Define "best" as you will. Off the top of my head... - Friedel v. South Korea 2002 WC - Several big saves including a penalty. - Keller v. Brazil 1998 Friendly - Shutout in the only win over Brazil although a lot of the shots at right at him. - Vanole v. Costa Rica 1988 WCQ - Mainly the penalty save and the follow up save. - Howard v. Mexico 2012 Friendly - First win at Azteca with two (or three) big saves in the final minutes - Howard v. Spain 2009 Confed Cup - 2-0 win to snap Spain's winning streak. Howard is all over the place. - Hahnemann v. Guatemala 2005 WCQ - Preserves the shutout with this top notch save at 2:25 There's a great save a 2:50 in this video. Does anyone know what game that was?
Howard's game against Argentina in 08 was awesome. My first cap, dude stoped Julio Cruz 1v1 3 different times.
Howard won Man of the Match against England in the WC. That was a lot of pressure and he came up BIG As stated, also his performance against Spain in Confed Cup 2009
That point where Romario shakes Keller's hand after Kasey stones him for the 3rd or 4th time in the half? Awesome.
I remember Romario saying “That is the best performance by a goalkeeper I have ever seen,” after the match.
For those who watched the USA/Brazil game or who followed it during the time, how big was that win and Keller's performance?
It was huge. No one really thought we would win that match. And Keller was just amazing. You could just tell from the very first save something magical was in the air. But then we goofed it all up by losing to Mexico in the final.
Like how does it rank compared to the win against Spain or the win against Algeria or the US qualifying for the 1990 WC? In your opinion.
Not as big as those matches you mention since that Brazilian Gold Cup squad was not really made up of World Cup regulars. That said, it was still "Brazil" and they were ashamed to lose to us. I remember the unique way they walked off the field that day with their hands behind their back. It was like dogs with their tails in between their legs.
In some ways, much more important (except for qualifying in 1990) because it was less expected and more of a shock. Brazil was Brazil and we had nowhere near the team we have now. We also had much less of a reputation worldwide and even within CONCACAF. We are now a giant in CONCACAF but that really wasn't too far removed from losing against Costa Rica in a world cup qualifier at El Camino College (a jr. college) that wasn't even sold out (approx 10k capacity if I remember correctly).
We must keep things in proper context though. Within that 1998 Gold Cup both Jamaica and Guatemala were able to steal points from that Brazil squad within the Group stage. So finding a way to sneak out a 1-0 victory was not as shocking to me (but it was still a bit surprising.)