Alright, we Americans are usually very happy with our keepers... and rightly so. We have 3 that are solid international quality keepers and a couple others not too far behind. While many on here have their favorites... the general consensus seems that it doesn't really matter which one is there as they'll all do fine. Got me to thinking... can anyone remember a true "howler" of a game by a keeper for the US National Team? I remember some where they might have been able to do more... but can't remember a game where Id say we lost (or tied) because the keeper was that bad. I'm focusing on the big 3 for now... and Meola in the past because they've had the most starts... but am open to others too. Are they really "that" good? (note this isn't saying they are bad... even the best players can have a lousy game)
There is one where Keller kicked it into Hermosillo's face, where the ball then bounced over keller and into the net. That's the only one I can remember
yeah that was like in the 97 gold cup or in q's in 97. either way i was livid. it was in foxboro too.
I don't remember much about the game but I remember a gaff by Meola in a friendly against China a few years back. I think someone dropped the ball to him and when he tried to trap it he completely stepped over it and it rolled into the net.
Meola v. Brasil WC'94 Yes. This was Brasil, who went on to win the tournament. However, they were 10 men, and we lost because Meola didn't cover his near post. WTF, Tony. (Anyone else remember this? Maybe my memory is off. It was 10 years ago...)
Meola actually trapped the ball, but a Chinese striker, running straight at him, stole the ball and put it in the net. We were up 2-0 at the time, and I think Meola actually laughed it off. BTW, are we only talking about national team howlers, or any howlers we can think of. I remember Chris Albright(Yes, THE Chris Albright) scored on Meola right off kickoff. It was after the Wizards already scored and Meola was watching the big jumbotron for the replay of the goal when Chris Albright justs lobs it from half field. The look on Meola's face was hilarious!
Bebeto's winning goal was a shot to the *far* post because, ironically, Meola *was* covering his near post for once. He was shuffling to the left and Bebeto placed his shot perfectly into the far corner. I think that Meola's positioning on the shot is hard to argue with. At least that's *my* recollection.
Here is what I recall v Brasil: Alexi lunged at the ball, Meola was then beaten NEAR post. I remember this b/c someone told me a keeper should never be beaten near post. What is the truth about this goal? Anyway, to digress a moment I remember Packey Bonner dropping a ball into the goal, and the always fabulous Rene Higuita (Columbia) as the all-time highlight reel as a GK.
Just the other week, Wiz against Crew, where Cunningham takes a shot from the goal line. Technically, it went in between Meola and the near post, which would be a near post goal. But the ball didn't go into the net until it was almost to the far post. How bizarre is that?
The WC '94 game where Meola was beaten near-post was the Romania game. In a 1996 friendly against England, Brad Friedel was also beaten near-post -- by Alan Shearer. Both were cases of bad positioning, but probably don't technically count as "howlers." Howlers tend to be the goalkeeping equivalent of an own goal -- those rare times when a keeper single-handedly (or, in the case of the Keller and Meola USMNT howlers, with an errant foot) gifts one for the other team. Keller's gaffe came when he controlled a back-pass ... pushed it a few feet to his right ... and then acted like he had all the time in the world before, head down, taking a couple of long strides and hammering the ball at a low enough trajectory that an onrushing Hermosillo (6'4" and getting a good running leap) actually managed to catch the ball squarely in the noggin. IIRC, the ball ricocheted down a few yards to the left of Keller, took a big bounce up, and landed squarely in the goal. For those who didn't see the match, the camera then cut to the Mexican bench, where Bora, who had left Keller off the WC '94 roster and was then coaching El Tri, was laughing and shaking his head, as if to say, "See? I made the right call in '94." To his credit, Kasey played well the rest of the match and pulled off a couple of really good saves, but if the Brazil match in '98 was the high point, then this surreal moment was certainly the low point of Keller's USMNT career -- and, other than Meola's inexplicable decision to try to flick the ball over the leg of an onrushing Chinese player in that friendly back a few years, there really hasn't been an equivalent howler in the past two decades. A number of "soft" goals given up -- just watch tapes of the U.S.-Czech match in the 1990 WC if you want to see some textbook examples -- but really just the aforementioned two that belong (along with Burns-at-the-post vs. Germany in '98, Regis' "here, you score" mistake vs. Italy, and The Goose's "golden egg" vs. Portugal in '02) in any USMNT blooper reel.
Thanks all. You seem to be verifying my suspicions... that we really haven't had many howlers at all. To me a couple over the last 10-15 years is incredible. Yes we've let in soft goals on occasion, but rarely gifted one.
Kasey had basically just stepped off the plane after winning the Coca-Cola Cup replay against Middlesborough. After the ball went of Hermosillo's head Kasey played a solid match, the U.S. tied that match and obviously went on to France.
Just to further prove your point, I don't consider Agoos's own goal against Portugal a "howler". A horrible gaffe, but I sure wasn't howling. A better "Agoof" example was the back pass to Deon Burton at RFK in November 1997 that allowed Jamaica to tie the US 1-1. But the point stands, there have been precious few goalkeeping howlers at the national team level in my memory. Keller's bank off of Senor Forehead being the most memorable. I can't think of anything comparable to Pat Onstad tossing a Preki corner kick into his own net while under no pressure in MLS play at the start of the 2003 season happening with the US MNT.
No need to defend Keller to me, I'd pick him over any of our other keepers, that's just the first howler that came to mind.
meola in 94. free kick goal against "Switzerland'????? wall covers near post, goalie responsible for far post, ball goes in far post. thank god a beautiful free kick of our own saved a draw
This is something we take for granted -- that our keepers will almost never hurt us and will actually win a fair number of matches for us. We have solid keeping ten deep. And we're one of a handful of countries that can say that. For example, watch the highlight shows for MLS and the MFL for a few weeks in a row and compare how many soft goals the Mexicans keepers give up. Week after week, it's a lot.