfought a defender for the ball near the end line, help possession as the play to developed and then played a low hard cross that probably would have produced a goal had a defender not knocked it into his own net first.

U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis did not dress for Fulham’s 2-0 loss at Aston Villa Sunday, nor the 5-2 Worthington Cup win over Derby County midweek, but he continues to look good for the reserves, netting the winner in a 1-0 decision over Gillingham. American keeper Marcus Hahnemann recorded the clean sheet before being loaned to third-division leader Rochdale.

Lewis also produced a goal and an assist in the second half of Fulham’s 5-2 rout of Leicester City in a reserve match.

In the 65th minute, Lewis followed a break and side-footed home a cross from striker Calum Willock to make it 4-0. A few minutes earlier, Lewis put a ball through to striker Luke Cornwall who scored his second of the afternoon.

Brad Friedel should have brought a book for the amount of action he saw for Blackburn which swarmed over West Ham United 7-1 Sunday. Friedel was called on to make two saves and was beaten once on a point-blank shot by Michael Carrick despite getting a hand on the ball.

On Tuesday, having just returned from the U.S.-Jamaica match, Friedel was rested and reserve keeper John Filan got the victory when Craig Short found net in the 113th minute, sending Blackburn to the fourth round with a 2-1 decision over Premiership rival Middlesbrough.

In the Bundesliga Saturday, American defender Cory Gibbs played his best match of the season for visiting St. Pauli which drew 2-2 with SC Freiburg. After sustaining a leg injury a week earlier, Gibbs was listed as questionable, but he excelled as a man-marker in the left central defense. Gibbs seemed much more suited to the interior position than on the flank where he had been consistently beaten.

His assignment was to mark long time Tunisian international Adel Sellimi (74 caps). Gibbs not only held his own in the box, he got lucky as well. The few times Sellimi was able to get open in the box, his teammates failed to get him the ball. German TV commentators praised Gibbs' speed, and his ability to stay with Sellimi's moves.

Gibbs appears to be acquiring some polish, but still has a way to go. Nonetheless, it was a promising performance for the 21-year old American making his fifth straight start in the Bundesliga.

Neither American Tony Sanneh, nor his Nuernberg teammates had much of an afternoon Sunday, losing badly to Werder Bremen 3-0. Sanneh played the full match on the right side of midfield, but contributed little offensively.

Forward Jeff Cunningham, loaned from Major League Soccer’s Columbus Crew until February, arrived at Bayer Leverkusen, started training and might see action as a wing forward.

In the Netherlands, Ajax (7-0-1) is six points clear in first place after winning on the road 2-0 over RKC Waalwijk Saturday. U.S. midfielder John O’Brien represented himself well for the full 90 minutes on the right side of midfield in a 4-3-3 alignment, more involved and further forward than recently in the Amsterdam club’s attack.

Midweek, O’Brien did well for the first 67 minutes for Ajax which waltzed past NEC Nijmegen 5-0. Young American midfielder\defender Charles Kazlaukas did not dress for the losers, as was the case in a 1-0 victory Sunday over Vitesse Arnhem.

U.S. midfielder Earnie Stewart was rested for the first half of NAC Breda’s 0-0 draw with Den Bosch Sunday and was not effective after he came on at the start of the second half.

In France, Metz’s two-match winning streak came to an abrupt end 2-0 to Marseille in a foul-filled affair that saw one player from each team sent off. U.S. defender David Regis played respectably for Metz which fell victim to its nonexistent offense.

Striker Mamadou Diallo, on loan from MLS’s Tampa Bay Mutiny, is training with Metz and will play once his papers are in order.

American Melchior Arnold continues to try out with clubs in several countries, but has not signed a contract.

Defender Mike Clark of MLS’s Columbus Crew spent the last week on trial with Lothar Matthaeus' Rapid Vienna club with no word yet on how he did.

Additional reporting by Michael Smith in England.

Senior correspondent Robert Wagman compiled and edited this column. He can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com. European correspondent Christopher Courtney is an American living in Mainz, Germany. He can be contacted at yanksgermany@yahoo.com.