When the U.S. roster for Friday’s U.S. Men’s National Team game against Ecuador was released, DC United goalkeeper Bill Hamid’s name was on it for the first time since April. The 23-year-old goalkeeper has earned this opportunity after fighting his way back into Jurgen Klinsmann’s radar. It helps that Tim Howard is taking a sabbatical from the USMNT providing Klinsmann with a chance to give young goalkeepers a run with the senior team. He was named to the team’s 21 man roster against Ecuador this Friday in Connecticut and will travel to join his club team, DC United, in Houston for their game on Sunday. It has not yet been made clear whether he will then travel back with the national team for their contest on Tuesday, October 14 in Boca Raton, FL against Honduras.
The young goalkeeper may not get in the game on Friday since the goalkeeper battle to replace Howard at next year’s Gold Cup is most likely between Brad Guzan and Nick Rimando. That shouldn’t take away from the fact that Hamid has impressed after falling off the radar in 2013. So far this season with DC United he boasts the third most saves in the league (102) and owns a 1.15 goals against per game to make him the third best amongst goalkeepers who have played in at least 18 games this season in MLS, Rimando is second in the league with 1.14.
Bill Hamid is the first DC United Academy player to sign with the first team and in 2010 became the youngest goalkeeper to win a regular season game, at 19 years and 161 days. He bested Tim Howard by a few days to break that record. After a promising 2011 season in which he played in 28 games, had 77 saves and had a team record of 7-9-10, he was called up to the national team and earned his first, and thus far only, national team cap against Venezuela in a 1-0 friendly win on January 21, 2012.
DC’s horrendous 2013 season saw Hamid fall off the USMNT radar as he allowed 39 goals and won only 2 games, both were career lows for him. The youngster seemed to have learned from last year by bouncing back and having a career year this season as his club team boasts a 12-9-6 record in the 27 games he has played. Hamid can rest assured that as long as he continues to play at the high level he has shown this season and the longer DC stays alive in the MLS playoffs, he will continue to make Klinsmann’s decision tougher as to who the third goalkeeper in these national friendlies and next summer’s Gold Cup might be. There is no guarantee that Hamid will be called again in the future since other goalkeepers have been called up for national team duty recently such as Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire), Tally Hall (Houston Dynamo) and Cody Cropper (Southampton) over past year as well.
Klinsmann has not minced words in the past that he thinks U.S. players should be in Europe playing in the top leagues and against the top players in the world. Hamid has been rumored in the past with making a move to Europe, most notably a trial with the EPL’s West Bromwich Albion in 2011 and Scottish giants Celtic, until a work permit issue ended that potential move. It will only enhance Hamid’s chances of solidifying a place in future USMNT rosters if and when he eventually makes the international move, until then he must continue his stellar play between the posts as he and his teammates in DC march to the playoffs.
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