HARRSION, N.J. – Bill Hamid gave most of the credit to his back line, but the DC United goalkeeper was the primary reason his team walked away from Red Bull Arena with a point in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with the New York Red Bulls.
Hamid put an emphatic stamp on the match in stoppage time, when he palmed the ball off the line, reacting quickly after Brandon Barklage’s header deflected of DC defender James Riley and toward the net for the winner. Hamid got low to slap it away as he fell into the net.
“It did not go over (the line),” he said. “It was close, it was close. It bobbled around, it ping ponged but I got there before it went over the line.”
(MORE: Drilling down on: New York 0, DC United 0)
That was the last of Hamid’s seven saves in all, but hardly the only important one. He stonewalled Tim Cahill from inside the six-yard box in the 67th minute on what looked like a sure tap-in for the Australian veteran.
And yes, even though he refused to use the word ‘luck,’ he did get help from the crossbar twice on Fabian Espindola shots. But his performance warranted a little bit of help.
Despite a good start to the 2013 MLS season, Hamid is on the outside looking in to the national team picture, even with Tim Howard sidelined for upcoming World Cup qualifiers. Asked if the seeming disrespect motivated him, Hamid left it at “of course.”
Next question.
The 22-year-old looks to have a bright future between the pipes and that should eventually include playing in net for the United States national team. His experience with the US earlier this year has elevated his game, DC United coach Ben Olsen said.
“He was great; he has been very good since the moment he got back from national team camp,” Olsen said. “He is a new man. We talk about consistency with him, making sure he is as even-keeled as possible — on and off the field — he is staying big and making big saves. He is making saves he needs to make, but he is pulling one or two out of his hat that are saveless.”
On Saturday, Hamid pulled two marvelous saves out of that hat, even if he wants to defer credit to his defense.
“I think it was sound defending. If you look at the whole game, minute-by-minute, the center backs and the outside backs tucking in did a great job dealing with (Thierry) Henry and (Fabian) Espindola.”
Watch that stoppage time save:
