Athletes - Tim Howard

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	Athletes - Tim Howard

Tim Howard (born March 6, 1979, in North Brunswick, New Jersey) is a soccer goalkeeper, the first American to play for Manchester United's first team.

Tim is the son of an African-American father and a Hungarian mother who emmigrated to the United States after the 1956 revolution. He grew up poor in New Jersey.

Howard started his pro career immediately after high school, playing with the North Jersey Imperials of the USISL. He was signed by Major League Soccer in 1998 and was assigned to the MetroStars, for whom he played until 2003. Tim backed up first Tony Meola and then Mike Ammann, 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 in 2001 and to the league's Best XI in 2001 and 2002.

Manchester United signed Howard in the middle of the 2003 MLS season, and he replaced French international Fabien Barthez as the club's first-choice goalkeeper. He started off very well at Manchester United, saving the decisive penalty in the Community Shield against Arsenal. However, later in the season Howard suffered from loss of form, starting with the blunder that handed a goal to F.C. Porto, eliminating United from the UEFA Champions League. After a period of rest, Howard reclaimed his starting position ahead of Roy Carroll for the 2004 FA Cup 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 Carroll, as a number of high-profile errors from both players made it impossible for Sir Alex Ferguson to choose between the two with any consistency.

At the end of the season, Howard signed a new contract, which runs until 2009. In the summer of 2005, Manchester United released both of his competitors for the goalkeeper position – Ricardo and Carroll. However, they also bought experienced Dutch goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar soon after. An uncharacteristically outspoken Howard fumed in an interview that he would not have signed the new contract had he known van der Sar was on his way to United.

International career

Howard started for the United States national team in the 1999 World Youth Championship in Nigeria and was a backup to Brad Friedel at the 2000 Summer Olympics. On March 10, 2002, he was received his first senior cap, against Ecuador. Howard has appeared for the US 14 times so far (as of early 2006). His playing time for the national team has so far been limited because of the presence of two other world-class and far more experienced keepers in Friedel and Kasey Keller. However, Friedel retired from international football in February 2005, and Keller is nearly a decade older than Howard, making Howard clearly the national team's keeper of the future.

Humanitarian

Howard has Tourette Syndrome and was named MLS Humanitarian of the Year in 2001 for his work with children with Tourette's.

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