Stephenson

Kwesi Mugisa, Staff Reporter

Jamaican international Khari Stephenson made a successful return for Swedish top division (Allsvenskan) club AIK in a 1-1 draw against Orebro at the Rasunda, Solna Stadium in Stockholm, on Sunday.

Stephenson had been out of action for the last 10 weeks after fracturing his arm in a training session back in early April. The burly midfielder played all 90 minutes of the fixture for AIK, who will be happy to have him back into the line-up following a slow start to the season, after a second-place finish in the last camapign.

Markus Jonsson had put the home team ahead in the 30th minute but Stefan Rodeveg levelled the score for the visitors on the stroke of half-time.

Disallowed goal

Stephenson, who transferred from Allsvenskan club for US$1 million under a four-year deal in January, could have made a dream start on his return to first team football as he hit the back of the net in the second half but had the goal disallowed on an offside call.

Stephenson, now 26, has earned 21 national caps with three goals for the Reggae Boyz so far, but missed out on a 22nd when he was not released by the club for Jamaica's friendly encounter against Chile last week.

The player, though having recovered from the injury, was not deemed to be match fit prior to the friendly.

The towering central midfielder is next expected to feature in AIK's upcoming fixture against Gefle this Saturday. With nine games already played in the season, AIK are in ninth place with 11 points.