He might not be the starting goalkeeper anymore but American Brad Friedel is obviously doing something right at his current club-Tottenham. Today, he signed a new contract extension through the 2013-14 season with the English Premier League power.
If you're keeping track at home, Friedel is 41-years-old (!). He's been at Tottenham since June 2011 but he lost his starting spot in October to Hugo Lloris. Tottenham blanked Aston Villa 4-0 this afternoon but Friedel sat on the bench the entire time. His last start was on December 6, a 3-1 win over Panathinaikos in a Europa League match. Friedel's last EPL match was November 11, a 2-1 loss at Manchester City.
The funny part is that Friedel hasn't played for the U.S. men's national team for years, despite the fact that he would still be the best backup goalkeeper behind Tim Howard. In his career, he has 82 CAPs for the U.S. He has progressed from the Columbus Crew (MLS) to Galatasaray (Turkey) and Brondby (Denmark) before moving to England in 1997 to play for Liverpool. He was at Blackburn for eight years and Aston Villa for three years before becoming a Toffee.
I have no idea if he would be interested in coaching after he retires but U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann should definitely look into it. What a great resource Friedel would be for young American goalkeepers to have around. It might be a romantic notion on my part but I'd love to see Friedel get to one more World Cup with the U.S. as a third goalkeeper or something. I'd say that at this point, he's more than earned that courtesy and curtain call on his professional career (even though he retired from international soccer a while back).
Tweet
Follow @RichSlate
No comments:
Post a Comment