Breaking news: Kasey Keller chooses to stay at Sounders for one more year
Veteran American goalkeeper, Casey Keller has signed a contract extension with MLS outfit Seattle Sounders that will see the former Tottenham keeper stay for another year with the Seattle based club for the 2011 MLS Regular season but it is likely that he
will retire after that season.
The 41 year old said that he has been very happy with his form and his teams’ performances during his two year stay with the Sounders. He said that the main reason for his stay for one more year was that Portland and Vancouver had been incepted in the league
as well, and he is pretty confident of having a successful season with the team.
But the seasoned veteran also indicated that this season will most likely be his last season in professional football.
"I don't want to be that guy where everyone says, 'You should have retired last year,'" he said.
Adrian Hanauer, General Manager of Seattle Sounders was optimistic that the 41-year old will deliver the same kind of performance that made him number 1 in his first 2 seasons.
He said that Keller only wanted an extension if he was sure that he will be playing regularly and at the top of his game. He praised the veteran former USA number 1 and said that he is still agile and a great goalkeeper and has been a great ambassador for
the Seattle Sounders and for the game in USA.
Before coming to MLS Keller had a successful 17-year spell of football in Europe that included successful spells in England, Spain and Germany. He represented USA 102 times from 1990 to 2007, a record that is yet to be matched by any American goalkeeper.
Born on November 29, 1969 in Washington, Keller participated in the World Cup 4 times and was the first American who became a first choice goalkeeper in the English Premier League, German Budesliga and in the Spanish La Liga.
His big break in English football came when he joined the English side, Millwall in 1992 and played there till 1996 where he made almost 178 appearances and it was later discovered by fans that he wore contact lenses and was thus named “Mister Magoo”.
He later moved to Leicester where he played 99 times and then went on to play for Rayo Vallecano, Tottenham Hotspur, Borussia Monchengladbach and finally, did a one year spell at Fulham before returning to his homeland to play for Seattle Sounders.
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