Gregg Berhalter, who joined German Second Division club 1860 Munich in July, has been voted captain of his new club by his teammates after Coach Walter Schachner gave the players a choice between the 33-year-old American and the Lions’ veteran Torben Hoffman, who will serve as vice captain.
“I’ve never seen such a close vote in my entire coaching career,” said Schachner. “That shows both players are greatly respected by their teammates.”
Last season, Berhalter captained Energie Cottbus to First Division promotion.
In Germany’s First Division, Kasey Keller was voted captain of Borussia Moenchengladbach and Steve Cherundolo continues to be vice captain at Hannover 96 to Altin Lala. Cherundolo wore the armband in Hannover’s season opener last weekend as Lala was not in the lineup.
The first U.S. product to captain a Bundesliga team was Claudio Reyna when he wore the captain’s band at Wolfsburg in 1998. Reyna also had stints as captain of Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers and England’s Sunderland and Manchester City.
In England, 22-year-old American Danny Karbassiyoon was released by second-tier Burnley and is reportedly returning to the USA. The Virginia product made five appearances off the bench during an injury-plagued 2005-06 season. He played five games in the 2004-05 season for Ipswich on loan from Arsenal, which discovered Karbassiyoon at the 2002 adidas Elite Soccer Program. His first-team action for Arsenal, which converted him from forward to outside back, comprised of three League Cup games (1 goal).