When the Reds march out at RFK Stadium Saturday night to face D.C. United (TSN, 7:30 p.m. ET), they will face a goalkeeper who can be forgiven for having his mind elsewhere.
Bill Hamid received an U.S. international call from new American head coach Jurgen Klinsmann this week. Hamid revealed to the Washington Post that he ignored the phone call from Klinsmann, believing the unrecognized number to be that of a telemarketer. He realized later from Klinsmann’s voicemail that he is in line for his first American cap.
The 20-year old could feature next Wednesday in a friendly against arch-rival Mexico in Philadelphia. In the meantime, Toronto FC will have to contend with the former United Academy keeper Saturday evening.
RELATED: D.C.-Toronto broadcast info
RELATED: D.C.-Toronto match preview
<object classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000" height="200" id="embed" width="300"><param name="movie" value="http://www.torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/embed.swf"><param name="quality" value="high"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="flashVars" value="catid=2&id=3499&server=http://www.torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/&pageurl=http://www.torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/&nlwa=http://track1.neulion.com/tfc/"><embed allowfullscreen="true" flashvars="catid=2&id=3499&server=http://www.torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/&pageurl=http://www.torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/&nlwa=http://track1.neulion.com/tfc/" height="200" name="embed" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" quality="high" src="http://www.torontofc.neulion.com/tfc/embed.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="300"></object> |
<strong>VIDEO: Stefan Frei on the dangers of facing former teammate Dwayne De Rosario.</strong> |
Toronto will likely thrust Stefan Frei back in goal against D.C. The Swiss keeper enjoyed a day off in Nicaragua when Milos Kocic was called on to close out the preliminary Champions League series ahead of the group stage. Toronto won 2-1 (4-2 aggregate) thanks to a pair of goals from Ryan Johnson; Kocic conceded from the spot to Real Esteli.
Frei is looking forward to facing old teammate Dwayne De Rosario and is keenly aware of the potential for trouble.
“We definitely have to mark him close,” Frei said after training Friday. “He is a difference maker.”
The keeper feels the TFC squad is quite encouraged by the character displayed during the second half in Portland last week, saying they “can’t ask for anything better than the way (the team) responded,” fighting back to erase a two-goal deficit in the 2-2 draw.
Going by recent history, Hamid and Frei should expect a busy night in Washington.
Goalkeepers have witnessed plenty of bother in D.C.-Toronto fixtures at RFK Stadium. In five meetings between the sides in Washington a total of 26 goals have been scored with the home team holding a 16-10 edge.
The last two meetings at RFK resulted in a 3-3 draw and a 3-2 victory to Toronto in 2010 - during which the teams combined for 23 attempts on goal.
All the latest videos from training are available at Toronto FC TV. The team flew out to D.C. following a short training session at Cherry Beach early on Friday.
Discuss this with Asif on Twitter
