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Americans Abroad Keller is top-ranked goalkeeper in England's Premier League; Friedel is rated sixth.
By Robert Wagman (in Washington, D.C.)
(Friday, September 27, 2002) -- American Kasey Keller has risen to the top of the English Premier League's goalkeeper rankings for his performance for Tottenham Hotspur in its first seven games this season. Last weekend, against powerhouse Manchester United, registered one of the best matches of his career, making a half dozen spectacular saves and yielding only a penalty kick in the 1-0 loss. Keller's performance might have been his best since a remarkable effort in leading the United States' 1-0 shutout of Brazil in the Los Angeles Coliseum in 1998. "There will be spells when I won't be able to come up with the saves but if I keep everything nice and solid then, hopefully, we can stay up in (the top six spots which mean inclusion in European competition," Keller said. The Premier League's official rankings through last weekend's matches show Keller has the most saves of any keeper in the league, 31, of which 16 were shots from inside the penalty area. As the final line of defense for the injury-riddled Spurs, his shots-to-saves ratio -- which the EPL considers the key statistic - was 78 percent. In 630 minutes, Keller conceded nine goals, including two penalties, for a goals-per-match average of 1.29 with two shutouts. "I've had pretty good spells throughout (my career)," Keller was quoted on the Tottenham web site. "I remember I came in at one stage at Leicester and in a week we beat Leeds at home 1-0, (drew) 0-0 at home with Manchester United and then I was in the U.S. team that beat Brazil 1-0." "What's nice about this one is that I've been very, very happy with my training." Spurs goalkeeping coach is Dutchman Hans Segers, with help from "consultant" Pat Jennings, one of the top keepers in the world over the past two decades. "He is doing so well and I'm very pleased for him," Segers said. "He came in at the start of the season and grabbed his chance again with both hands, and I think he's never looked back. He's been a real professional and I'm very pleased he's come through so well. He's been tremendous." "I look at and analyze every match and so far, for me, in four of them he has been man of the match." Keller joined Spurs last year, after playing in Spain for two years. He was brought in to compete for the starter's role with Neil Sullivan, the Scottish international who was among club's most popular players. Through much of last season Keller, languished on the bench and made it clear he was unhappy with his lack of playing time. Then, near season's end, Sullivan had several sub-par outings and Keller started the final seven matches of the season. He was a member of the United States World Cup team, but teammate Brad Friedel started on a hot streak and was the only keeper used by coach Bruce Arena. Last season, with Keller not starting and unhappy on the bench, manager Glenn Hoddle thought he might leave after the season. Now, Sullivan is out for an extended period with a broken hand and is said to be looking at other possible opportunities once he regains fitness. Friedel, who plays for Blackburn Rovers, is sixth in the EPL rankings. The British publication The People is reporting American World Cup forward Joe-Max Moore might have to leave England at the end of the year because his work permit will have expired. Moore is stuck playing for the Everton reserves and his lack of first-team games puts the renewal of his permit at risk, the publication said. Everton has been trying to loan the high-paid Moore to a team in a lower division.
Robert Wagman is a SoccerTimes senior correspondent and can be
e-mailed at bobwagman@soccertimes.com.. John Haydon is soccer columnist for the Washington Times and can be
e-mailed at jhaydon@washingtontimes.com..
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