|
|
Americans Abroad With Sanneh still in fold, Nürnberg falls to Vfl Bochum 3-1.
By Robert Wagman
(Sunday, August 11, 2002) -- After the United States' fine showing in the World Cup, rumors swirled around many of the European-based players that they would be changing teams and possibly moving up in the soccer world. One such player is defender\midfielder Tony Sanneh of Germany's FC Nürnberg. His play in South Korea was a revelation, leading a number of clubs made serious inquiries about his availability. Nürnberg's dire financial condition is such the club would have been happy to sell him, if the price was right, and thus he was put on the transfer list at about $2.5 million. Reportedly, the most serious interest came from Newcastle United of England's Premier League which appeared ready to meet Nürnberg's price, but then had second thoughts given the 31-year-old's age. So the Bundesliga season opened yesterday with Sanneh at right back for Nürnberg with a green light from coach Klaus Augenthaler to attack whenever possible. That was not often Saturday with Nürnberg falling 3-1 to Vfl Bochum with Thomas Christiansen scoring in the sixth and 20th minutes to put the visitors ahead for good. The new European soccer season is underway, with matches in the Bundesliga and English First Division. Most other European leagues begin next week, including the England's Premier League. American defender\midfielder Frankie Hedjuk is part of the full 23-man roster at Bayer Leverkusen, but he was not dressed Saturday when Bayer opened its Bundesliga season with a 1-1 draw at newly-promoted Energie Cottbus. Today, American Steve Cherundolo, fully recoved from the leg injury that kept him out of the World Cup, started for newly-promoted Hannover 96 at right back in a 2-1 loss to Hamburg. He played well for 72 minutes before being replaced by midfielder Babacar N'Daiye with Hannover leading 1-0. American striker Conor Casey is fighting for a starting job with Hannover, but a pulled leg muscled caused him to miss the match. In the Second Bundesliga, American midfielder Grover Gibson entered in the 81st minute for FSV Mainz which defeated F.C. Union Berlin 3-1. The victory was hardly consolation for Mainz which fell 3-1 to Berlin in the final match of last season and missed promotion by one point. U.S. defender Cory Gibbs went the distance for St. Pauli, which playing its first match in 2 Bundesliga after relegation, suffered a 4-0 thrashing at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt. Former University of Maryland defender Philip Salyer is on the roster of the Bundesliga's Werder Bremen, but he did not dress for today's 3-0 road loss to Arminia Bielefeld. For now, it looks like he will be play with the reserve team. In England's First Division, Preston North End had hoped that American winger Eddie Lewis would be in its starting lineup for yesterday's opener at home to Crystal Palace, but attempts to acquire him from the Premier League's Fulham stalled without an agreement on a transfer fee. At one point, Fulham said it would give Lewis his release, but now North End has come calling, the club is looking to reclaim part of the reported $2.3 million it paid Major League Soccer to acquire him. Preston reportedly has offered around $760,000, but Fulham is said to want more. "Fulham are looking for a fee for Eddie Lewis," Preston chairman Derek Shaw told reporters. "I am not going to say how much that is, but it is not what we would be expecting to pay. There is a lot more talking to be done." Without Lewis, North End lost its home opener 2-1 with Steve Kabba netting Palace's winner in the 86th minute. U.S. defender Jovan Kirovski no longer is with Palace, having moved to Birmingham City, which was promoted to the Premier League. American defender Gregg Berhalter remains under contract to Palace, but did not dress with reports from England having him talking with several teams and MLS, looking for a way out. A deal for him to play in Greece this season fell apart at the last moment. Kirovski was denied a new work permit, required when he switched clubs. The decision was based on the fact that he has not played in 75 percent of the U.S. national team matches in the past 24 months. The surprising decision came despite the fact that when he moved to Palace two years ago from Portugal, he was deemed not to need a permit because his wife is a citizen of an European Union country. Birmingham manager Steve Bruce expressed surprise at the ruling, but indicated he was confident the permit would be issued on appeal. The Premier League begins next weekend, though some doubt has been cast on the expected match-up of Americans Saturday when Sunderland with midfielder Claudio Reyna visits Blackburn Rovers and goalkeeper Brad Friedel. Reyna might miss the game after he "slightly pulled" his chronically injured groin. Sunderland says it is hopeful Reyna will be ready to go, but was absent from this past week's preseason trip to Spain, where the club lost 2-1 to Algeciras of Spain's second division after having two players sent off. Reyna had a good preseason and was generally healthy before his groin started giving him trouble after a 2-1 loss to Gent of Belgium on August 3. After seeing no action in the World Cup, American Kasey Keller appears to be Tottenham Hotspur's starting goalkeeper. During the past week, he was in the net for the full 90 minutes when Spurs drew with powerful Celtic of Scotland 1-1 and then Lazio of Rome 2-2. In today's match against Lazio, Keller was outstanding. The Argentinian World Cup duo of Hernan Crespo and Claudio Lopez, along with Yugoslav Dejan Stankovic, gave Spurs' defenders fits all day. Keller stopped shots from all three in the first half, and when Diego Simeone came off the bench at the start of the second half, he twice tested Keller without success in the opening five minutes. With the match tied, Keller made his best save in the 74th minute after Lopez crossed from the right and Crespo met it for a volley from eight yards out. Keller steered the blast away with his foot.
Robert Wagman is a senior correspondent for SoccerTimes and can be
e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com.. |
