CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – Although Jurgen Klinsmann has publically expressed the desire to have Brad Guzan and Nick Rimando battle it out for the US national team No. 1 goalkeeper slot opened up by the year-long hiatus of Tim Howard, the effort by D.C. United's Bill Hamid to join that competition should not go unnoticed.
And with a strong season for his club burnishing his credentials, his time as the USMNT starter could come sooner than one might think.
“I want to show them my ability, my hunger, my desire to be on the USA team and to one day be the No. 1 for the USA team,” Hamid told MLSsoccer.com prior to a Wednesday training session with the national team at Harvard University. “It all starts at your club. It starts with the performances you put in week in and week out. When they call you in here, you have to show yourself in the best possible light.”
It’s those performances with his club, first-place D.C. United, that have drawn the attention of Klinsmann, who has had Hamid on his radar and in his camps since 2011, and has given him one senior international cap to date.
The coach has certainly been keeping tabs on the Homegrown keeper's season, with the USMNT staff on hand to watch Hamid's last match, a 0-0 draw against Sporting Kansas City in which he earned his league-best tenth clean sheet of the season.
“Surprisingly, when I came into camp I found out they were at the last match,” said Hamid. “They were up in the stands watching and they knew everything that was going on from the moment I walked out of tunnel to warm up to the second I walked back in the tunnel to go home.”
Hamid, just 23 years old, seemingly has youth on his side moving forward, as Rimando and Howard are now both 35 and Guzan is 30.
But Hamid is also riding the largest wave of momentum in his career, posting a 1.15 goals against and a 12-9-6 record between the posts for D.C. in 2014, as the team wrapped up a postseason berth with the result against Sporting.
If Hamid’s time isn’t necessarily now, with the USMNT set to face Ecuador in East Hartford, Conn. on Friday (7 pm ET, ESPN/UniMas), he nevertheless believes that it is coming. Because of that, he’s looking to make the most of every moment.
“You have to stand out,” Hamid said. “That’s all I want to do, and if I do that hopefully I’ll get my chance. When I get my chance I’m going to do it the right way.
“They’re there, they’re watching and they’re well aware of what’s going on, every minute of each match. I’m going to be trying to perform well because I know they’re watching every second now.”
