Americans Abroad

Friedel's heroic goalkeeping leads Blackburn Rovers past Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in Worthington Cup final.

Brad Friedel celebrating Blackburn Rovers' Worthington Cup title.

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.),
Joel Lange (in England),
Willie Calderon (in England),
and Mark Flannery (in France)
SoccerTimes

(Monday, February 25, 2002) -- United States goalkeeper Brad Friedel was named "Man of the Match" after leading Blackburn Rovers to their first major cup championship in England in 74 years today by defeating heavily-favored Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 for the Worthington Cup title before 72,500 who watched at the new Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.

Friedel made a half dozen sensational saves to deny Spurs an equalizer including two in the final two minutes that left Spurs attackers shaking their heads. He made a key save on Teddy Sheringham, twice stopped point-blank shots from Uruguayan Gus Poyet and denied Les Ferdinand on four occasions. He stopped Ferdinand on a one-on-one in the 19th minute and then stood firm on what looked like a sure goal just before halftime when he caught a bullet header from eight yards.

Friedel’s a "top man," said Rovers manager Graeme Sounness. "I said earlier in the season, I wouldn't swap him for anybody in the Premier League."

In the final two minutes, he twice prevented Ferdinand from scoring from frantic play in Rovers penalty area, the second time saving a point-blank header.

Rovers, went ahead 1-0 in the 25th minute when Matt Jansen poked a rebound under keeper Neil Sullivan. Jansen started the sequence by winning a header, dropping the ball in the path of Keith Gillespie whose shot was stopped by Sullivan.

Spurs pulled even at 1-1 in the 33rd minute after Ferdinand ran down the right side and into the Rovers box before playing a neat ball to Teddy Sheringham who in turn found Christian Ziege running into the box unmarked. Ziege beat Friedel with a high drive into the net from close range.

Blackburn, which captured the Premier League championship in 1995 before falling on hard times, went ahead 2-1 in the 69th minute after Henning Berg launched a long ball into the penalty area. Defender Ledley King struggled to deal with it and Jansen forced him into losing the ball. It fell to Andy Cole who struck from six yards for the game-winner.

U.S. keeper Kasey Keller was on the Hotspur bench in his usual role as Sullivan’s backup.

Blackburn (6-13-7, 25 points), tied for 18th with Derby County (7-16-4) in the 20-club Premier League, is presently sitting in one of three relegation positions, four points behind Everton and Bolton.

U.S. midfielder Claudio Reyna wasted a pair of prime chances in Premier League play for Sunderland which fell 1-0 to second-place Newcastle. Twice in the second half, Reyna found himself staring at an open goal with the ball on his foot, but first he shot wide and then he hesitated long enough to allow a defender to sweep the ball away.

Although his shooting touch left much to be desired, Reyna otherwise did well in the midfield, especially working with Patrick Mboma who made his Sunderland debut in the second half.

American striker Joe-Max Moore did not dress for Everton which drew 1-1 with Liverpool. With the Tomasz Radzinski, Alessandro Pistone and Duncan Ferguson back from injury, Moore has dropped on the depth chart and likely will find his playing time limited.

In the First Division, American striker Jovan Kirovski and defender Gregg Berhalter found themselves as starters for injury-depleted Crystal Palace which was defeated 1-0 by Sheffield United.

Just 10 days ago, Palace manager Trevor Francis told Berhalter that he was not in Palace’s future plans and placed him on the transfer list. However, with four defenders sidelined with various injuries, Berhalter received the call and responded with a solid performance for 90 minutes.

Kirovski is recovering from a pulled thigh muscle and might not have played had a full complement of forwards been available. Kirovski, sent through on a pass from Berhalter, forced United keeper Simon Tracey to make an early diving save, then sent a free kick sailing inches high in the 31st minute before being replaced in the 72nd minute, and coming out to a nice ovation from the Palace fans.

American John Thorrington finally returned after missing 14 games with groin and ankle injuries to Huddersfield Town which scored in stoppage time to defeat Blackpool 2-1 in the Second Division.

Thorrington, who played in a reserve match on Tuesday, had two good scoring chances, hitting the post from long range in the 30th minute before coming out in the 72nd. .

Before leaving to join the U.S. national team, Fulham winger Eddie Lewis scored from 20 yards as part of a strong effort minutes for the Fulham reserves who, filled with first-team players, defeated the Nottingham Forest 3-0.

In a meeting of Americans in the Netherlands, Ajax of Amsterdam with midfielder John O’Brien moved closer to a league title by defeating NAC Breda with attacker Earnie Stewart 1-0. The road win was big for Ajax because NAC has been tough at home this year.

Stewart almost gave NAC a lead midway through the first half, but missed inches wide. With less then 20 minutes to play, Ajax finally took the lead.

NAC nearly pulled even late when Stewart made a wonderful cross in full stride to South African striker Glen Salmon only for him to miss his target by inches.

O’Brien played a more offensive role than usual, manning the left flank midfield in front of four defenders. That left him marking Stewart, his U.S. teammate, for much of the afternoon.

According to several reports in German media, Schalke 04, third in the Bundesliga, is interested in signing American Steve Cherundolo who plays right back in the Second Bundesliga for Hannover 96.

Cherundolo, whose contract with Hannover carries a $500,000 buy-out clause, considered less than what he would command on the transfer market, has refused to sign a contract extension eliminating the buy-out. Since Hannover leads 2 Bundesliga and is likely to be promoted, Cherundolo is probably waiting to see how much he will be offered in a new contract.

Hannover’s match with Oberhausen was postponed by the weather.

U.S. midfielder Tony Sanneh, producing his third strong match in a row, assisted the first goal for FC Nürnberg which blanked Cologne 2-0.

Nürnberg scored in the second minute when Sanneh passed to Caceau who converted for the quick goal. Nürnberg then focused on defense before adding a tally by Caceau in the 74th minute.

American defender Cory Gibbs was on the sideline, suspended for yellow card accumulation for St. Pauli which drew 1-1 with Borussia Monchengladbach on a bitterly cold and snowy day in Hamburg. Striker Dema Kovalenko of Major League Soccer’s Chicago Fire was dressed, but did not see action.

Forward Brice Wegerle, a Tampa, Fla., resident, has signed with Italian Serie A power Udinese. He is the son of former North American Soccer League star Steve Wegerle and nephew of former U.S. national-team striker Roy Wegerle. Brice Wegerle, who has been scoring regularily with the Udinese reserves and has been training with the first team, committed to play for James Madison University, but decided to turn pro instead.

In France, Bastia, which played a man down for the final 22 minutes, lost to Rennes 2-1 despite another fine outing from American Greg Vanney who went the distance as a left side defender. Vanney earned a yellow card for a tackle from behind late in the first half.

U.S. defender David Regis sat out, suspended for yellow card accumulation, as Metz fell 2-1 to Bordeaux. The defender also suffered a knee injury in training last week, and is having an MRI to evaluate the extent of the injury.

In Chile, goalkeeper Jonny Walker was outstanding as Universidad Católica defeated Colo Colo, 3-1. He made several outstanding saves, denying Alonzo Zuñiga in the 46th minute, Sebastian Gonzalez in the 51st, and three others in the late going. The only goal he let in was in the 89th minute on a rebound after a Colo Colo shot hit the crossbar.

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