Sunday’s goalkeeping matchup will be a familiar one when Bill Hamid’s Black-and-Red and Sean Johnson’s New York City FC meet in Yankee Stadium for the first time this season. Throughout the last several years, Hamid and Johnson have continuously jousted for position in the U.S. Men’s National Team’s goalkeeper depth chart, each striving to become the next young ‘keeper in line for the U.S.
At 26 and 27 years old respectively, Hamid and Johnson are two of Major League Soccer’s top young goalkeepers. Hamid has been a force since joining the Black-and-Red in 2009, racking up 14,289 minutes in net, 549 saves, 44 shutouts, and the 2014 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year award. Johnson boasts a similarly-impressive stat sheet—15,906 minutes, 552 saves, and 36 shutouts in his seven seasons in the league. Both rank in the top five among active players for starts, saves and while Hamid is currently third in shutouts, Johnson is close behind, in sixth.
Both goalkeepers entered the USMNT mix in 2011, when Johnson made his first appearance with the senior team and Hamid received his first call-up. In January of 2011, Johnson earned his first cap during a friendly against Chile and helped the U.S. maintain a clean sheet in the victory. In August of the same year, Hamid received his first call-up to the senior team in preparation of a friendly with Mexico, and went on to serve as starting goalkeeper Tim Howard’s de facto backup in the USMNT’s five remaining friendlies of 2011. Five months later, Hamid earned his first cap—a 1-0, clean-sheet victory over Venezuela.
Since their international debuts, Hamid and Johnson have been included in an ever-rotating mix of January training camps and sporadic USMNT appearances. Johnson has earned four additional caps since his debut, including an appearance in the 2013 Gold Cup, while Hamid earned his second cap in 2014 against Ireland. The keepers’ paths crossed again in January of 2016, when a knee injury caused Hamid to withdrawal from the team’s annual training camp. Hamid’s replacement? Johnson.
Hamid returned from injury, though, and received another call-up from Klinsmann in October, prior to the USMNT’s friendly against New Zealand in RFK Stadium. Just as Hamid seemed healthy and ready to use the 2017 January camp to move up Bruce Arena’s depth chart, the D.C. keeper reinjured his right knee, forcing him to withdraw for the second consecutive year.
“What I want to be is the number one goalkeeper for the national team,” Hamid said on pushing to break into the USMNT’s regular roster. “Now it’s all about working my way back up that ladder.”
While Hamid and Johnson are skilled enough to assert themselves as heirs to the USMNT’s goal, both keepers are still searching for a true breakthrough with the team. On Sunday, two of Major League Soccer’s top young keepers will go head-to-head, but don’t be too surprised if the Hamid-versus-Johnson battle continues into the future as both goalkeepers strive to become bonafide successors to the U.S. Men’s National Team’s goal.
