Good as Gold
Bruce Arena, coach of the U.S. soccer team, was standing in the sun at Giants Stadium the other day, fielding questions, when a local reporter sailed off on a new tack.
“Being from New Jersey, we’re big Tim Howard fans and stuff, and we always expected . . .” the reporter began, then was interrupted.
“I’m a big Tim Howard fan too,” Arena chipped in.
”. . . that he would be the next guy, and I guess Kasey [Keller] is still there, standing in the way,” the reporter continued.
“What should I do about that?” Arena asked, again interrupting and drawing a laugh.
“I’m asking you,” the reporter said. “How long is it going to be?”
“It won’t be tomorrow,” Arena replied.
It won’t be any time soon. No matter who might be waiting impatiently in the wings -- Howard at Manchester United, Marcus Hahnemann at Reading, or any of a half-dozen capable Major League Soccer goalkeepers -- Keller is not about to give up his gloves.
Not with a World Cup less than 11 months away. Not when the 35-year-old from Lacey, Wash. is very much at the top of his game. Not when he is recognized as one of the best in the world at his craft.
Today, Keller and the rest of the U.S. squad will try to win the CONCACAF Gold Cup, minor compared to the World Cup but a trophy nonetheless. The Americans play Panama in this afternoon’s final, and Keller will be in the nets as usual.
He has been there, on and off, since making his U.S. debut in 1990. In 15 years, which includes a three-year gap in the early 1990s when he was not called upon, he has put together a 48-21-14 record and earned a remarkable 41 shutouts for his country.
No other American keeper has won more games. No other American keeper has blanked more opponents. He also leads in World Cup qualifying appearances with 29 and World Cup qualifying shutouts with 17.
His career goals-against average for the national team is a minuscule 0.71.
And, while it has been a roller-coaster ride at times, when Germany ’06 rolls around in June, Keller stands to become the first American men’s player to go to a fourth World Cup.
He was the No. 2 behind Tony Meola at the Italia ’90 tournament. For USA ‘94, then-coach Bora Milutinovic inexplicably left him off the roster. At the France ’98 World Cup, Keller was the starter and Brad Friedel was the backup. At Korea/Japan ‘02, the two reversed roles and Friedel carried the U.S. to the quarterfinals.
Now, with Friedel having retired from international competition, it is Keller’s turn once again.
“He wins the longevity award,” Arena said. “I think he’s got a real, burning desire to excel at this level and cap off his career the right way. He’s taken care of himself. He’s made bold moves as a professional to assure that he can continue playing at both the club level and the international level.”
Keller has played for 15 seasons in Europe, with Millwall, Leicester City, Tottenham Hotspur and, briefly, Southampton in England; with Rayo Vallecano in Spain, and currently with Borussia Moenchengladbach in Germany.
“I think it’s helped him,” Arena said. “I think he’s picked up some valuable experiences against some of the best players in the world, not only in England and Spain but now Germany. He’s got a volume of knowledge.”
Add to that a wife, Kristin, their 7-year-old twins, Chloe and Cameron, a castle-like home outside Dusseldorf, a German sports car that he has taken to 120 mph on the autobahn, fluency in Spanish, a future in MLS the list goes on and on.
But soccer is always somewhere in the mix.
In this Gold Cup, Keller has notched four victories, given up only two goals, shut out Canada and Costa Rica, and seldom really been tested. The offensive dominance by the U.S. sometimes makes for a lonely time in the nets.
“That’s kind of where it is with goalies,” he said after blanking the Canadians in Seattle. “You’re trying to stay really focused and organizing people because you don’t know when you’re going to be called upon.”
Keller could have passed up the Gold Cup and taken a longer vacation than the two weeks he spent in Hawaii with his family, but chose to participate.
“It’s been a good tournament,” he said after Thursday night’s semifinal victory over Honduras. “I’m always happy when I feel I can help the team get results It’s been good preparation for myself to go back to Germany and be ready for the season.”
And playing in a real tournament at home certainly was better than going through what Borussia Moenchengladbach was up to in July.
“It got me out of the preseason,” Keller joked. “I didn’t want to be running around the mountains in Austria.”
Keller figures to play for another year or two in Europe and then head home for good.
“As of right now, I have one year left on my contract in Germany and then I have an option year,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to finish my career in MLS and it still is what my plan is. I was very close, before I went to Borussia, to going to Salt Lake [to play for Real Salt Lake] and then the opportunity to be in Germany was too great of an opportunity to turn down the year before the World Cup.”
In the Giants Stadium tunnel, a television reporter interrupted with a few questions in Spanish and Keller switched languages with ease.
Could he have done as well in German?
“No,” he said. “I’m lucky if I can order my dinner in German.”
