And five Americans in England is still better than it used to be.
There was a time when Americans were lucky to see one or two of their own playing in Europe. With a 40-year drought between World Cup appearances, it was hard to convince anyone in Europe that there were Americans who could compete at the highest level. No player raised in the US cracked England’s top division until 1987, when John Kerr Jr joined Portsmouth.
But the US team’s run to the second round at the 1994 World Cup made Europeans rethink their view of Americans. Soon enough, Americans were even popping up in the Premier League.
By last year, there were a record number of US players. A fifth of the Premier League’s starting goalkeepers — Howard, Keller, Friedel and Hahnemann — were American.
“I tend to be glass half-full,” Motzkin said. “As we have more and more American players playing at that level, it will have a trickle-down effect and it will open more and more opportunities.”
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