Catching up with legend U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel

	This season is Brad Friedel's seventh at Blackburn Rovers. The former U.S. national goalkeeper is a veteran of three World Cups. Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images
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Brad Friedel has enough caps to open his own Lids store at your local mall.

The American goalkeeper has 82 international appearances, three World Cups and an Olympics on his resume. Now 36, his days with the national team are over, but he's still the man at Blackburn Rovers, where he's been patrolling the nets since 2000.

On a recent frosty autumn evening, Friedel joined us at Castle Limey's hearth to talk about his career, life in England and a new world-class soccer academy that he's developing in Sheffield Village, Ohio, near where he grew up in suburban Cleveland.

SI.com: You played for the U.S. team in all its '98 and '02 World Cup matches. Which of those tournaments did you prefer, and what were your favorite games?

Friedel: Oh, '02 was the best tournament -- we reached the quarters and there was a fantastic atmosphere in Korea. Best games? Well, beating Mexico and Portugal was great. Portugal because it's such a class outfit; Mexico, not only because it's a good team, but also because of the intense rivalry between the countries. Despite losing, the quarterfinal against Germany was also a great experience -- we outplayed them for long periods and were rightly proud of ourselves afterwards. Hugely disappointed, but proud.

SI.com: Going into that Germany game, did you think you might win the tournament?

Friedel: We thought we could win the game, and yes, we thought we had a chance for the tournament, especially given that some traditionally weaker teams were still involved. But the final still seemed a long way off and we were focused on the game with Germany.

SI.com: Watching this year's World Cup, were you disappointed not to be involved? What did you think of the U.S. performance?

Friedel: I retired for good reasons, largely because I've got young children now, and because it was my decision to quit, I didn't regret not being there. I think the U.S. team was unlucky to have such a bad performance in its first game. The resulting criticism led to problems in the camp and a big drop in confidence.

SI.com: Three Americans currently start in goal at English Premier League teams. Why do you think the U.S. has become such a key developer of goalkeeping talent?

Friedel: It relates back to the strong tradition we have of developing athletes with good hand-eye coordination. If a player has the right coaching in the U.S. and then moves to a leading world league early enough to complete his development, there's no reason why he can't be among the world's best.

SI.com: Who do you think is the future of the U.S. national team?

Friedel: Given his age and ability, I think Timmy [Howard] has the chance of a long reign as No. 1. Marcus [Hahnemann] is getting a lot of credit at Reading, and will provide stiff competition to Timmy, but he'll be 38 at the time of the next World Cup.

SI.com: Soon after making your own national-team debut in '92, you left the U.S. in '94 to play for top Danish team Brondby before moving onto Turkey's Galatasaray, where you first played under Graeme Souness, who later managed you at Blackburn. Souness had a fearsome reputation as a player -- how was he as a manager?

Friedel: It's funny, Graeme has a reputation for being a very angry manager, but this just isn't true. He's actually very calm and very intelligent. He won't shy from a fight, but nonetheless is mild-mannered.