Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup participant and was the first American goalkeeper to become a regular in the German Bundesliga, the English Premier League, and the Spanish La Liga.
Keller retired after three seasons with Seattle Sounders FC after they joined Major League Soccer. He was the Sounders' color commentator in local television broadcasts from 2012 to 2022, and assistant coach for Newport High School Boys Soccer in Bellevue, Washington. He also frequently appears on ESPN FC.
In 1989, he split his time between the Portland Timbers and the U.S. U-20 national team, which finished fourth at the 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup. Keller once again excelled and was awarded the tournament's Silver Ball as the tournament's second-best player.
Millwall
After being a member of the U.S. national team in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, he was signed by the English club Millwall, playing there and becoming a fan favorite between 1992 and 1996. Keller made his Millwall debut on May 2, 1992, and played his last game on May 5, 1996, making 202 overall appearances for The Lions. Keller was voted Player of The Year 1992–93 by the Lions fans and also picked up the Junior Lions and Disabled Millwall Fans' awards. When Millwall were relegated to the Second Division, the team transferred Keller to Leicester City for £900,000 on August 15, 1996.
Keller was still studying for a sociology degree by correspondence when he played for Millwall, and wrote a paper on the club's hooligans.[5]
Leicester City
In his first year with Leicester City, Keller played a vital part in the team's success in both a strong league position and winning the 1997 League Cup. The team reached the final again in 1999; a last minute goal lost them the match. That summer, he left the club for Spain on a free transfer.
Rayo Vallecano
Keller signed with the newly promoted Spanish club Rayo Vallecano for the 1999–2000 season and played there for two years.
Tottenham Hotspur
In August 2001, Keller returned to England and the Premier League, joining Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer.[6] Relegated to backup duty for Neil Sullivan early on, he won the starting spot and played every minute for Spurs in both the 2002–03 and the 2003–04 seasons.
In the 2004–05 Premiership season, Keller fell out of favor at Tottenham, as Paul Robinson became the first-choice keeper. In November 2004, Kasey was loaned out to Southampton, a Premiership club ravaged by injuries to its goalkeepers, for one month.[7]
On January 15, 2005, Keller joined German Bundesliga side Borussia Mönchengladbach on a free transfer during the Bundesliga's winter break. He got off to a good start in the Bundesliga, keeping a clean sheet in his first appearance for Borussia. Keller played every minute in the second half of the season and kept a total of seven clean sheets in that period, playing an important role in saving the club from relegation.
Keller also lived in Haus Donk,[8] a castle in Tönisvorst, near Mönchengladbach.[9][10] During the 2006–07 season he was one of the two Bundesliga players to be hobby-columnists for RUND, a German soccer magazine published monthly, reflecting his life in Germany and his Bundesliga career within those lines. He shared that role with VfB Stuttgart's shot-stopper Timo Hildebrand.
On August 10, 2006, Keller was selected by his teammates to captain club side Borussia Mönchengladbach during the 2006–07 campaign. He is the second American (after Claudio Reyna) to captain a top-level German club.
Fulham
In August 2007, Keller returned to the Premier League, signing for Fulham.[11] The length of Keller's contract and financial details were not disclosed by the club. He was bought as a backup to goalkeeper Antti Niemi, but nagging injuries to Niemi saw him take over as principal goalkeeper at Fulham. However, the day before the Premier League match against Derby County in October, Keller injured his arm in training and was on the sidelines until late January. He returned as a substitute keeper in the 2–1 win over Aston Villa on February 3. From then on he was only second choice until Fulham's match against Blackburn where he started the game, with Niemi on the bench. He then went on to start Fulham's remaining games as they defied all odds and avoided relegation on the last day of the season with a 1–0 win over Portsmouth at Fratton Park.
