Reyna’s two goals and all-around performance help Sunderland get past Leicester City 2-1.

Americans Abroad

Keller is solid, helping Tottenham Hotspur to draw, victory; Vanney plays key role getting Bastia to French Cup final; Mathis draws interest in Europe.

(Monday, April 1, 2002) -- Tottenham Hotspur manager Glenn Hoddle said this week that he expects American goalkeeper Kasey Keller to move on next season.

The reason Keller is expected to find a new team for the 2002-03 season is Hoddle’s refusal to give Keller any playing time, choosing instead to stay with Scottish international Neil Sullivan regardless of whether he was playing well or poorly.

After a virus and a spate of injuries raced through Tottenham, sidelining Sullivan among others, Keller, who played for the United States in a 4-2 loss at Germany Wednesday night, found himself starting for Spurs who defeated Leeds United 2-1 this afternoon after drawing 1-1 with Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Keller was solid today, producing several key saves for Spurs who held off an increasingly desperate Leeds which trails Newcastle United by five points and Chelsea by three, now with five matches remaining, for the final berth in next season’s European Champions League. It was in the second minute that he punched away a lobbed header by Robbie Fowler who had intercepted an attempted backpass.

Steffen Iversen scored in the 10th minute and Teddy Sheringham in the 29th to put Tottenham ahead 2-0 before Mark Viduka beat Keller with a low drive to bring Leeds to within 2-1.

In the 80th minute, Lee Bowyer worked free for a bullet from about eight yards, but he drove it into Keller’s chest.

On Saturday, Keller had a relatively quiet afternoon, making only two stops in a match dominated by Spurs. The only goal he surrendered was on a twisting 20-yard free kick from Middlesbrough’s Franck Queudrue in the 56th minute. Steffen Iversen gave Spurs a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute.

Sitting on the Spurs’ bench was Canadian international Lars Hirschfeld who has been on trial at White Hart Lane as Hoddle anticipates replacing Keller next season.

Keller’s competition for the starting position for the United States in the World Cup, Brad Friedel, turned in a strong performance for Blackburn Rovers today in a 2-0 shutout over Southampton, keeping Rovers (9-15-8, 35 points) out of the relegation zone. Blackburn is two points above Ipswich Town (8-16-9) which is in 18th place, the top of three spots which bring demotion to the First Division. Blackburn is also four points behind 12th place.

Friedel was not busy, did make two good saves and, except for one poor clearance early, put in an error-free performance.

This contrasted with Saturday, when in a match called "dreadful" by several commentators, last place Leicester City (4-19-10, 22) won its first Premiership match in 17 tries, defeating visiting Blackburn 2-1.

Leicester striker Paul Dickov put two goals past Friedel in one-on-one situations. Friedel did come up big on two occasions to deny Leicester, but could not cover for his defense to stop the Dickov breakaways.

Goalkeeper Jeff Cassar, formerly of the Miami Fusion which was folded by Major League Soccer in February, signed Thursday with Bolton Wanderers for the remainder of the season.

It is not likely Cassar will see much, if any, playing time at Bolton which has five matches remaining in its season. "Jeff has been on trial with us for some time now and has impressed us," Bolton manager Sam Allardyce told Associated Press. "He's a big lad and has a presence in the box. He'll provide great competition for the goalkeepers we have here at the club."

With Bolton’s starting keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen sidelined, Cassar was on the bench both Monday when Bolton fell 3-1 to Everton, and Saturday in a 3-2 victory over Aston Villa. Kevin Poole did an outstanding job in goal against Villa, but struggled against Everton.

U.S. midfielder\striker Joe-Max Moore did not dress for Everton against Bolton and was an unused reserve Friday, watching his side concede four second-half tallies in a 6-2 setback to Newcastle United.

Bastia, which last won the trophy in 1981, will take on Lorient in the May 11 final at the Stade de France. Bastia (10-15-5, 35) is 12th in the French Le Championnat (first division); Lorient (7-16-7, 28) is last, but advanced to the final by defeating Nimes of the second division 1-0.

