Americans Abroad

Gibbs shakes off his slump, helps spur St. Pauli to improbable 2-1 upset of Bayern Munich; Reyna saves Sunderland victory.

(Monday, February 11, 2002) -- American defender Cory Gibbs has been going through a rough period lately, with a string of poor performances for the worst team in the German Bundesliga.

On Wednesday, however, both Gibbs and St. Pauli were able to take a break from their troubles, instead relishing an implausible 2-1 home victory over traditional power Bayern Munich.

Learning on the job during his rookie season with relegation-bound St. Pauli, Gibbs has been susceptible to late and wild tackles, his faulty decisions often earning him yellow cards. A week ago, a clumsy challenge on striker Magnus Arvidsson in the box both earned Gibbs a caution and gave Hansa Rostock the penalty kick it converted for a 1-0 triumph.

Against Bayern Munich, however, Gibbs’ tactical decisions were sound as he marked for international stars Carsten Jancker and Claudio Pizarro, denying them good looks at goal all night. Gibbs had been playing in the center of the back line in a 4-4-2, but Wednesday, what St. Pauli utilized appeared more like a 3-5-2 with Gibbs the right back.

St. Pauli’s two goals came in the first half and it did not allow sixth-place Bayern (11-6-5, 38 points) to tally until the 88th minute. Kicker magazine gave Gibbs the high rating of 2 and named the former Brown University star to its Bundesliga "Team of the Week" for the second time this season.

Striker Dema Kovalenko, who joined St. Pauli on loan from Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire during the winter break, also played well for St. Pauli, making his third start in a row. While playing on the right side up front, Kovalenko was often called to drop into a defensive role.

The illusion lasted only until the weekend. On Saturday, fourth-place Schalke (12-5-5, 41) put a 4-0 drubbing on visiting St. Pauli which returned to form by conceding two penalty kicks and having a player sent off in the 65th minute.

Schalke held a 26-4 advantage in shots over St. Pauli (3-13-6, 15) which stands 17th among 18 teams. Gibbs logged a respectable performance, but was part of a defense that was simply overwhelmed.

Kovalenko again started against Schalke, and came out in the 61st minute after a rather ineffective performance.

In England’s Premier League, a great defensive play by United States midfielder Claudio Reyna helped Sunderland snap a seven-match winless streak with a 1-0 road win Saturday over hapless Derby County on Niall Quinn’s tally in the 80th minute.

Sunderland has looked better since Reyna returned to the lineup two matches ago after missing five with an ankle injury. He proved his worth against Derby by holding the ball in midfield and sending good passes to teammates.

However, his best play of the day came in the 59th minute when Derby’s Fabrizio Ravanelli sent Luciano Zavagno in on goal for a shot that caromed off the bottom of the crossbar. Malcolm Christie was there for the rebound and triggered a low shot, but Reyna alertly moved laterally to stop the ball on the line and clear it to safety.

Sunderland is tied for 11th at 8-11-7 with 31 points while Derby is 6-16-4 with 22 points in 19th place.

U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel continues to play very well in losing efforts as Blackburn Rovers went down to their 10th defeat in the last 12 matches, this time to Fulham 2-0. Rovers had a number of early chances, but were foiled by Fulham keeper Edwin van der Sar. Friedel returned the favor, saving a diving header from Sylvain Legwinski and then pushing a Steve Marlet bicycle kick onto the post and out of danger.

Fulham went ahead 1-0 on an odd play in the 31st minute. Marlet and Barry Hayles beat the Rovers defense with a give-and-go allowing Marlet to make a sharp cross into the box that was clearly handled by Rovers defender Henning Berg. Though the assistant referee signaled the infraction and play momentarily halted, referee Mark Halsey did not stop play, allowing Hayles to pounce on the ball and send it into the empty net.

Friedel kept Rovers in the match with several other fine saves, especially one on a curving free kick from Steed Malbranque, but despite getting his body in front of a low drive from Malbranque in the 64th minute, he could only watch it roll across the goal line for a 2-0 deficit.

Friedel’s amazing reaction to rob Marlet from point-blank range in the closing moments prevented a three-goal loss.

At 6-13-7 with 25 points, Blackburn is in 18th place, the top of three relegation spots despite having a respectable minus-4 goal differential. For comparison, the two teams below Rovers are Derby County with a minus-25 goal differential and Leicester City at minus-28.

American striker\midfielder Joe-Max Moore came on in the 86th minute for a defender for Everton in a 1-0 home loss to Arsenal, part of a desperate effort to salvage a point from the match.

