Keller: Soccer pioneer

One of the most decorated careers in U.S. soccer history is about to come to an end.

But please, Kasey Keller asks, don’t make a big deal out of the fact that, when Seattle Sounders FC plays host to Los Angeles tonight, the 41-year-old goalkeeper will be playing the first game of the last year of his illustrious career.

“I don’t want to be a distraction and take away from what we’re trying to accomplish, which is go out and have a great year regardless of it happening to be my last year,” said Keller, an Olympia native who is in his third year with Seattle. “We’ll have plenty of time for that later. I’ll have the rest of my life to reflect.”

And whatever you do, Keller said, don’t call this his farewell tour.

In fact, Keller would rather talk about his brief foray into rapping as a teenager than make a big deal out of this season. But more on that later.

Sure, his body doesn’t recover as quickly as it did 20 years ago, but Keller still feels good physically and is still one of Major League Soccer’s best goalkeepers. And despite his age and the fact that he is approaching the finish line, Keller insists nothing feels different about this season.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “It hasn’t really felt any different. I’m still doing the same thing to prepare as I would if this were my 10th season and not my 20th season and not my last. I don’t think you can change what you do and who you are and how you do things just because it’s your last year.”

Keller went through a rough stretch last season that made him question publicly whether he should return for another season, but he bounced back with a strong second half as Seattle won 10 of its final 15 games, posting seven shutouts over that stretch. That second half was all the proof Keller and the team needed to continue their association another year, and Keller is feeling as prepared for this season as any other.

“I’d love to go back and see how I felt in ’98 or something like that and see if there’s a change,” he said. “But there’s a little bit more of a mental calm because you know you’ve been through it and you know what you’re going to see, and you’ve done it for so long. Maybe that offsets being banged up or not recovering quite as quickly as you used to.”

Even if Keller doesn’t want to play up the significance of his impending retirement, the beginning of the end does merit a look back on what he has meant not just to Sounders FC and MLS, but to American soccer as a whole. So if Keller won’t get into all of that, we’ll let those who know him best make a big deal out of Kasey Keller’s farewell season:

The longtime teammate

Separated by a year in age and the roughly 90 miles of Interstate-5 between Everett and Olympia, Chris Henderson and Keller probably wouldn’t have known each other as teenagers if not for the fact they both possessed exceptional soccer skills.

Henderson, now the technical director for Sounders FC, estimates he and Keller began playing together on a select regional team when Henderson, who is a year younger than Keller, was 13. The two rose through the ranks together, playing on youth national teams and eventually becoming mainstays on the U.S. senior national team in the 1990s. So it’s safe to say few people have seen Keller play more soccer than Henderson.

“He’s one of the top 10 U.S. players of all time,” Henderson said. “He’s one of those pioneers who went oversees before other Americans and kind of opened doors for future goalies and field players. He earned his own way and proved himself.”

Keller’s national team career included four World Cups and he was three times named U.S. Soccer athlete of the year, a total surpassed on the men’s side only by Landon Donovan. In one of U.S. soccer’s biggest victories, Keller made 10 saves to preserve a 1-0 victory over Brazil in the 1998 Gold Cup. Keller’s performance, which led the U.S. to its first-ever win over Brazil, was so impressive that Brazilian star Romario told reporters it was “the greatest performance I’ve ever seen by a goalkeeper. … It was an honor to be on the field with him.”

Henderson was Keller’s teammate for that game, as well as many other memorable ones throughout their careers, and just as he did as a teammate, Henderson breathes a little easier on Sounders FC game days knowing Keller is in goal.

“You just knew when he’s there, you aren’t going to give up many goals,” Henderson said. “You have a chance to win every game when he’s in the net.”

As much as Henderson remembers Keller for big saves, he also remembers things Keller would rather everyone forgot. Things like the fact that, for a while, Keller was big into rap. And not just listening to rap music. The lanky goalkeeper liked to bust a rhyme every now and then.

“He went through his rapper stage,” Henderson said. “He had the long hair and a long leather trench coat. I remember him as a teenager just rapping songs all the time.”

So was he any good?

“I don’t know,” Henderson said. “I don’t know much about rap, so let’s say ‘Yes.'”

As for the long hair Keller used to sport, Henderson said, “You have to remember, mullets were in back then.”

Keller downplayed his attempts at rap, saying it was just something he dabbled in for a while after he went from listening to heavy metal and punk to rap pioneers such as Public Enemy and N.W.A. As Keller explained it, as a kid growing up on an egg farm in Lacey, he was drawn to whatever was the rebellious music of the time. Alas, he concedes, it didn’t take long for him to recognize that soccer, not rap, was his calling.

The young admirer

Since 2009, Steve Zakuani has known Keller as a respected teammate, but there was a time when a young Zakuani openly rooted against the American goalkeeper. Growing up in London, Zakuani played for Arsenal’s youth academy, so when it came time for the Gunners to face North London rival Tottenham and its American goalie, Zakuani had no love for Keller.

What Zakuani and plenty of other young European soccer players did have, however, was a healthy dose of respect for Keller, one of the few Americans at the time who had a successful career in Europe’s top leagues. Keller not only played for Tottenham, but also English teams Millwall, Leicester City and Fullham, Spain’s Rayo Vallecano, and Germany’s Borussia Monchenglabach.

That successful career in Europe opened doors for other Americans to play oversees, particularly goalkeepers such as Brad Friedel, Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann and Brad Guzan, and helped legitimize American soccer in the eyes of many Europeans.

“Kasey was the first (American player) I knew about personally,” Zakuani said. “I remember in ’96-97, I was a 9- or 10-year old kid and he was playing for Leicester City. And even at Millwall earlier than that. Kasey was definitely the first one we knew of.”

And years after cheering against him in the North London derby, Zakuani, 23, is even more impressed with Keller as a teammate.

“I can’t speak highly enough of him as a footballer,” he said. “I remember my first training session with the Sounders, and this guy was late 30s, diving, making saves, and I’d never seen anything like that before. When you see someone like him with that kind of work rate, you have no excuse not to work.”

The coaches

As Zakuani points out, a 41-year-old willing to outwork players half his age can be quite a motivator — and a coach’s dream. Keller plays and trains with as much fire as ever, and still impresses the likes of Sounders FC goalkeepers coach Tony Dutra, who has worked with Keller since 2002.

“I’ve said this from Day One to everyone — mentally he’s the strongest player I’ve ever been around,” said Dutra, noting that Keller has missed only one day of training in two-plus seasons in Seattle. “His work rate is unmatched.”

Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid credits Keller’s leadership with helping the team succeed right away. But leadership and work ethic aside, Keller wouldn’t still be playing if not for rare talent. Schmid, who coached former U.S. team goalie Brad Friedel in college, counts Keller as one of the best he’s seen.

“Certainly he’s up there in the upper echelon,” said Schmid. “You can’t talk about the great American players without mentioning Kasey Keller. … He’s been a great pro, one of the first guys to go into Europe and really make it over there, so he opened up the door for a lot of other guys, opened up the door for some goalkeepers as well. He’s played a very vital role for the development of the sport in this country.”

Herald Writer John Boyle: jboyle@heraldnet.com.