When the Impact fell to D.C. United 3-1 in Washington two weeks ago, there was one key element to their lineup that was missing from the pitch for the red and black: goalkeeper Bill Hamid.
Hamid was out of the lineup following a call-up with the U.S. national team. Athough he didn’t see any action in the Gold Cup tournament, his selection by head coach Jurgen Klinsmann was a vote of confidence for a young keeper who has been the gap stop, until recently, of one of the basement-dwelling teams in MLS.
Hamid played in his first MLS game since donning the national team jersey last Saturday in a 2-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union, but in his defence, D.C. United’s starting lineup was the youngest it has ever fielded after a sequence of three games in eight days.
Despite a tough season for Hamid and his teammates in 2013, he has still managed four clean sheets and his goals against average of 1.56 is just .01 percentage points better than the Impact’s Troy Perkins.
Pro pedigree
Hamid became the youngest goalkeeper in MLS history to win a league contest on May 5, 2010, - at 19 years old - against Kansas City in a 2-1 victory at RFK Stadium, making his debut almost a year after signing as the club’s first ever Homegrown player in 2009.
In 2012, he featured in 23 of United’s 24 final games of the season after returning from starting duties with the U.S. U23 Olympic qualifying squad. Hamid set career highs in shutouts (8), goals against average (1.03), saves (88) and wins (13).
Hamid’s selection for Saturday’s matchup may not be set in stone, as backup Joe Willis proved successful versus the Impact back on August 3, but it’s highly unlikely that a player of his pedigree doesn’t get back into the lineup sooner rather than later.
