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Keller hopes to hold starting spot for 2010
By Ronald Blum
The Associated Press
Kasey Keller doesn't consider himself a soccer dinosaur. He's a goalkeeper.
The U.S. starter at the 1998 and 2006 World Cups, Keller will be 40 by
the time the 2010 tournament opens in South Africa. Hopeful of keeping
the No. 1 job, he's back with the national team as it prepares for exhibition
games against Ecuador and Guatemala.
'We'll just continue to keep an open mind with Kasey,' U.S. interim coach
Bob Bradley said Wednesday. 'The part that impressed me is just his desire
to come into camp and compete.'
While David Beckham is considered washed up as far as international soccer
goes at age 31, goalkeepers have a far-longer shelf life.
Dino Zoff captained Italy to the 1982 World Cup title at age 40 and Peter
Shilton was nearly 41 when he started for England at the 1990 tournament.
Keller's chief challenger is 28-year-old Tim Howard, who played in the
Americans' 2-0 victory over Mexico on Feb. 7. Bradley said it's likely
to pair will split Sunday's game against Ecuador in Tampa, Fla., and next
Wednesday's match against Guatemala at Frisco, Texas.
Keller wants to continue his international career until his reflexes start
to slow.
''I'm still waiting for that to happen, and hopefully I've got a few more
years left in me before I fall off the cliff,' he said.
If Keller is picked for the U.S. roster at the 2010 tournament, he'd be
part of a small group to be selected for five World Cups. He was a backup
in both 1990 and 2002.
He enters this week's training camp with 96 international appearances
- four shy of Tony Meola's record for American goalkeepers. It's been
a long time since the Lacey, Wash., made his international debut during
his sophomore year at the University of Portland, and he sees a bright
future for soccer in the United States.
'From my first trips with the national team in '89, it's been an astronomical
change in the game,' he said. 'We have a long ways to go, but we also
have a tremendous amount of competition to compete against. I think if
we continue the good steady growth we've had over the last 15, 16, 20
years, I think this sport will be in a perfect position come 2015, 2020.'
This is the first time most of the top American players have been together
since last year's World Cup, where the U.S. team went 0-2-1 and was eliminated
in the first round, a letdown after advancing to the quarterfinals in
2002.
Keller has made 25 Bundesliga appearances this season for last-place Borussia
Moenchengladbach in Germany. Howard has played 31 games in his first season
with England's Everton, including 29 in the Premier League, where he's
allowed 23 goals and has 13 shutouts.
'I'm certainly in the mix. I think I know where I stand but I won't be
bold enough to overstep my bounds. That's for the coach, the manager,
to decide that,' Howard said last month. 'My goal is to help this team
qualify for the World Cup and play in the World Cup. That's four years
down the line. What happens in between - I hope that I'm the guy doing
the business, but we'll see.'
After these two games, the national team is off until a June 2 match against
China at San Jose, Calif., its last preparation before the CONCACAF Gold
Cup and the Copa America.
'We know that we have big events this summer and certainly will want to
take advantage of both those tournaments and play our best teams,' Bradley
said. 'And so that will continue to give us an idea of exactly where Kasey
stacks up. I think he continues to play at a high level.'
Notes: MF Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado) is missing the games while recovering
from arthroscopic left knee surgery on Feb. 16. Mastroeni returned from
training with his club in Europe to be home when his wife, Kelly, gave
birth to a daughter, Giuliana, on March 14. ... D Jay DeMerit hasn't trained
fully because of a slight adductor strain and won't play against Ecuador.
He could make his international debut against Guatemala.
Journalnow.com,
March 22, 2007.
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