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U.S. men's schedule, results
Friedel decides to end delay, have surgery on ailing left knee.
Friedel continues his strong play, leading Blackburn to 1-1 draw with Southampton.
Lewis leads Preston to 2-0 upset of Birmingham City in Worthington Cup.
U.S. goalkeepers record three shutouts in England, but only one emerges with a victory.
O'Brien is frustrated by lack of improvement with his
Achilles in injury.
Reyna's Sunderland season is over after knee diagnosis is as bad as expected.
Friedel's solid effort can't prevent Blackburn 1-0 loss to Celtic in UEFA Cup.
Reyna goes down with apparently serious knee injury.
Hobbled Friedel still sensational for Rovers who upset Arsenal 2-1.
Keller, Friedel continue to roll, while Reyna sinks in England.
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Americans Abroad Friedel, Reyna have left knees surgically repaired 5,450 miles apart.
By Robert Wagman
(Monday, November 18, 2002) -- United States goalkeeper Brad Friedel decided not to travel to Los Angeles for surgery on his ailing left knee, instead having arthroscopic surgery today in London. Blackburn Rovers, his club in England's Premier League, described the operation as "very successful" and expect for him to sidelined for three-to four weeks. U.S. Soccer officials believed Friedel would have the surgery done by national-team doctor Bert Mandelbaum, but Friedel went directly to a London hospital after Rovers' 1-0 loss to Everton yesterday for the arthroscopic procedure this morning. About 5,450 miles away, Mandelbaum was scheduled to operate today in L.A. on another American playing in England, midfielder Claudio Reyna who suffered a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and torn lateral meniscus in his left knee while playing for Sunderland in a 1-1 draw with Bolton Wanderers on October 28. "Hopefully the operation will go to plan and I can start out on the long road to getting back in the team," Reyna said. A long week for Friedel and Rovers seemed to catch up with them yesterday. Earlier in the week, Rovers dropped a pressure packed home leg to Glasgow Celtic 2-0 and were eliminated from the UEFA Cup by an aggregate 3-0 count. Yesterday, they came out flat and could not generate any offense against Everton. Friedel, despite the painful knee, again played well. In the opening seconds, he stopped a powerful header from Tomasz Radzinski. Late in the half, he made a wonderful reaction save to palm away Kevin Campbell's well placed header. In the second half, Friedel made an excellent one-handed stop on Anders Svensson and on a strong shot from Chris Marsden. There was nothing he could do in the 19th minute when Campbell turned and scored from point-blank range. Arsenal looked like the best team in the Premiership when it ran past Tottenham Hotspur with a beleaguered Kasey Keller in goal by a 3-0 score Saturday.
Arsenal went ahead 1-0 in the fourth minute when French international Thierry Henry collected a loose ball deep inside his own half and glided forward, first beating Matthew Etherington, then Stephen Carr, before curling an impressive over and around Keller from 10 yards in one of the most exciting goals of the year. Although Spurs regained their composure and played well defensively for a while, they could only hold a relentless Arsenal off for so long. Freddie Ljungberg and Sylvain Wiltord added second-half goals handing Spurs a second straight loss for first time this season. U.S. forward Jovan Kirovski got back into action, playing the final nine minutes of Birmingham City's 0-0 draw with Fulham. It was Kirovski's first league match appearance since a September 28 match against Newcastle United. U.S. attacker Joe-Max Moore did not dress for Everton's win over Blackburn, but he looked like he was regaining match fitness, playing 90 minutes for the Everton reserves in a 2-1 decision over Bolton last Monday. In England's First Division, U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis logged another fine showing for Preston North End which came back with two goals in the final 10 minutes to earn a hard-fought 3-3 draw with Grimsby Town. Preston spent much of the afternoon back on its heels when Lewis was forced to play very defensively. Preston's leads the league with nine draws. American keeper Marcus Hahnemann and Reading saw their match with Sheffield United postponed because of wet grounds. American midfielder John Thorrington played the final couple of minutes as Huddersfield Town was eliminated by Swindon 1-0 in the second round of the FA Cup on a goal by Andy Gurney in the 85th minute. In the German Bundesliga, U.S. defender Tony Sanneh played the first 70 minutes for FC Nürnberg which team lost to Hamburg 3-1. Sanneh did not have one of his better matches and was removed after Hamburg scored twice after intermission, After Sasa Ciric's penalty kick pulled Nürnberg even at 1-1 in the 40th minute, Sanneh was at fault on one of two Hamburg second-half tallies when he failed to clear a free kick and saw the resultant shot wind up in the net. It was the first league match this season Sanneh did not finish and the setback ended a three-match unbeaten streak, dropping Nürnberg back into 12th place, just two points clear of the relegation zone Sanneh received derisive whistles from the home crowd after the goal. "From the beginning on. I was a scape-goat here," he told the local media. "They never liked me. I was playing on a position I don't like. I played though I was having problems with my back. And, also, if I wasn't good, I always tried to give my best. In the summer they wanted to sell me. Let them do it." Said Nürnberg coach Klaus Augenthaler, "I understand the crowd. After all, Tony is no 20-year-old any more. Also, I am incredibly disappointed. He didn't realize anything of what we practiced throughout the whole week." U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter had a nice match for Energie Cottbus in a 2-1 defeat of Arminia Bielefeld 2-1. Berhalter came on in the 42nd minute as lowly Cottbus, which stands 17th among 18 teams, won its first home match of the season, getting goals from Andrzej Kobylanski (eighth minute) and Christian Beeck (67th ) before giving up only a 72nd- minute goal to Rudiger Kauf. American Steve Cherundolo went 90 minutes at right back for Hannover 96 which was edged 1-0 by Hertha Berlin. After giving up an early goal, the Hannover defense gave a good accounting for itself, but the team could not finish despite forcing eight saves from Hertha keeper Gabor Kiraly. American forward Conor Casey did not dress for Hannover which fell to 15th place. In the 2 Bundesliga, American defender Cory Gibbs started his fifth straight match and went the distance for St. Pauli in a 3-2 loss to FC Koln. St. Pauli went ahead in the second half, but could not prevent two late goals. In the Netherlands, U.S. attacker Earnie Stewart who has struggled to regain fitness after injury problems, played only the final 11 minutes of in NAC Breda's 3-0 defeat of Exelsior. Stewart entered with the match well in hand for NAC which recorded its second straight shutout and eighth in 12 league matches. In France, U.S. defender David Regis once again did not play for FC Troyes which drew 0-0 with Marseille. Fellow U.S. back Greg Vanney did not appear for SC Bastia in a 2-0 loss to Guingamp. Likewise, U.S. defender Frankie Hejduk remains firmly in the doghouse at FC St. Gallen in Switzerland He dressed for what turned out to be a 2-0 loss to Neuchatel Xamax, but he managed to get himself a red card without ever entering the match. It was reported he got into a confrontation with the referee on the way to the lockerroom at halftime and ejected, conduct St. Gallen coach Thomas Staub termed "unacceptable." Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent and can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com. |
