That's not entirely true - reserve sides can't play higher han the 3. Liga, but they can play directly below the senior side. The reserve team of a 2. Bundesliga club could play in the 3. Liga. The only exception to this: reserve sides of 3. Liga clubs can not play in the Regionalliga. That's a rule from back in the day when the Regionalliga was flooded by reserve teams (by now that's not that much of a problem anymore, since the focus of pro clubs has shifted from the reserve sides to the U19 - one third of the pro clubs doesn't even have a reserve side at any level anymore, while more and more players go directly from the U19 into the pro team). And yes, if a reserve side finishes on a promtion spot, the place goes to the next best non-reserve side instead.
William Yarbrough has joined the #USMNT & will be on the bench for tonight’s game in place of Zack Steffen due to a right hamstring injury.— U.S. Soccer Men's National Team (@USMNT) May 25, 2016 Guess he's hurt again.
Yes, it appears he will be in a matter of days. Freiburg's first-team starting keeper, Alexander Schwolow, is only 24 and has German youth international experience, and played decently enough for Freiburg to earn promotion, so I'm not sure if Steffen could ever break into Schwolow's playing time any time soon. I certainly wouldn't mind Steffen continuing to ply his trade in Europe, but a team that already has a decent young keeper may not be the best fit, unless Schwolow is good enough to be sold elsewhere and they are confident enough in Steffen (a la Orjan Nyland and Horvath at Molde).
I believe (but someone please confirm this) the upshot of this story is that Steffen is expected to be the third GK on the first team this coming season. Nachdem der SC Freiburg seine Personalplanungen in Sachen externe Neuzugänge bereits seit eineinhalb Wochen mit der Verpflichtung der sechsten Verstärkung Janik Haberer vorerst abgeschlossen hat, wird der Kader nach und nach reduziert. Einige Talente sollen durch Leihgeschäfte Spielpraxis in unteren Ligen sammeln, aus der U23 wird die neue Nummer drei im Tor rekrutiert. Hinter Stammkeeper Alexander Schwolow und Vertreter Patric Klandt komplettiert künftig Zackary Steffen das Bundesliga-Torhüter-Trio der Breisgauer. Der 21-jährige US-Amerikaner kam im Januar 2015 von den Maryland Terrapins zum Sportclub und absolvierte seitdem 14 Einsätze bei der U23 in der Regionalliga Südwest. Er löst im Team von Christian Streich Konstantin Fuhry ab, der von 2006 bis 2012 in der Freiburger Fußballschule ausgebildet wurde, nach Stippvisiten beim VfB Stuttgart und Hannover 96 im Sommer 2014 wieder zum Sportclub kam und nach 38 Regionalligaeinsätzen in zwei Spielzeiten künftig für die SV Elversberg in derselben Spielklasse auflaufen wird. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/...on-elf-abgaenge---steffen-dritter-keeper.html
Yes, Zack will be third string behind Schwolow and Klandt and is taking the place of Konstantin Fuhry, who is moving to Elversberg.
This will keep up what I believe is a 20-year streak of at least one USMNT goalkeeper on a roster in a Top-3 (EPL, Bundesliga, La Liga) league, even if Guzan doesn't sign with Middlesbrough. Nice for a young keeper to be in the Bundesliga, even if on the bench. 96-99: Keller at Leicester City (EPL) 97-00: Friedel at Liverpool (EPL) 99-01: Keller at Rayo Vallecano (La Liga) 01-05: Keller at Tottenham Hotspur (EPL) 01-08: Friedel at Blackburn Rovers (EPL); retired from the USMNT in 05 but went on to play for Aston Villa in 08-11 and Tottenham in 11-15 (both EPL) 03-07: Howard at Manchester United (EPL) 05-07: Keller at Borussia Monchengladbach (Bundesliga); retired from the USMNT in 07 but went on to play for Fulham in 07-08 (EPL) 06-08: Hahnemann at Reading (EPL) 07-16: Howard at Everton (EPL) 08-16: Guzan at Aston Villa (EPL); potentially Middlesbrough? 09-11: Hahnemann at Wolverhampton Wanderers (EPL); retired from the USMNT in ‘11 and sat on the bench with Everton in 11-12 16-present: Steffen at Freiburg (Bundesliga)
The streak started in the 1995-96 season with Juergen Sommer, who was on the QPR squad that got relegated from the EPL that season.
Ah! Good catch. Edit: I suppose if we were being generous, we could include David Yelldell from Bayer Leverkusen, though I think he's been mostly with their reserve team, and made his first-team league debut just last month.
League yes, but he did play in the Cup right after he signed with them a few years ago, and was on the bench a couple of times in that first season.
Our keepers are our greatest footballing expert. Friedel and Howard are among the best keepers in PL history. Friedel easily being a top 10 with Howard in the top 20
He is indeed listed with the first team on Freiburg's website: http://www.scfreiburg.com/teams/profis/kader
If Steffen is the #3, he won't be needed for the first team's 18 which frees him up to continue playing for the reserve team - even if he's training with the first team.
And makes him an injury away from gameday rosters. I know we'd all love to see him playing but this is still progress... and might actually be a good situation for him at this age. Too much, too fast can do some serious damage to a young GKs confidence.
If an injury or suspension occurs early on and SCF stay in DFP Polkal there's an off chance he gets in one of those barring a meeting with a top tier team in the first few rounds.