“I’d Never Let My Country Down”
Kasey Keller started his professional career at the Portland Timbers before signing for South London side Millwall in 1992 on the back of his performances for the US Under 20 side. After four years with the Lions at their home ground in the curiously named Cold Blow Lane, Keller was transfered to EPL Leicester City in the English Midlands. With Leicester, Keller won the 1997 League Cup. He spent three seasons with Leicester City before playing two seasons for Rayo Vallecano in Spain’s La Liga. He returned to the EPL with top side Tottenham Hotspur, and played every minute for the Spurs in the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons.
On January 15, 2005, Keller joined German side Borussia Mönchengladbach where he played for two seasons before returning for a third stint in the Premier League, once again with a London club, signing a one-year deal with Fulham. His travels abroad mean he speaks Spanish and German, but he is most famous for his time in the American national squad where he gained 102 international caps and 53 wins for USA, including 47 shutouts.
But he didn’t sign for the Sounders to revel in his legend status. Having sat patiently listening to speakers talk of what he had done in the game, in his signing press conference, he said, “I’m coming home to play. I’m coming home to help the Sounders win, to help the Sounders establish themselves as one of the top franchises in the country if not the benchmark for what soccer is going to become.”
He has had a more than stellar debut in his first ever season in his native league. At the time of writing, his Sounders FC defence had the best record in the league for conceding goals.
So far, he has played 33 games and conceded 26 goals as Sounders won the US Open Cup and have moved to within a point of the play-offs.
We spoke to him days after the USA had clinched World Cup qualification for the 2010 Finals in South Africa, and before the Sounders visited Kansas City Wizards to seek the point that would guarantee them a play-off place.
KASEY KELLER INTERVIEW
“Other People have Stepped in and Done a Real Classy Job”
PROST AMERIKA: You’re back to training this week. After the Columbus game and several great saves, you were nominated for save of the week, as was Tyrone Marshall who ended up winning save of the week for that game. There was a wonderful moment between you guys after Tyrone made that jump kick to save that goal where you reached out and just bopped him on the head as he’s running out after clearing the ball. Can you describe that feeling, just looking back and seeing ball getting cleared after you think it’s by?
KASEY KELLER: I’m just always very happy when I see guys back working as hard as they do and to try and get back and cover for one another. Tyrone had a tremendous game against Columbus and made one tremendous clearance off the line and just battled the whole rest of the game and was just a very dominant player and it was just nice to see not only Tyrone but the other players also step up. Roger got his first goal which was great and then we just defended completely as a team. We had other chances to extend the lead but at the same time we rode our luck a little bit. We had a penalty decision and fortunately Schelotto missed but just a huge team effort led by Tyrone.
PROST AMERIKA: You are also being a major component of the best defence in the MLS, goals against average. We shouldn’t refer to Sounders as an expansion team because you’ve just broken every stereotype of an expansion team, but coming together your first season as a back line playing together, how do you come out so dominant?
KASEY KELLER: I think a couple factors. We’ve had guys really step in at different times. We’ve had a lot of suspensions. We’ve had different injuries. We haven’t exactly had the same back four. So if you take into account starting in the season where Zach Scott was out at left back then Tyson Wahl came in there when Zach got injured. Now Leo Gonzalez and then the different times where Tyson had been inside and Pat Ianni had stepped in many times. James Riley’s truly been the true person who’s been out there time and time again. But then with Jhon and Tyrone and like I said the times where Pat has stepped in and done a great job and I think I’ve been proud for the fact that we’ve had so many different formations in that back four and it hasn’t really mattered who’s been playing — the core of maybe James and Jhon and Tyrone and then the different changes at left back and the different times that people have been out that other people have stepped in and done a real classy job, and that’s what I think I’ve been the most proud.
Kasey Shows how he Tightened the Sounders Defence
PROST AMERIKA: What about Leo Gonzalez coming in midway through the season? He seems to have solidified that left back position. How has he assimilated his way into that back line and what has he meant for your defence?
