Americans Abroad

Stewart celebrates fatherhood, scores in NAC Breda's 2-1 decision over Den Bosch to close in on UEFA Cup qualification.

(Monday, March 11, 2002) -- American attacker Earnie Stewart celebrated the birth of his son Ennis a week earlier by scoring his ninth goal of the season, helping NAC Breda pick up three valuable points in the Dutch KPN-Telecompetitie by defeating home standing Den Bosch 2-1 Saturday.

With NAC ahead 1-0 in the 62nd minute, Stewart picked up a bad clearance, raced downfield, danced around two defenders and then hit a hard shot into the top of the net.

The insurance tally helped NAC stave off a late rally by Den Bosch with Fred van der Hoorn's goal eight minutes ensuring a frantic finish.

NAC (13-8-5, 44 points), which gained a 1-0 advantage in the 38th minute on Mark Schenning’s goal, is in sixth place in the Netherlands’ first division, but only one point behind Heerenveen (13-5-6) and Vitesse Arnhem (12-5-9) which are tied for fourth. The fourth-place finisher is invited to the UEFA Cup second-tier European competition.

In other Dutch action this weekend, John O’Brien was in the midfield for Ajax which had no trouble defeating De Graafschap 4-0. O’Brien did not score, but pushed the ball forward well and his cross caused an own goal in first-half stoppage time.

Everton manager Walter Smith went with Moore because Duncan Ferguson was injured, Lee Carsley ineligible for the Cup and Thomas Gravesen suspended. Despite working hard, Moore was replaced at halftime by Niclas Alexandersson with Everton trailing 3-0.

Tottenham Hotspur, with goalkeeper Kasey Keller residing on the bench, also was thrashed 4-0 at home by Chelsea.

It was second time in four days Tottenham fell 4-0, after being routed by Manchester United Wednesday in Premier League play. With Neil Sullivan giving up eight goals in two matches and directly at fault for at least two in each match, it will be interesting to see if Keller gets a shot at the starting position.

In England’s First Division, American midfielder\forward Jovan Kirovski was inserted in the 83rd minute as part of manager Trevor Francis’s desperate attempt to throw everyone forward in a 2-0 home loss to Watford.

Palace (18-17-4, 58) lost ground in its effort to make it to sixth place and a berth into a four-way playoff for the third promotion spot to the Premier League. Palace is tied with Norwich for eighth place, six points behind Milwall and Burnley which are tied for fifth and sixth place.

Palace defender Gregg Berhalter was not with the team, but started for the U.S. which defeated Ecuador 1-0 yesterday in Birmingham, Ala. He told SoccerTimes that he is unsure of his future with Palace. "I have another year to go on my contract, but I know the team is trying to offload a number of players because of the new wage law in England," he said. "So I really don’t know where I stand. I’ll have to start talking with them when I return next week."

In the Second Division, it was a good week for American midfielder John Thorrington and Huddersfield Town. On Saturday, Thorrington playing his fourth match in a row after missing almost three months with injuries, helped spark Town to a 2-0 win over Swindon, tiring and coming off in the 83rd minute.

On Wednesday, he went the full 90 minutes and assisted the tying goal in a 1-1 draw with Chesterfield.

Vanney, who has played well on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, made a key error Wednesday that contributed to Bastia’s 1-0 loss to Paris St. Germain. After a strong first half in an even match, Vanney lost his man, striker Ogbeche, in the 50th minute. Ogbeche, who had been closely marked by the American to that point, controlled Hugo Leal’s through pass as Vanney tried for the tackle and missed. The striker went on to send his shot under keeper Nicolas Penneteau.

Yesterday, Vanney came in at the half for a mostly reserve Bastia side defeated the fourth division’s Libourne Saint-Seurin 1-0 in the Coupe de France. It was not much of a match as Bastia exerted only enough energy to win and advance.

Bastia (9-15-4) is tied for 12th the place in the 18-team Le Championnat.

U.S. defender David Régis and Metz were both big losers to Lille, midweek. The team lost 1-0 and in doing so dropped further into last place in Le Championnat and now seems assured of relegation.

Régis, retaliating for a hard foul on a teammate in the 80th minute, was shown a red card. His second direct red card this season -- both for retaliatory fouls -- will be reviewed by the Commission on Discipline with a three-match suspension probable.

Régis, in the middle of a somewhat strange five-back defense, had played well, even pushing up into the offense and getting off two hard shots that required saves by Lille keeper Gregory Malicki

In other Metz news, club officials are traveling to the U.S. this week in another attempt to sign Clemson University and U.S. under-21 defender Oguchi Onyewu for next season. He has twice trained with the club, but so far has resisted signing a contract.

Walker had a brave performance. After giving up a goal on a point-blank header in the 11th minute, he kept Once off the scoreboard until the 90th minute. Then his defense collapsed and he conceded two goals within 90 seconds.

Walker and many of the Católica starters were rested this weekend ahead of Wednesday's critical Copa Libertadores match against Flamengo in Santiago, Chile. Católica lost 3-2 to Santiago Morning at home on Saturday.

St. Pauli recorded a nice win 1-0 effort over S.C. Frieburg. American defender Cory Gibbs went the full 90 minutes as part of his team’s solid defensive effort.

Striker Demo Kovalenko of MLS’s Chicago Fire did not dress for the match and it is unclear whether St. Pauli will exercise its option to acquire him or he will return to the Fire in May.

In 2 Bundesliga play, American striker Conor Casey was a surprise starter for Hannover 96 against SV Babelsberg and he made the most of his opportunity scoring in the first minute of a 3-1 victory. Several passes off the opening kickoff found Casey with the ball at the top of the box from where he converted.

In the second half, Casey was issued a yellow card for a hard foul.

The match marked the return to Hannover for U.S. defender Steve Cherundolo who went 90 minutes after recovering from a leg injury. He has been the subject of news stories in Germany this past week indicating he is about to sign a new contract to remain at Hannover. His current deal has a relatively inexpensive buyout clause that interested several larger clubs.

Casey’s future is also cloudy. He has become well liked by Hannover fans, but he is on loan from Borussia Dortmund which means Hannover probably will have to make a transfer offer to keep him.

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