But there are advantages to playing in the Bundesliga. “The nice thing about Germany is I’ll have a winter break,” Keller said. “It’ll be the first time in 14 years I’ll be able to come home for Christmas.”
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CONCACAF Gold Cup
Facts and figures on today’s championship match in the CONCACAF Gold Cup:
* Who -- U.S. vs. Panama, championship of soccer’s North and Central American and Caribbean (CONCACAF) region.
* When -- Today, noon PDT.
* Where -- Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, N.J.
* TV -- Univision.
* Tournament records -- U.S. 4-0-1, Panama 2-1-2.
* All-time record -- U.S. leads the series, 3-0-1.
* How they got here -- The U.S. defeated Cuba and Canada and tied Costa Rica in the first round, then beat Jamaica in the quarterfinals and Honduras in the semifinals. Panama defeated Colombia, tied Trinidad and Tobago and lost to Honduras in the opening round, then advanced on penalty kicks after tying South Africa in the quarterfinals and defeated Colombia in the semifinals.
* Previous winners -- U.S. (1991 and 2002), Mexico (1993, 1996, 1998 and 2003), Canada (2000).
* Update -- U.S. Coach Bruce Arena is suspended from the match after being red-carded in the 2-1 semifinal win over Honduras. Assistant Glenn Myernick will be in charge of the team. Defender Eddie Pope and defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni have been sent back to their Major League Soccer teams after both suffered left ankle sprains against Honduras. The Americans outscored the Panamanians by a cumulative 9-0 in their last two matches, both World Cup qualifiers. This is the first final for Panama, whose only previous Gold Cup experience resulted in first-round elimination in 1993. The 3-2 semifinal victory over Colombia on Thursday night was front-page news in Panama as people took to the streets in celebration and Martin Torrijos, the country’s president, reportedly made a congratulatory call to Coach Jose Hernandez, a Colombian, in the Giants Stadium locker room. The only negatives were the yellow cards earned by defender Luis Moreno and midfielder Ricardo Phillips that caused them to be suspended from today’s final. Five players share the tournament scoring lead with three goals apiece, including Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley of the U.S. and Luis Tejada of Panama.
--Grahame L. Jones
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
ROSTERS
UNITED STATES
*--* No. Player Pos. Age Club 1 Marcus Hahnemann GK 33 Reading (England) 2 Frankie Hejduk D 31 Columbus 3 Greg Vanney D 31 SC Bastia (France) 4 Oguchi Onyewu D 23 Standard Liege (Belgium) 5 John O’Brien MF 27 ADO de Haag (Netherlands) 7 DaMarcus Beaseley MF 23 PSV Eindhoven (Neth.) 8 Clint Dempsey MF 22 New England 9 Santino Quaranta F 20 D.C. United 10 Landon Donovan F 23 Galaxy 12 Jimmy Conrad D 28 Kansas City 13 Patrick Noonan F 24 New England 14 Chris Armas MF 33 Chicago 15 Ben Olsen MF 28 D.C. United 16 Josh Wolff F 28 Kansas City 18 Kasey Keller GK 35 Bor. Moenchengladbach (Ger.) 19 Steve Ralston MF 31 New England 21 Brad Davis MF 23 San Jose 22 Tony Sanneh D 34 Chicago 24 Matt Reis GK 30 New England
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PANAMA
*--* No. Player Pos. Age Club 1 Jaime Penedo GK 23 Deportivo Arabe Unido 2 Carlos RIvera D 26 DIM (Colombia) 4 Jose Anthony Torres D 32 CD Marathon (Honduras) 5 Felipe Baloy D 24 Paranaense (Brazil) 6 Gabriel Gomez MF 21 Tauro FC 7 Jorge Dely Valdes F 37 Deportivo Arabe Unido 8 Alberto Blanco MF 27 Alania (Russia) 9 Julio Dely Valdes F 37 Deportivo Arabe Unido 10 Julio Medina MF na Aguila (El Salvador) 11 Roberto Brown F 28 San Francisco FC 12 Jose Calderon GK 19 San Francisco FC 13 Joel Solanilla D 21 CD Plaza Amador 14 Roman Torres F 19 Chepo FC 16 Ubaldo Guardia D 28 -- 17 Luis Henriquez D 23 Deportivo Arabe Unido 18 Luis Tejada F 23 Envigado (Colombia) 19 Gustavo Avila MF 24 Deportivo Arabe Unido 20 Engin Mitre MF 23 CD Plaza Amador 21 Angel Rodriguez MF 29 -- 22 Oscar McFarlane GK na Tauro FC 23 Donaldo Gonzalez GK 33 CD Marathon (Honduras)
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