Americans Abroad

Beasley transfer to England is dead; Berhalter moves to Germany.

By Robert Wagman
SoccerTimes

(Thursday, August 29, 2002) -- Twenty-four hours after press reports indicated United States midfielder DaMarcus Beasley was ready to move to Middlesbrough of the English Premier League, the deal is off.

After his flashy performances in the recent World Cup, a number of teams reportedly made inquiries to Major League Soccer about acquiring the Chicago Fire's 20-year-old, but when they learned that MLS had set a firm price tag of $2 million for his transfer, most teams lost interest. Two who didn't were Middlesbrough and Ajax in Amsterdam.

Reportedly, Middlesbrough made an initial offer which was rejected by MLS while Ajax was prepared to pay the $2 million before several players came available as free transfers.

With Saturday's transfer deadline looming, Middlesbrough upped its offer to about $2.3 million, the media reported, and a deal seemed close. However, Middlesbrough manager Steve McClaren now has decided that for the kind of money being discussed for a young American, he might be able to get an experienced international who could step in and play immediately.

McLaren's attention apparently has turned to former Manchester United midfielder Jesper Blomqvist, a 28-year-old Swedish international who injured his knee in preseason, but now says he is ready to go. If he passes a fitness test, he could join Middlesbrough immediately.

U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter is leaving England to join Energie Cottbus in the German Bundesliga on a free transfer. Berhalter, 29, was deemed expendable at the First Division's Crystal Palace by manager Trevor Francis and he signed a one-year deal with a team off to a 0-2-1 start in Germany's top league. Cottbus said it has been tracking Berhalter since he played for the U.S. against Germany in the World Cup quarterfinals.

American midfielder Eddie Lewis will stay put at Fulham in England's Premiership after his refusal to take a steep pay cut derailed a transfer to Preston North End in the First Division. The long-rumored move was put to rest by North End manager Craig Brown, who said, "We made general enquiries, but we won't pursue them further."

Lewis will probably only see action in reserve matches for Fulham, which had agreed to a $930,000 transfer fee with Preston.

U.S. attacker Jovan Kirovski's Premier League debut with Birmingham City has been put on indefinite hold after he aggravated a thigh injury in a reserve match against Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday. Kirovski, who moved to City from Crystal Palace on a free transfer, injured the thigh in training while waiting for his work permit to transfer from his previous club.

Kirovski wanted to test his fitness in the reserve match, but came limping off. "Jovan's not right," City manager Steve Bruce said. "He came off against Blackburn with a muscle injury. These types of injuries are not like knocks. You have to be careful. Otherwise, it could result in a tear and he would be out for even longer."

Ian Feuer trained with Arsenal and could be on his way to becoming the third American goalkeeper in the Premier League. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has been on a quest to sign a big-name keeper who will eventually succeed David Seaman, England's World Cup keeper, after Richard Wright left the club to join Everton after the end of last season.

Arsenal thought it had a deal for Fabien Carini, but that fell through. A complex, big-money transfer for Argentinian Sebastian Saja, which his club San Lorenzo said Arsenal was pursuing with great interest, probably can't be done by Saturday's deadline.

Alex Manninger, at least for the time being, is still with Arsenal after Espanyol of Spain reneged on a $1.55 million transfer. Stuart Taylor was Seaman's backup Tuesday when Arsenal rolled over West Bromwich 5-2.

If the Saja deal can't be completed and Manninger doesn't stay on, there could be an opening for a third keeper. After not being asked back to Wimbledon of the First Division, Feuer agreed to terms with the Second Division's Tranmere, but the deal apparently has not been finalized, allowing him to join Arsenal if a contract if offered.

In a nail-biter from start to finish, Rovers jumped to an early lead on David Dunn's goal in the 16th minute. Friedel was sharp in denying Michael Owen in the 25th minute, but six minutes later, with Liverpool controlling play, the visitor drew level when Danny Murphy redirected a cross into the far corner of the goal, a shot Friedel could only watch go by.

Friedel he was victimized again in the 77th minute by John Arne Riise, a Norwegian international who went high in the air on the right side of the goal and looped a header over Friedel into the far netting.

For the second match in a row, U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna was Sunderland's best player and had a hand in the long goal of a 1-0 victory yesterday at Leeds United, Sunderland's first triumph in a league match at Elland Road since 1961 and first shutout there since 1930.

After starting out with a 0-0 draw at Blackburn, then a 1-0 loss at Everton, Sunderland manager Peter Reid was said to be in trouble, but relief came against a Leeds side that had won its first two matches by a combined 6-1

After the match, Reyna defended his coach. "So much of the blame is always given to the managers, and undeserved as well," he said. "But he is working really hard to bring players in and to try to get the team right. We see it every day. . . But he has been good and had a positive attitude with the team, and he has stuck behind us. To be fair, a lot of the time he takes the blame when I think the players should be getting more of it, but he always deflects it towards himself. For that reason alone, the team is always going to go out and try to get a result for him."

On Tuesday, U.S. keeper Kasey Keller helped propel Tottenham Hotspur (2-0-1) into a tie with Liverpool and Arsenal at the top of the Premiership table with a sterling performance in a 1-0 shutout of Charlton, his second clean sheet in three outings.

Simon Davies' early goal put Tottenham ahead 1-0 and then Keller held off Charlton for the rest of the night. Just after halftime, Charlton's Jason Euell was sent in free on Keller, but the keeper reacted quickly, rushing from his line to and strip Euell with his feet.

The save of the night came near the end when Keller extended fully to again deny Euell who seemed like he had a sure goal.

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