Americans Abroad

Keller, Friedel continue to roll, while Reyna sinks in England.

By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.),
Christopher Courtney (in Germany),
Willy Calderon (in England)
and Mark Flannery (in France)
SoccerTimes

(Tuesday, October 22, 2002) -- Tottenham Hotspur and its American goalkeeper Kasey Keller continue their strong play, moving back into third place in the English Premier League with a 3-1 defeat of Bolton Wanderers Sunday.

Keller was not busy, but he was sharp early to deny Kevin Nolan whose sharply swerving shot seemed headed for the corner until it was pushed away. The only goal given up by Keller was not his fault. After Spurs had taken a 1-0 lead, France international Youri Djorkaeff took control of a Nolan chip in the penalty area and scored with a hard shot from a tight angle.

Spurs came back when Robbie Keane scored his second goal in the 74th minute and Simon Davies and another in the 90th to give Spurs (6-3-1, 19 points) the victory.

Blackburn Rovers, with American Brad Friedel in goal, continue to roll along, defeating Newcastle United 5-2 Saturday for their third win in their last four league matches.

With Newcastle's Nikos Dabizas sent off after only four minutes, Rovers, tied with Fulham for seventh place at 4-3-3 with 15 points, went ahead 2-0 on a pair of David Dunn goals in the first eight minutes and were never seriously challenged after that.

Friedel's biggest test came early in a twisting free kick from Laurent Robert that he pushed to safety. Friedel gave up two goals to Alan Shearer, the first on a 36th minute penalty kick. Twelve minutes later, a Robert free kick dropped into the box. When it was not cleared by the Rovers defense, an unmarked Shearer easily put it away for his 301st league goal.

United States midfielder Claudio Reyna and Sunderland continue their slide to the bottom of the league, losing 1-0 to West Ham United Saturday in new manager Howard Wilkinson's debut.

Since talking over at Sunderland two weeks ago, Wilkinson has worked the squad hard with two-a-day practices and has been openly critical of the fitness of a number of his starters. Against West Ham, Sunderland's defense looked a bit more solid than over the past few weeks, but once again the team could not generate much attack.

Reyna performed well, putting in several dangerous crosses and free kicks, but to no avail, but Sunderland (2-6-2, 8), in a three-way tie for 17th place, fell for the fifth time in six matches.

United States midfielder\forward Jovan Kirovski did not play Saturday for Birmingham City in its 1-1 draw with West Bromwich Albion. However, went the distance for the reserve team in a midweek loss to Manchester United which used first-teamers playing themselves back into shape after injuries. Kirovski had several chances, but was denied by fine saves from Man. U's young Spanish international keeper Ricardo.

U.S. attacker Joe-Max Moore, who has been sidelined all season by injured, resumed training and could soon see action with the reserve team action.

In England's First Division, American keeper Marcus Hahnemann seems to recovered from a calf strain, bested Jaime Ashdown in their competition for the Reading starting job and played well Saturday when in a 3-1 decision over Ipswich. Hahnemann made at least three good saves and was victimized only by a defensive letdown, narrowing his club's lead to 2-1.

U.S. midfielder Eddie Lewis, nursing a pulled muscle in his rib cage, did not play for Preston North End which could do no better than a 3-3 draw with Walsall despite having a man advantage for the final hour. Graham Alexander's goal in the 88th minute salvaged the tie for North End.

In the Second Division, American midfielder John Thorrington, who still has some fitness problems, went 72 minutes for Huddersfield Town which defeated Mansfield 2-0 for its second straight victory.

There was good news and bad news for Hannover 96 on Saturday. Goals from Fredi Bobic in the 81st and 84th minutes allowed Hannover to escape with a positive outcome, a 4-4 draw with visiting Werder Bremen before 45,958 at Niedersachsenstadion. However, it was not encouraging that its defense, including American Steve Cherundolo on the right, squandered a 2-1 advantage with 38 minutes left with a woeful effort.

Hannover (2-5-2, 8) is in 16th among 18 teams, in the relegation zone.

U.S. defender Gregg Berhalter had a good view from the Energie Cottbus bench as his last-place club (1-7-1, 4) fell 2-0 to Hertha Berlin.

Last night in 2 Bundesliga action, American Cory Gibbs and the rest of the St. Pauli defense put in a poor performance in a 2-0 setback to SSV Reutlingen. Gibbs went 90 minutes, but was victimized for the 82nd-minute goal that sealed the team's fate. St. Pauli, which started the season hoping to reverse its demotion from first division, fell to 2-6-1 with seven points, 15th among 18 teams and again in the relegation zone.

In the Regionalliga Nord third division, American midfielder Joe Enochs scored a late goal for Osnabruck, but it was not enough to prevent a 2-1 loss to Wattenscheid. In the 77th minute, against the run of play, Enochs let loose a blast from about 22 yards that found net.

With American Russell Payne earning a clean sheet in goal, Elversberg defeated Darmstadt 98 1-0. American teammate Tim Lawson was outstanding in the defensive midfield and selected to Kicker Magazine D3 "Team of the Day." Former U.S. national-teamer Michael Mason started up front and went 67 minutes before being replaced.

In the Netherlands, U.S. attacker Earnie Stewart is fully fit for the first time since the World Cup and played well for the entire 90 minutes in NAC Breda's 3-0 defeat of FC Zwolle. Stewart did not score, but played a big part in a dominant offensive effort.

NAC (3-0-5, 14) moved into a three-way tie for fifth place in the Eredivisie.

In Amsterdam, U.S. defender John O'Brien missed his third straight league match with a pulled Achilles tendon and a bad ankle, but Ajax had little trouble with AZ Alkmaar, winning 6-2 with Mido, Jari Litmanen and Nourdin Boukhari each netting two goals.

O'Brien was spotted on stage with friend Brendan Hunt, doing a bit on standup, but his return to the soccer pitch is probably a ways off as he just started light training. Ajax is in first place at 7-0-1 with 22 points

U.S. defender David Regis sat out with a red-card suspension for Troyes was lost 2-1 to PSG, sunk by a pair of early goals.

The strange contract situation between American defender Oguchi Onyewu and Metz still has not been resolved. Because of its dire financial condition, Metz's affairs, including the approval of all contracts, are being supervised by the so-called Federal Council which has refused to approve Onyewu's pact.

Metz's appeal of that decision was denied. Another appeal to the Legal Affairs Committee brought a ruling that the matter should be returned to the first appeals panel for a new hearing. While the club pushes forward, it is losing hope of ever completing the deal for Onyewu who has returned to the U.S. until the matter is finally decided.

Ironically, Onyewu is being paid under is agreement and is allowed to train with the team, but he is prohibited from playing for the first team or reserves.

Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent and can be e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com. Christopher Courtney is an American living in Mainz, Germany, and can be contacted at yanksgermany@yahoo.com.