Vanney went forward often, to the point he was called offside once. On defense, he rose to the challenge of marking Sedan’s outstanding Cameroon striker Pius N'Diefi, one of the French first division’s leading scorers. N’Diefi was largely held off the ball by Vanney in the first half, but Bastia keeper Ali Boumnijel had to come up big to stop N'Diefi’s drive from 22 yards in the 74th minute and deflect a close-range shot four minutes later.

Ten years ago, Bastia was to play a French Cup semifinal against Olympique Marseille at its Furiani stadium, but the match never took place after a temporary stand collapsed killing 18 people and injuring 2,300 others. One minute of silence was observed in the victims' memory before kickoff on Saturday.

Reportedly, City manager Kevin Keegan was in Rostock, Germany, when Mathis scored two goals in a 4-2 U.S. loss to Germany in Wednesday’s friendly. Afterward, Keegan said City would prepare an offer for him.

Likewise, German papers reported Bayern Munich is interested in Mathis but would likely wait until after the World Cup, which runs from May 31 to June 30, before making an offer. For its part, an MLS spokesperson said no one has yet contacted the league about Mathis.

Kirovski replaced midfielder Ade Akinbiyi as Palace pushed five attackers forward over the final half hour in a vain attempt to net an equalizer. Today, Kirovski stayed on the bench during a lackluster 0-0 draw with Birmingham.

U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter did not dress for Crystal Palace for either match.

American goalkeeper Ian Feuer was on the bench for Wimbledon which defeated Rotherham and then Sheffield United by identical 1-0 scores.

In England’s Second Division, American midfielder John Thorrington turned in a pair of fine performances for Huddersfield Town which drew 0-0 with Oldham today and 1-1 with Wrexham 1-1 on Saturday.

Thorrington manned the flank in both matches, often running free and had a hand in Town’s one goal. The two draws left Town (20-8-14, 74) in fifth place with the third- through sixth-place finishers entering a playoff for the third and final promotion berth to the First Division.

In an odd match, Paulo Rink (15th minute) and Jacek Krzynowek (74th minute) converted penalty kicks for Nürnberg after dreadful Wolfsburg fouls in the box. The third goal came after Sanneh stole the ball, dealt to Rink and received a return pass. After drawing two defenders to him, Sanneh put the ball over to Louis Gomis who pushed it into the open net in the 86th minute.

Over the past few weeks, Sanneh has been the target of some caustic comments from Nürnberg coach Klaus Augenthaler. After the match Saturday, Augenthaler went out of his way to praise his American midfielder saying his play was excellent and that the third goal was "his alone."

American defender Cory Gibbs, still nursing a hamstring pull, did not dress for St. Pauli which was soundly beaten by 1860 Munich 4-2 and dropped further back into last place.

In 2 Bundesliga action, American defender Steve Cherundolo and striker Conor Casey turned in fine efforts as Hannover 96 completely outclassed Schweinfurt 6-0. Hannover (20-1-8, 68) leads the league by 10 points over Mainz and is destined for promotion.

Casey scored the third Hannover goal in the 34th minute on a powerful shot from close in, departing in the 62nd minute limping slightly from a hard knock with the lead at five goals.

Cherundolo led an impressive Hannover defense which gave Schweinfurt few opportunities.

In the German Regionalliga Sued, American Grover Gibson stood out for Elversberg which defeated Bayern Munich Amateurs 2-1. He played the full 90 minutes as Elversberg (10-11-4, 34) stayed six points above the relegation zone.

U.S. attacker Earnie Stewart served a one-game suspension for yellow card accumulation for NAC Breda which defeated De Graafschap 1-0.

Católica played a man down from the 30th minute and, twice in the next five minutes, Walker was called on to make diving saves to keep Temuco off the scoreboard. There was little he could do on Temuco goals in the 38th and 45th minutes.

The two sides traded penalty-kick goals in the first minutes of the second half, putting Temuco up 3-1, but from that point on Walker kept Temuco off the board while Católica scored twice to level the match.

Católica has a big match midweek against Olimpia in Asunción, Paraguay, in Copa Libertadores group play.

Senior correspondent Robert Wagman compiled this column and can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com. Gary Davidson is managing editor of SoccerTimes and can be e-mailed at editor@soccertimes.com.