KASEY KELLER: I think Leo’s done a very good job and he stepped in at a difficult time of the season to come in so late when different players have come in and out of that position. Leo’s an experienced player with over 50 caps for Costa Rica so it’s not like we just brought in somebody who’s playing in their rookie year. He’s been a pro for many years and I think that has shown. You’ve seen his assurance on the ball, the way he runs, the way he covers. He’s a guy that has been a very good addition. Like I said before, I was very happy with the way other guys had stepped in but Leo is definitely a good acquisition and one that will hopefully continue to get better and better for this team as his English improves, as he gets more comfortable with the style of play in MLS. I’m very excited to see when he gets a pre-season under his belt with us. But I know this season’s not quite over yet but I’m definitely looking forward to the future that he has with this club.
PROST AMERIKA: It was noticeable in the cup final when Sounders scored, there’s a much more laid back approach to it, there’s no over celebrating, there’s a kind of calm about the side. Was that a conscious decision to channel the emotional energy a lot more carefully?
KASEY KELLER: I think it’s usually a conscious decision by myself. I’ve never been the kind of goalkeeper that runs around after my team scores, yeah, I mean I like to cheer but at the same time especially when I’m not at home, because I always feel that the minute that I kind of over celebrate especially when I’m away from home that then I get punished and the fans then can over celebrate on my early celebration.
Probably the reason why, when I went throughout Europe to a lot of away stadiums I always got a fairly neutral reception because I wasn’t that kind of person that would taunt fans and at the same time I think that calming factor from the team comes through because I don’t think we’re a team that truly wants to go out there and upset other fans. We also feel that we can do it in a classy way and I think I’m pretty proud of that.
“We’re not Going to Sneak up on Anybody”
PROST AMERIKA: That’s a very interesting answer. On the subject of cheering, what was your reaction to the American qualification for the World Cup finals?
KASEY KELLER: It was kind of difficult because we really weren’t able to watch the game. That was very frustrating for a lot of us. I’m sure there were many fans around the country the way that the TV rights were distributed that the game wasn’t televised and it’s a shame because I spoke with some of the staff with the National Team and it would have been an extremely exciting game for everyone to watch and obviously with us going down and then getting the 3-1 lead, and then letting them back in the game and then having them miss a penalty in the 86th minute for us to qualify. It doesn’t matter how you do it but if it’s a classic performance or if it’s maybe a little bit lucky at the end as long as the results get you into the World Cup that’s all that matters and once again I think it just shows how six World Cups in a row that we’ve truly stamped our authority on this region.
PROST AMERIKA: That’s definitely true and I think a lot of people who are quite young don’t realise that wasn’t always the case. How do you rate the American chances once they get to South Africa? And as a second part: would the experience of playing there in the Confederations Cup give them some advantage over some other sides?
KASEY KELLER: I think that’s tough to tell, I mean I think in some ways we’re going through a little bit of a difficult spell at the current moment because we have so many of our players who are playing in Europe who don’t seem to be regular choice first team players. Sometimes that can work as an advantage or disadvantage. Surely you want to have them be playing and be informed. But at the same time you know how long and grueling a European season can be. You don’t necessarily want to be burned out when it comes to World Cup time. I think that’s where time will tell. The performances of the US in the Confederations Cup can surely give some confidence to the squad. But at the same time, it’s going to put a warning out to other teams. We’re not going to sneak up on anybody. Let’s put it that way.
But at the same time, there might also be a factor that was evident in Korea and Japan (venue of World Cup Finals in 2002). History has shown over the years that when a World Cup is hosted in South America, a South American team wins it. But when a World Cup is hosted in Europe, a European team wins it. Now once again like in Japan and Korea, we’re in a neutral site. There’s no history of a winner in Africa because there’s never been a World Cup in Africa. So this might be once again an advantage to those countries who aren’t South American or European.
PROST AMERIKA:
On that score, some people remember that the United States beat Portugal 3-2 in an opening game.
KASEY KELLER: Correct. We really snuck up on a team because of how poorly we performed in 98. Maybe we were taken lightly by Portugal, who were one of the favourites in that tournament. I know they had … later I found out, from some friends of mine in the Portugal squad, that they had a tremendous amount of internal turmoil going into that tournament, which sometimes doesn’t get out in the press at the right time.
