BRADLEY: KEEPER COMPETITION IS OPEN Wednesday, March 21, 2007
US National Team coach Bob Bradley says Tim Howard and Kasey Keller will duke it out during the extended FIFA international break to see who will be the team's top netminder heading into a busy summer.
Each is tentatively slated to start in the four-day span that will see them face friendly opponents Ecuador and Guatemala.
"The likelihood is that we'll split these two games," Bradley told reporters in a conference call. "That's not a final decision, but that's certainly what we're thinking at this point."
With both the CONCACAF Gold Cup and Copa America coming up, the new man in charge is glad to be faced with the dilemma of having to choose between two experienced backstops.
"I think we're fortunate to have a number of very, very good goalkeepers," said Bradley. "Kasey has been a mainstay for the US, and I believe that his performances at Borussia Mönchengladbach continue to show that he's playing at a high level. Timmy has benefited from going to Everton. He's playing really well this year."
"We're excited to have good competition, knowing that we also have other goalkeepers - both in Europe and in MLS - that are pushing these guys."
Considering the team are only at the beginning a new World Cup cycle, many observers were surprised when the 37-year old Keller was summoned for this camp - but Bradley asserts that there is still plenty of fight left in the veteran.
"(What) impressed me was just his desire to come into camp and compete," offered Bradley. "For the moment, he continues to play at a high level and that's something that we look for when we put camps together."
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