When we last checked in on the best goalkeeper in US history, Kasey Keller was body slamming his team's mascot. Now he's getting fined by the German Football Federation for leading his team's fans in a derogatory song following Borussia Mönchengaldbach 2-0 road win against their rival Cologne. You can watch a video from a fan here. It isn't the best quality but it gives you a sense of the scene. Plus, his fine goalkeeping has kept M'gladback out of the relegation zone despite the fact that there are only five teams that have scored fewer goals than M'gladbach this season.
So, when you add this incident to the mascot deal and a long run of good form in goal, Keller has become a big fan favorite in Mönchengladbach. How do you add to that mystique? That's right...you move your family into a 1,000 year-old castle with a moat. The guy is great. You can watch US Soccer's version of Cribs here as they visit Keller's castle. Just click on the picture of the gates.
The other video on that page shows the US team's visit to the wounded soldiers at Landstuhl Regional Medical Hospital in Kaiserslautern. The US is in Germany for Wednesday's World Cup warm-up match against Poland. The game will be on ESPN2 at 2pm EST. The trip to the hospital was a nice touch. Hopefully, a lot of the folks on the base will turn out for this game and the US' first-round match against Italy in June (which will also be in Kaiserslautern).
Over the last month, the US' B-team has crushed Norway, Japan and Guatemala by a combined score of 12-2. So, we should feel pretty good about our depth. Now the question is how our starters look. This match against Poland and the match against Germany in Germany on March 22nd should shed some light on those starters as a lot of the European-based players will be available.
The US has historically played poorly in Europe so that will add to the challenge of the match. The US has split its last three matches against Poland. The US won in Plock 1-0 in 2004, drew 1-1 in Chicago and lost 3-1 to the Poles in the 2002 World Cup.
The US' other first round opponents will also be playing tomorrow. Czech Republic will be playing Turkey. Italy faces Germany and Ghana plays Mexico. Those are all good challenges for those clubs which will make them interesting to follow.
To follow all of the events, du Nord is a great soccer blog to find articles surrounding the game (before and after).
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Kasey Keller | US v. Poland
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7 comments:
You and Nico would appreciate this. Keller went to my neighboring high school which my dad was superintendent of. I have met him on several occasions as he visited his old high school and did charity events for. He is a very cool guy.
ALSO I just picked up Fifa '06 for the computer and the game is incredible. Not sure if you are into the whole video game thing but its an awesome game. The game allows you to manage every professional league imaginable.
Boo! The linked video is gone. :(
Also, US Soccer's revamped website is for Windows only I've found. I haven't been able to watch video on the new site in either Firefox or Safari and Microsoft no longer supports their Mac version of IE, so I'm out of luck there too.
I bet Keller picked a castle out because it would make his heavy metal seem heavier.
Awesome, they seem to have sorted out the mac video issue!
K,
Can you let FIFA 06 run through the entire MLS season so I can know how the Metros are going to do? I'm sure it'll be another rough season but give me some hope.
Nico,
I don't like the new video technology either. Sometimes, it's very choppy and other times it works fine. It's too unpredictable.
Flatlander,
Haha. I will give it a try. I have a management mode going on right now with the Chicago fire. Its pretty involved all the way down to developing talent and signing contracts for sponsers.
Ill try running a test run with the NY/NJ Metro stars and see how they do...I played them last night and got schooled by Amado Guevara.
I had problems with the new videos at US Soccer early on but seems they have fixed them.
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