AMSTERDAM — Last month, we dove into the books to compile a ledger full of numbers rung up by American playing in Europe.
READ: A statistical historic look at the numbers behind Americans playing in Europe
This time, it's all about our greatest export to date: goalkeepers.
Consecutive league starts by American GKs | |||||
| Rank | American | Starts | Streak with: | ||
| 1 | Brad Friedel | 286 | Blackburn/Aston Villa/Tottenham | ||
| 2 | Tim Howard | 164 | Everton | ||
| 3 | Marcus Hahnemann | 88 | Reading | ||
| 4 | Kasey Keller | 86 | Tottenham | ||
| 5 | Juergen Sommer | 51 | QPR | ||
| 6 | Troy Perkins | 42 | Vålerenga | ||
| 7 | David Yelldell | 40 | Koblenz/Duisburg | ||
When Brad Friedel posted a 2-0 victory over Tim Howard's Everton on Wednesday, he not only extended his Premier League record for consecutive starts, he added to his lead over other American netminders in two major categories.
Still, the ironman veteran has not bested his compatriots in every category.
One last thing: We're not tabulating Americans that appeared for another national team, so that rules out the likes of Espen Baardsen, Eddie Gustafsson and Boaz Myhill.
The Chiseled
It's certainly no uncommon thing for a US international to know his lineup status goes beyond merely written in ink. And yet Friedel's Premier League standard of 286 straight starts — and counting — is impressive regardless of citizenship.
Howard looks in the act setting up a run for the record when — or if? — Friedel ever retires or leaves Europe, comfortably in second with an active run of 164 league starts. Other than that, no American 'keeper has managed even a third of Friedel's amount of consecutive nods from the manager.
European wins across all competitions | |||||
| Rank | American | Wins | |||
| 1 | Brad Friedel | 256 | |||
| 2 | Kasey Keller | 181 | |||
| 3 | Tim Howard | 155 | |||
| 4 | M. Hahnemann | 147 | |||
The W Collecter
Unsurprisingly, the 40-years-old-and-still-going-strong Friedel is also tops here, with the Everton victory his 255th across all competitions on that side of the pond.
Most of his wins have come in the EPL, while second-place man Kasey Keller posted his 181 victories in England, Germany and Spain.
Each of the next two have worked exclusively in England; Howard stands well back in third with 155 and counting, with current understudy Marcus Hahnemann running fourth with 147.
More than 100 wins behind him stands David Yelldell, the only keeper in our charts not to play in MLS to date.
European shutouts across all competitions | |||||
| Rank | American | Shutouts | |||
| 1 | Brad Friedel | 178 | |||
| 2 | Kasey Keller | 163 | |||
| 3 | M. Hahnemann | 121 | |||
| 4 | Tim Howard | 109 | |||
The Dikembe Mutumbos
The big four from our first two categories are naturally also tops when it comes to wagging the finger for 90 minutes. Friedel tossed his 178th European shutout on Wednesday, putting him 15 beyond Keller's total.
Hahnemann still outranks his Everton superior for third place here, but that could easily change during 2012.
As with wins accrued while playing in the top two divisions overseas, Yelldell stands a distance fifth, no less than 85 behind Howard's 109.
Top-flight wins on the continent | |||||
| Rank | American | Shutouts | |||
| 1 | Kasey Keller | 49 | |||
| 2 | Troy Perkins | 32 | |||
| 3 | Brad Friedel | 29 | |||
| 4 | Adin Brown | 22 | |||
The Continental Drifters
Lest we start to think the American brotherhood of traveling gloves is all about England, here's a check on the top win posters elsewhere in Europe. And finally, we reach a chart Friedel doesn't top.
Keller's seasons with Borussia Mönchengladbach and Rayo Vallecano — which included one UEFA Cup quarterfinal run — allowed him to record 49 wins on the continent.
Two seasons in Norway and an NM Cup title run are enough to put Portland Timbers netminder Troy Perkins second, with Friedel in third from time spent with Brøndby and Galatasaray, where his total was aided by a Turkish Cup championship run.
Domestic shutout streaks of more than 400 mins. | |||||
| Rank | American | Minutes | Team, Year | ||
| 1 | Marcus Hahnemann | 757 | Reading, 2002 | ||
| 2 | Tim Howard | 608 | Everton, 2008-09 | ||
| 3 | Tim Howard | 569 | Man. Utd, 2004 | ||
| 4 | Kasey Keller | 539 | Millwall, 1993 | ||
| 5 | Brad Friedel | 443 | Aston Villa, 2009 | ||
| 6 | Brad Friedel | 438 | Aston Villa, 2009-10 | ||
| 7 | Brad Friedel | 437 | Blackburn, 2007 | ||
| 8 | Kasey Keller | 429 | Millwall, 1992 | ||
| 9 | Kasey Keller | 426 | Leicester, 1997 | ||
| 10 | Troy Perkins | 408 | Vålerenga, 2008 | ||
The White-Hot Hands
When it comes to consecutive shutout streaks accomplished in the top two flights of European soccer, no one has come close to the mark of 757 spotless minutes recorded by Hahnemann with Reading in 2002.
Howard has the two next best clean sheet streaks, once with Manchester United and once at Everton. Friedel and Keller also pulled off a shutout run of over 400 minutes with two different EPL clubs.
