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Brian McBride
Birth Date: June 19 1972
Birth Place: Arlington
Heights, Ilinois
Birth Nation: USA
Height: 183cm
Weight: 80kg
Nationality: USA
Position: Forward
Brian McBride Rumours and Transfers 15 08 2007 Bolton had taken the lead however then slipped to defeat at Fulham to leave new manager Sammy Lee still searching for his 1st Premier League point.
Alexey Smertin's heavily-deflected 1st half strike finished up deciding an entertaining encounter after David Healy had cancelled out ex Fulham forward Heidur Helguson's opener.
The rain that fell in torrents on the Craven Cottage pitch was merely typical of this sodden summer however it meant anything would happen as far as the 22 players were concerned.
Helguson was a central character in the 1st 2 goals, marking his 1st Bolton start in the absence of the injured Kevin Davies with an opener that is bound to be featured in future compilations of goalkeeping howlers.
Tony Warner had performed admirably at Arsenal on Saturday after 1st choice Antti Niemi was injured in the warm up however was hugely at fault as he somehow dropped a ball into Helguson's path in the 13th minute.
A bump against the huge frame of Zat Knight following Nicky Hunt's huge throw had occurred however still his slip appeared to be completely avoidable.
Helguson, who cost the Trotters £2.1 million, then helped his old club equalise and again it was from a long throw.
Knight was also involved again, heading the ball into the air, and when Helguson tried to nod away he succeeded only in clashing with Abdoulaye Meite and diverting the ball towards his own goal.
Healy was on it in a flash, controlling, turning and firing past Jussi Jaaskelainen in an instant to add to his opening day strike at Arsenal, which had also been a gift from a goalkeeper.
Jaaskelainen was given no chance 3 minutes later when Smertin tried his luck from outside the box and saw his drive veer off Gerald Cid and into the far corner of the net.
But fortune did favour the Finn only before the break when he opted to bounce rather than grab a ball to the very edge of his box.
Brian McBride challenged and came away with the ball only for referee Lee Probert to award a free kick to Bolton.
The 1st half had also featured a booking for dissent for Bolton's recalled El-Hadji Diouf, who was sent off in this fixture 2 seasons ago.
Diouf also showed what he can do with the ball straight after the restart when he whipped in a cross from the left that Nolan somehow put wide at the back post.
Warner then redeemed himself for his earlier error by pulling off an acrobatic tip round to deny Nicolas Anelka, who was teed up for a curling effort inside the box by Cid, who stayed up to plant a free header wide.
Diouf then sent an angled effort only wide and Anelka, who was quiet for a while, saw Chris Baird throw himself in the way of a drive before Helguson was replaced by debutant Daniel Braaten with 18 minutes remaining.
Paul Konchesky was booked for upending Diouf with Gavin McCann heading wide from the resulting free-kick. McCann was immediately replaced by Mikel Alonso, brother of Liverpool's Xabi.
Fulham also made late changes with Diomansy Kamara and Clint Dempsey replacing Healy and Hameur Bouazza and Kamara was convinced he should were given a penalty when sandwiched between Cid and Hunt in the box. Referee Probert thought otherwise however.
Bolton threw men forward as the minutes ticked away, that included Jaaskelainen in stoppage time, however Fulham held on to get their season off to a winning start at the 2nd attempt.
27 07 2007 Fulham manager Lawrie Sanchez said the club are on the brink of signing Cork forward Roy O'Donovan for an undisclosed fee after his side sealed 3rd place in the Barclays Asia Trophy.
The 21 year old was supposedly a target of both the Cottagers and Southend over the summer, however the Premier League club appear to have beat everyone for the youngster.
O'Donovan, an Ireland B international, will undergo a medical at the west London club when Sanchez and his team return from Hong Kong before returning to his former side on a temporary basis.
"O'Donovan's a young lad from Cork who we have agreed a fee for and he's having his medical Monday," Sanchez said.
"He will then be going back on loan to Cork until the end of their season and then we will have a look at him. He's done very well for Cork however he's definitely a young lad for the future rather than an instant starting player."
Fulham claimed 3rd place today after comfortably seeing off South China 4-1 at the Hong Kong Stadium.
Headers from Papa Bouba Diop, Carlos Bocanegra and David Healy, his 1st for his new club, plus a tap in from Brian McBride in the end finished the Hong Kong FA Cup holders' brave challenge.
Sanchez was happy to see former N. Ireland charge Healy get on the scoresheet with an impressive diving header and expects it will now take some of the load of the 27 year old.
"I am sure he's very pleased," Sanchez said. "David's been trying too hard. I have seen it in training and I have seen it in games. He's been trying too hard to score to prove himself. I informed David to relax because I know he can score goals, he will score goals and he probably had taken the most difficult of his chances tonight. It was nice for David to get off the mark, nice for Brian McBride to score as well. It is good for the forwards to find the back of the net."
The Cotagers manager admitted that it had taken a good display to see off the plucky hosts.
"It was a difficult a game in that everybody expects us to win, especially for the players who were excellent against Portsmouth Tuesday," he said.
"I would have been disappointed with a sloppy display so, yes, I was very pleased with tonight."
Sanchez also said that Diomansy Kamara did not feature due to an injury he picked up in the defeat to Portsmouth, however he does not expect it to keep the forward out for any length of time.
"He had a light medial strain from a challenge Tuesday so he was not fit, however I expect him to be fine for next Friday," Sanchez said.
27 07 2007 A creative Fulham display secured a 4-1 win over South China in the Asia Trophy 3rd and 4th placed play-off.
Headers from Papa Bouba Diop and Carlos Bocanegra put Fulham ahead however they were given a brief scare when Flavio Barros pulled one back. Lawrie Sanchez's men in the end wrapped up the triumph with goals from David Healy and Brian McBride.
The Fulham manager made 10 changes to the starting line up that lost against Portsmouth Tuesday however his side were rarely tested during the 1st half.
Collins John was presented with a wonderful opportunity on 3 minutes, poor marking saw the Dutchman clean through however his right footed shot lacked the bend to take it inside the post.
The bright Healy then worked himself into some space and hit a left footed snap-shot towards the top corner however Zhang Chun Hui parried well.
Fulham made their dominance pay when a Franck Queudrue's deep free kick was met by the big Diop who powered his header into the corner.
Antti Niemi was given a scare when the creative Li Haiqiang tried an ambitious lob from inside his own half, but to the relief of the Finn, the ball dropped only wide.
Healy was presented with a 2nd opportunity to open his Fulham account when Queudrue whipped in a wonderful deep cross however the ball bounced only in front of the outstretched forward and his shot flew over from 8 yards.
2 minutes into the 2nd half Fulham doubled their lead. An in swinging Michael Timlin corner was met by Bocanegra who flicked his header towards the unguarded far post.
On 57 minutes Fulham were punished for a lack of concentration. South China's captain and free kick specialist Haiqiang curled a ball nearer to the penalty spot and Barros ghosted in and finished sweetly.
South China were buoyed by the goal and as the crowd got behind last season's Chinese treble winners Barros came close again, the big forward gambled on a long ball however skewed his shot wide.
With 15 minutes remaining Healy in the end got his name on the scoresheet. The N. Ireland international made it a hat trick of headed goals for Fulham when Alexei Smertin whipped in a cross and Healy placed the ball beyond the keeper.
On 83 minutes a well worked move saw Simon Davies lay the ball across for McBride, who tapped home and signed off Fulham's tour of Asia.
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