Arnie Mausser

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Arnie Mausser
Personal information
Full name	Arnie Mausser
Date of birth	February 28, 1954 (age 53)
Place of birth	Brooklyn, NY, United States
Height	6 ft 5 in
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Retired
Number	20
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979-80 1980 1981-82 1983 1984 1985 1988-1989 1990 1990-1992	Rhode Island Oceaneers Hartford Bicentennials Tampa Bay Rowdies Vancouver Whitecaps Colorado Caribous Fort Lauderdale Strikers New England Tea Men Jacksonville Tea Men Team America Tampa Bay Rowdies Kansas City Comets Buffalo Stallions Fort Lauderdale Strikers Albany Capitals Fort Lauderdale Strikers	22 (0) 24 (0) 26 (0) 28 (0) 36 (0) 2 (0) 50 (0) 12 (0) 23 (0)
National team2
1975-1985	United States	35 (0)
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 december 2006. 2 National team caps and goals correct as of 7 december 2006. * Appearances (Goals)

Arnie Mausser (born February 28, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York) is a retired American soccer goalkeeper who played with 8 different NASL teams from 1975-1984. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame.

Mausser may be considered one of the finest goalkeepers the United States has ever produced. He is known as the trailblazer for future US goalkeepers such as Kasey Keller, Tim Howard, and Brad Friedel. He was a big man (standing 6'5") who threw with his right hand, but kicked with his left foot.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Club career 3 National team 4 Trivia

[edit] Early life

Growing up in Brooklyn, he played numerous sports, his favorite basketball. In the eighth grade, he began playing goalkeeper because of his size. As he got older, he would train and play with numerous local teams, eventually catching the eye of the coach of the Rhode Island Oceaneers of the American Soccer League. He signed with the team in 1974 and played a single season before moving to the NASL.

[edit] Club career

In 1975, Mausser joined the Hartford Bicentennials of the North American Soccer League (NASL). He remained with the team for only a single season before moving to the Tampa Bay Rowdies for the 1976 season. His excellent play with the Rowdies (6 shutouts and 28 goals scored against him in 24 games) led to his selection on the NASL All Star team. In 1977, he was with yet another team, the Vancouver Whitecaps. This would be a pattern for most of his career and he earned the reputation as a mercenary playing wherever the best pay was. He was traded from the Fort Lauderdale Strikers to the New England Teamen during the 1980 season. At the end of the season, the team would move to Jacksonville, Florida, wehre Mausser would spend the next two seasons.

In 1983, he joined Team America, the short lived USSF attempt to form the United States men's national soccer team into a quasi-professional team. In 1984, he played the NASL's last outdoor season back with the Rowdies. In 1985, he briefly played with the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He would also play a season with the Buffalo Stallions of the MISL.

He moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, now of the American Soccer League in 1988, but then to the Albany Capitals of the American Professional Soccer League for the 1990 season. He ended his career back with the Strikers for another two seasons before retiring in 1992.

[edit] National team

Mausser's strong play earned him the starting goalkeeper position for the national team with which he earned 35 caps between 1975 and 1985. He generally played well for the national team, earning 10 shutouts. However, he had a hand in one of the worst fiascos in U.S. national soccer team history. In 1985, the U.S. was a tie away from going to the 1986 FIFA World Cup. They had one game left, a home match with Costa Rica in Torrance, California. The U.S. had beaten Costa Rica 3-0 at the 1984 Summer Olympics and had tied them 1-1 in Costa Rica five days before the match in Torrance. However, the U.S. team played disjointed and in the 35th minute, Mausser weakly punched away a cross he could have caught. The ball flopped to the feet of Evaristo Coronado who easily scored the goal which eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup contention and sent Costa Rica to the finals instead. Mausser played one more game for the national team, a 5-0 thrashing by England on June 16.

Mausser was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.

[edit] Trivia

• Arnie Mausser had the natural quirk of throwing right-handed, but kicking left-footed.
• Mausser earned 35 shutouts during his ten years with the NASL.