Tim Howard

Biography

born March 6, 1979, in North Brunswick (North Brunswick: more facts about this subject) , New Jersey (New Jersey: A Mid-Atlantic state on the Atlantic; one of the original 13 colonies) ) is a soccer (soccer: A football game in which two teams of 11 players try to kick or head a ball into the opponents' goal) goalkeeper (goalkeeper: The soccer or hockey player assigned to protect the goal) , the first American to play for Manchester United (Manchester United: more facts about this subject) 's first team.

Howard started his pro career immediately after high school, playing with the North Jersey Imperials (North Jersey Imperials: the north jersey imperials were a soccer club based in paramus, new jersey....
[follow hyperlink for more...]) of the USISL (USISL: more facts about this subject) . He was signed by Major League Soccer (Major League Soccer: major league soccer (mls) is the highest level soccer league in the united states...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) in 1998 and was assigned to the MetroStars (MetroStars: the metrostars are a major league soccer (mls) franchise that plays at the giants stadium...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) , for whom he played until 2003. Tim backed up first Tony Meola (Tony Meola: tony meola (born february 21, 1969 in belleville, new jersey) is an american...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) and then Mike Ammann (Mike Ammann: mike ammann (born february 8, 1971 in orange, california) is an american soccer...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) , but became the starting goalkeeper as the latter was traded before the 2001 season. Although he often played behind an atrocious Metro defense, Howard showed amazing skill, and his athleticism was unmatched. Tim was named MLS's Goalkeeper of the Year (Goalkeeper of the Year: more facts about this subject) in 2001 and to the league's Best XI (Best XI: in the united states, major league soccer (mls) has selected a league best xi since...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) in 2001 and 2002, the year he was first capped for the United States national team (United States national team: more facts about this subject) (against Ecuador (Ecuador: A republic in northwestern South America; became independent from Spain in 1822; the landscape is dominated by the Andes) on March 10th). Howard has earned 12 caps for the US so far in his career (as of 2005).

Manchester United signed Howard in the middle of the 2003 MLS season, and he replaced French international (French international: the france national football team is a successful european football team, generally considered...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) Fabien Barthez (Fabien Barthez: fabien barthez (born 28 june 1971 in lavelanet, france) is the current goalkeeper...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. He started off very well at Manchester United, saving the decisive penalty in the Community Shield (Community Shield: the fa community shield (formerly the charity shield) is an english football (soccer)|association...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) against Arsenal (Arsenal: A military structure where arms and ammunition and other military equipment are stored and training is given in the use of arms) . However, later in the season Howard suffered from loss of form after Manchester United's early exit from the UEFA Champions League (UEFA Champions League: more facts about this subject) . After a short period of rest, Howard reclaimed his starting position and played in the 2004 FA Cup (FA Cup: the football association challenge cup, commonly known as the fa cup, is the main "knockout"...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) Final, picking up a winner's medal. He was the first American to do so. Howard was also named in the PFA Best XI in his first season at Manchester United, making him the only United player in the team. In his second year with Manchester United, he shared the goalkeeping duties with Roy Carroll (Roy Carroll: roy carroll (born september 30 1977 in belfast) is a northern irish footballer...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) , as a number of costly errors from both players made it impossible for Alex Ferguson (Alex Ferguson: more facts about this subject) to stick with a single starter.

Howard started for the United States in the 1999 World Youth Championship (World Youth Championship: the football world youth championship is the world championship of football for male players...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) in Nigeria (Nigeria: A republic in West Africa on the Gulf of Guinea; gained independence from Britain in 1960; most populous African country) and was a backup to Brad Friedel (Brad Friedel: brad friedel (born may 18, 1971 in lakewood, ohio) is an american international...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) at the 2000 Summer Olympics (2000 Summer Olympics: more facts about this subject) . He suffers from a mild form of Tourette's Syndrome (Tourette's Syndrome: tourette syndrome - also called tourettes syndrome, tourette spectrum (ts),...
[follow hyperlink for more...]) and was named MLS's Humanitarian of the Year in 2001 for his work with children afflicted with Tourette's.