Americans Abroad

Friedel, Keller play key roles as their Premier League teams open with draws.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

(Sunday, August 18, 2002) -- On the opening weekend of the English Premier League season, American goalkeeper Brad Friedel faced off against his United States teammate and captain, midfielder Claudio Reyna, the first time the two had met in a professional match.

A potential meeting last season after Reyna came to Sunderland from Scotland's Glasgow Rangers, but Reyna was injured for the game against Friedel's Blackburn Rovers.

Bragging rights went unclaimed as the two sides played a 0-0 draw before 27,222 at Blackburn's Ewood Park though Friedel came out looking good with his clean sheet.

Three times Reyna tested Friedel with free kicks, the most dangerous shots Friedel faced. In the 10th minute, Reyna missed just wide with a curling free kick. In the 30th minute, Friedel comfortably saved a 30-yard direct kick and need to move quickly to turn away Reyna again on a set piece in the 76th minute.

Friedel was also alert midway through the first half when Sunderland's Kevin Kilbane beat defender Nils Eric Johansson and burst into the box. Friedel, however, was fast off his line to clear.

Reyna appeared not to be bothered by a groin strain that kept him sidelined for Sunderland's final two preseason matches.

Also yesterday in the Premiership, U.S. keeper Kasey Keller was the starter for Tottenham Hotspur and needed a strong match for Spurs to escape with a 2-2 draw at Everton. Everton's Mark Pembridge caused problems for Keller all day with swirling corners from the right side. He punched one away and then watching Steve Carr head another out of danger from under the crossbar.

In the 37th minute, Pembridge took advantage of a defensive lapse and beat Keller for a 1-0 lead. After Matthew Etherington scored in the 63rd minute and Les Ferdinand in the 74th for a 2-1 Tootenham lead, Keller gave up the tying goal when Kevin Campbell sent a pass to Tomasz Radzinski, who cut in and fired an angled shot across Keller and into the far corner in the 80th minute.

Keller made a great save when he flew through the air to tip a 25-yard shot by Everton's 16-year-old sensation Wayne Rooney over the crossbar. The emergence of Rooney, whose development is likened to David Beckham's, is not good news for American striker Joe-Max Moore who is still battling back from preseason training injuries and was not dressed for Everton on Saturday.

American midfielder\forward Jovan Kirovski was granted a work permit to play for Bitmingham City after he appealed an initial rejection. City argued that his permit to play for Crystal Palace issued two years ago when he arrived from Portugal should be transferred, even if he has not played the required 75 percent of U.S. national team matches in the past two years.

Still, Kirovski was not dressed on today when City, newly-promoted to the Premier League, was easily defeated by Arsenal 2-0 last night. Kirovski was in the stands at Palace's Selhurst Park, sitting next to U.S. national-team defender Gregg Berhalter watching his former club went drop a 3-2 decision to Portsmouth.

It does not look as if Berhalter will get much playing time, especially since newly -rrived defender Darren Powell looked solid after scoring a goal the week before in his debut. The American defender did go 90 minutes in Palace's first reserve match, a 4-0 win over Bournemouth.

The saga of winger Eddie Lewis' attempted move from Fulham and the Premier League to Preston North End in the First Division continues. It was announced on Friday that North End and Fulham had agreed on a transfer fee, but Lewis' salary demands have apparently caused a snag. A North End spokesperson said the club was confident a deal could be reached despite press stories saying the club was ready pull the plug on the deal because of Lewis' wage demands.

"I don't want this to be a saga running every day in the paper," North End chairman Derek Shaw said in a team release. "We still have an interest in Lewis, although there is no further news to report."

North End manager Craig Brown said he wants to add a wide player to his squad and Lewis fits the bill perfectly.

Also in the First Division, American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, who played for Major League Soccer's Colorado Rapids from 1997-99, was on the Reading bench for a 2-1 home setback to Coventry. Starting keeper Philip Whitehead has not gotten off to a strong start, so Hahnemann might be seeing action soon.

In Second Division action, Ian Feuer, a veteran of two MLS seasons, was in goal and earned a shutout for Tranmere Rovers who defeated Cheltenham 1-0. He appeared in midseason form with his saves on Martin Devaney and Michael Duff crucial to Tranmere's triumph.

American midfielder John Thorrington made a solid contribution to Huddersfield Town's 1-0 defeat of Peterborough. Thorrington created several chances for Town, but failed twice on good opportunities to ice the match..

Sanneh, who played the entire 90 minutes. had a strong first half. René Rydlewicz scored both Rostock goals, partially victimizing Sanneh on the second in the 83rd minute.

Hannover '96 is off to s shaky start in the Bundesliga. With American Steve Cherundolo at right back, the newly-promoted team lost for its second straight 3-1 to visiting 1860 Munich. American striker Conor Casey remained sidelined for Hannover with a leg injury.

U.S. defender\midfielder Frankie Hedjuk was also in street clothes for Bayer Leverkusen's 1-1 home draw with Borussia Dortmund.

With American defender Cory Gibbs sidelined for several weeks with a leg injury suffered last week in Frankfurt, St. Pauli fell 4-1 at home to Ahlen, its second straight one-sided loss.

U.S. attacker Earnie Stewart, who re-signed with NAC Breda, did not take part in the opening 2-2 draw with Roda JC. Stewart has been fighting minor injuries during the pre-season.

Reportedly, Stewart's new deal allows him to transfer after the winter break to MLS where, he said on several occasions, he would like to play next season.

Defender Greg Vanney is still trying to recapture his form for Bastia in Le Championnat after the injury which kept him out of the World Cup. He has failed to impress new coach Gerard Gili, so he finds himself off the full team roster and assigned to the reserve side. He went 90 minutes in a reserve match last week.

Defender David Regis remains listed as a free transfer by Metz, but there are no takers. So he officially remains on Metz's roster, but with no job. Regis has tried to move since Metz was relegated to the second division.

Young American defender Oguchi Onyewu has run afoul of French regulations limiting the number of non-European Union players on a team's roster.

After playing well in two Metz preseason friendlies, Onyewu has been put on hold while Metz tries to make roster moves to free up a non-EU spot for him. In preseason, he played at right back and central defense against Portugual's Boavista and Anderlech.

Robert Wagman is a senior correspondent for SoccerTimes and can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com..