Seattle Sounders FC
Keller in action for the Seattle Sounders in 2010
On August 14, 2008, Keller returned to the United States to sign with the 2009 MLS expansion team Seattle Sounders FC.[12] He was the starting goalkeeper for the MLS team's first-ever match, on 19 March 2009, which the Sounders won 3–0. He continued to have a clean sheet in each of his next three starts, with a score of 2–0 per start. He also set the record for most minutes without a goal to start a season in MLS history. His clean sheet streak came to an end on 2 May 2009, at 457 minutes in the second half of a game against the Chicago Fire FC.[13] He started in every match of the 2009 U.S. Open Cup, as the Sounders won the title after beating D.C. United in the final on 2 September 2009, thus becoming the second expansion team in MLS history to win the tournament in their inaugural season. Keller was then named TheCup.us Player of the Tournament.[14] On 3 October, Keller recorded his 10th clean-sheet in a 1–0 over Columbus Crew to end the Crew's 22-game home unbeaten streak.[15]
In the 2010 season, the 40-year-old Keller was the only Sounders FC player to have started every league match (32) in regular season and playoffs, logging a total of 3585 in all competitions.[16] On 27 June, he recorded a season-high nine saves in a 1–3 loss to Philadelphia Union, and three days later, he made two stops in a penalty shootout against Portland Timbers in the round of 16 of the 2010 U.S. Open Cup.[16] On 8 August, Keller recorded his first MLS assist with a long pass to Fredy Montero's opening goal in an eventual 2–0 win over Houston Dynamo, thus becoming the first Sounders goalkeeper to show up on the score sheet, and at the age of 40, one of the oldest player to register a goal contribution in MLS history.[16][17] On 9 September, Keller saved a first-half penalty in a goalless draw with Real Salt Lake.[18] On 5 October, Keller won his second U.S. Open Cup title after helping his side beat Columbus Crew 2–1 in the final in front of 31,311, the largest crowd to witness a US Open Cup final; Seattle thus become the first MLS club to successfully defend the Open Cup title and the first club overall to repeat since the New York Pancyprian-Freedoms did so in 1982 and 1983.[19] He ended the 2010 season with 11 clean-sheets, thus surpassing his 2009 total. He won MLS Save of the Year for his stop against Kansas City Wizards on 17 April and six of his 82 saves were voted MLS Save of the Week.[16]
In the 2011 MLS season, the 41-year-old Keller finished third in the MLS saves leader with 110. On 4 October, Keller started in his third consecutive Open Cup final, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 win over the Chicago Fire in front of 35,615, the largest crowd to witness a US Open Cup final,[20] and in doing so at the age of 41 years and 306 days, he became the oldest player in the competition's history at the time, a record that has since been surpassed by Marcus Hahnemann in 2014 and Claudio Muñoz in 2024. He played his final regular season home game for the Sounders on 15 October 2011, helping his side to a 2–1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes in front of a record crowd of 64,140 people were present. In the following week, on 22 October, Keller played his last match for the club in a 3–1 win over Chivas USA, and in doing so at the age of 41 years and 324 days, he became the third oldest player in the history of the MLS, only behind Preki (42) and Pat Onstad (43).[21]
International career
Keller got his first senior team cap against Colombia on February 4, 1990, and was on the roster as Tony Meola's back up at the 1990 FIFA World Cup.
Perhaps his most famous clean sheet came in the historic 1998 win versus Brazil. Keller played all 90 minutes in goal and made ten saves, many from point-blank range, in preserving the 1–0 shutout victory for the U.S. His performance in goal prompted Brazilian great Romário to remark "That is the best performance by a goalkeeper I have ever seen,"[22] the performance was commemorated in the song "Kasey Keller" by synth-pop band Barcelona.
For most of their careers, Keller and Brad Friedel were engaged in a head-to-head battle for the U.S. goalkeeper's jersey. Keller got the nod in 1998 but was second choice to Friedel in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. In spite of this stiff competition he has the second most caps and wins of any men's goalkeeper in U.S. soccer history with 102 and 53, respectively, behind Tim Howard. Keller remains the team's all-time leader in keeping clean sheets with 47.
Keller crowned the U.S.'s run in the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament with a clean sheet in the final match against Panama and two saves in the penalty shootout to give the side the trophy. Keller started the first seven games of the final round of World Cup qualifying in 2005, recording five consecutive clean sheets and 507 consecutive goalless minutes to lead the U.S. to qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Finals in Germany. He then became the first male player in U.S. history to win his third Athlete of the Year award. On May 2, 2006, Keller and teammate Claudio Reyna became the first two American men named to four World Cup Rosters. In that World Cup, he played in all three games, being named Man of the Match in the 1–1 draw with Italy in Kaiserslautern on June 17, 2006. Keller is the only U.S. player to participate in both the 1990 and 2006 World Cups.
Broadcasting career
Keller joined the Seattle Sounders FC broadcast team as a color commentator alongside play-by-play announcer Ross Fletcher in 2012.[23] He remained with the club through the 2022 season, when Apple TV's MLS Season Pass took over from local broadcasters.[24] Keller also worked on ESPN broadcasts as a color commentator and studio analyst for various international tournaments and ESPN FC programs.[25]
Personal life
Keller resides in Seattle with his wife Kristin and their two children, twins born on August 26, 1997. Keller has lived in London, Madrid, and Germany, where he and his family lived in a 1,000-year-old castle.[26] During his time abroad, Keller has learned to speak German and Spanish fluently.[27] He told the New York Times that he turned down offers from several European clubs to sign with Seattle for the sake of his children, who have attended a new school with every transfer he has made.[28]
A street adjacent to Keller's alma mater, North Thurston High School in Olympia, Washington, was renamed to "Kasey Keller Drive" in the 2000s.[29]
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References
1 2 "Kasey Keller". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved June 26, 2022.
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