Tim Howard, last in line of top American goalkeepers, enters U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame
Tim Howard was 10 years old when he walked into Giants Stadium’s upper deck in June 1989 for a United States-Peru friendly that featured goalkeeper Tony Meola making his second international appearance.
“My earliest soccer memory,” Howard recalled last month.
Howard went on to follow Meola in a line of outstanding American goalkeepers, and on Saturday he will join Meola, Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel in the U.S. National Soccer Hall of Fame.
“Obviously, it is the honor of my life,” Howard said.
Josh McKinney, captain of the U.S. seven-a-side Paralympic team, also was elected from the player ballot. Midfielder Tisha Venturini-Hoch was chosen from the veteran ballot and United Soccer Leagues founder Francisco Marcos was picked from the builder category.
Now 45, Howard started at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups and made 121 international appearances from 2002-17, most among American goalkeepers. His 16 saves in a 2-1, second-round extra time loss to Belgium in 2014 was a zenith. Howard’s finale was the nadir, the 2-1 loss at Trinidad and Tobago that ended the Americans’ streak of seven straight World Cup appearances.