Moore’s future at Everton has become iffy after the club acquired a pair of attackers on Friday -- Aston Villa winger David Ginola and midfielder Lee Carsley from Carsley, the latter for $2.78 million.

U.S. keeper Kasey Keller had his usual view from the Tottenham Hotspur bench in a 2-1 victory over Leicester, helped by a strong effort by Neil Sullivan in the victor's goal.

In England’s First Division, American midfielder Jovan Kirovski and defender Gregg Berhalter both saw no action for Crystal Palace in a 2-0 loss to Wolverhampton.

Kirovski has a new problem at Palace with the signing of London-born, Nigerian international striker Ade Akinbiyi from Leicester for $3.35 million, giving manager Trevor Francis another potential front liner to join the tandem of Clint Morrison and Dougie Freedman which totaled 39 goals.

Against Wolves, Francis tried to play all three forwards with little success and he said he will now use either Morrison or Freedman in a withdrawn role, the position Kirovski has been playing. What impact this has on the Kirovski’s new contract talks remains to be seen. The club had indicated it wanted to sign him to a long-term extension before he became a free transfer at the end of the season.

Berhalter’s future with Palace certainly is in doubt with Shaun Murphy, on loan from Sheffield United, getting the call following injuries to regular central defenders Kit Symons (thigh) and Tony Popovic (groin), each out for at least a month.

In other German Bundesliga action, it was a good week for FC Nürnberg and American Tony Sanneh. The club, which continues to flirt with relegation, won twice and Sanneh contributed a strong 90 minutes in each match.

On Sunday, Nürnberg was surprisingly dominant in a 2-1 decision over 1860 Munich, following a 3-2 triumph over VfB Stuttgart midweek.

Recently, Sanneh has been occupying a more offensive role than usual, playing on the right side of midfield, but for the past two matches, absences because of injury have forced him to return to his usual spot at right back. From there, he was able to push the ball forward when the situation allowed while handling his defensive responsibilities ably.

In the 2 Bundesliga, U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo struggled for Hannover 96 (14-1-7, 49) which lost for the first time this season 4-2 against Bochum Saturday.

Cherundolo had difficulty handling South Africa national-team forward Delron Buckley who scored once and assisted on two other goals.

American forward Conor Casey entered the match for Hannover in the 72nd minute, but had little impact.

Tonight, Hannover (14-1-7, 49) bounced back with a 2-0 victory over FSV Mainz in a foul-filled affair. Cherundolo gained a measure of redemption, pushing the ball up the right side frequently. Twice he put striker Jan Simik through with perfect passes, but Simak could not convert. As tempers flared, Cherundolo was one of three players involved in a near fight in the 61st minute and he was assessed a yellow card for unsportsmanlike conduct,

In the Netherlands, U.S. midfielder John O’Brien appears solidly back in the starting 11 for Ajax, going the distance in a 3-1 home win over RKC Waalwijk yesterday at the ArenA in Amsterdam.

Ajax used a 4-3-3 with O’Brien as the mostly a defensive midfielder in a difficult and defensive match. Ajax taking took the lead with a first-half stoppage time goal with the rest of the goals coming in the final 15 minutes.

Midweek, U.S. wing Earnie Stewart assisted NAC Breda’s first goal in the 12th minute of a 2-2 draw with visiting Sparta Rotterdam, a disappointing result considering Sparta tied the match with a Denni Conteh’s penalty kick in stoppage after keeper Gabor Babos brought down Michel Langerak

Stewart notched his assist when his strong header off a corner kick was stopped, but not held by keeper Frank Kooiman, leaving Kevin Bobson to put in the rebound.

In the French first division, it was a good week for Metz and U.S. defender David Regis who was solid in two shutouts by his relegation-challenged side

In both matches -- a 2-0 midweek win over Nantes, and Saturday’s 0-0 draw with Montpellier HSC -- Regis made key defensive stops.

Against Nantes, with the score still 1-0 in the 90th minute, he cleared a possible tying goal off his line and started a counterattack for Metz’s second tally. He pushed the ball forward often.

Midweek, American defender Greg Vanney, on loan from MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy, gave Bastia 85 solid minutes before tiring in a 1-1 draw at Monaco.

Saturday, Vanney went the whole way in a 2-0 French Cup decision over Nancy of the second division.

Additional reporting by Chris Courtney in Germany.

Senior correspondent Robert Wagman compiled this column and can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com.