Sometimes you’ve got to get that little bit of a break. You got to have somebody miss a penalty. You got to have somebody hit a goal out of nothing. We had everything go right in Korea for us; from final results when we lost our last group game to Poland and then had Korea come up with a huge shocking result against Portugal with numbers down and all sorts of situations. Everything that could possibly go our way, went our way. And because of the way the results went, we ended up playing Mexico in the next round instead of Italy, which was obviously far more favourable for us. Sometimes you just need the ball to bounce the right way.
Unfortunately in Germany, we were close but couldn’t quite get it to happen. You need to definitely be peaking at the right time. I think that’s what was shown in the Confederations Cup. The team had a poor start and then were able to get very lucky in the last, with having Brazil beating Italy to get them into the next round, and have all the results go their way. Once you get into that next round, any shock result can happen. We beat Spain and then jumped out to a quick lead against Brazil. You have to have the ball bounce the right way if you want to go all the way.
PROST AMERIKA: Talking of Spain and Brazil, would you see them as favourites for the competition? Are their any other countries you see as USA potential rivals to be there at the end of the tournament?
KASEY KELLER: You are always going to look at the big favourites. It’s funny. You look at somebody like Argentina who are going through a tough time in qualifying. Sometimes that what it takes, to get that adversity out of the way early. Sometimes you just cruise your qualifying and you’re going in as a favourite, you are a little bit over confident. Maybe a team like Argentina who’s struggled and somehow limp in right at the end, and everybody takes them for granted because they didn’t have a great qualifying run, can maybe sneak up on somebody.
Then you’re always looking at the Hollands. Are they going to finally show up at the WC and perform at their ability. I really think that there could be a surprise of an African country, and I think out of those, Ghana could be a team that people need to look out for. And always you can never underestimate a host country in any World Cup. South Africa definitely have the athleticism and being at home, to definitely go a long way.
PROST AMERIKA: Unlike Michael Ballack, you get full marks for not mentioning England to me.
KASEY KELLER: (laughs) I’m sure England can find their way and then lose on penalties in the quarter final or semi final.
PROST AMERIKA: This is why I think Kasey Keller is the greatest football player on the planet.
Better Times for Ljungberg and the Swedish National Side
KASEY KELLER: (laughs)
PROST AMERIKA: Within the Sounders squad, have they started the practice of ribbing each other if one player’s country does badly …. and I don’t have anybody Swedish in mind at this point ….
KASEY KELLER: (laughs)
PROST AMERIKA: Are you going to be the one brave enough to give Freddie (Ljungberg) a hard time? (Sweden had just lost a vital match to neighbours Denmark).
KASEY KELLER: Oh yeah! I think there are plenty others who’ll give Freddie a hard time. I’m sure he’ll palm if off like it’s because he’s retired. I’m sure he’ll attribute it to that. It’s always a shame though for your colleagues. There was a big win for (Costa Rican) Leo Gonzalez.
With the US already qualifying, it obviously doesn’t have the same flavour for Costa Rica and the ribbing as if it had come down to this last game. At the same time, it’s always nice to see your team mates be successful. It’s great for the club. It would be fantastic if Costa Rica qualified but I don’t particularly want them to beat the US on Wednesday. It would be great to have another team mate or any of our team mates performing in the World Cup.
The hard part about that is you want your guys to be involved in the international teams, but with the way the MLS works, I know there’s going to be a couple of weeks break for the World Cup, but it still means we’re going to miss guys for games. You never want to have that situation either.
PROST AMERIKA: If in any capacity, the phone rang and it was Bob Bradley, would you drop what you were doing and go to South Africa?
KASEY KELLER: I had told Bob when I semi-retired a couple of years ago, that if you needed me to play in a game, that I wouldn’t let my country down. If he said, ’Look, I got some injuries, I need you come and play?’, then I would go and play.
If there happened to be some injuries and Bob said, ‘Look I need you to play in the World Cup,’ then I would play in the World Cup. If he wanted me to go and be a member of the squad then I would have to just say, look I’m sure there’s other guys you can call in to be squad members. But I’d never let my country down if they needed me to go and play.
Further reporting:
Kasey: I’ll Come Straight from the Airport to Entertain Fans
Kasey Keller to Headline Event
Kasey Signs for Sounders FC – August 2008
October 12th – Some questions were asked by Radio Sounders’ Libby Denkmann as Part of an Interview for the Show
Recent Comments