Arnie Mausser

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Arnie Mausser

Personal information
Full name	Arnold Mausser
Date of birth	(1954-02-28) February 28, 1954 (age 71)
Place of birth	Queens, New York, United States
Height	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Position(s)	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	Blau-Weiss Gottschee Brooklyn Technical High School
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1974	Rhode Island Oceaneers
1975	Hartford Bicentennials	22	(0)
1976	Tampa Bay Rowdies	24	(0)
1976–77	Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)	5	(0)
1977	Vancouver Whitecaps	26	(0)
1978	Colorado Caribous	28	(0)
1979–1980	Fort Lauderdale Strikers	36	(0)
1980	New England Tea Men	2	(0)
1980–1982	Jacksonville Tea Men (indoor)	20	(0)
1981–1982	Jacksonville Tea Men	50	(0)
1983	Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)	1	(0)
1983	Team America	12	(0)
1983–1984	Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)	8	(0)
1984	Tampa Bay Rowdies	23	(0)
1985	Kansas City Comets (indoor)	1	(0)
1985–1986	Buffalo Stallions (indoor)
1986–1987	Tampa Bay Rowdies (indoor)
1988–1989	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
1990	Albany Capitals
1990–1992	Fort Lauderdale Strikers
International career
1975–1985	United States	35	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Arnold "Arnie" Mausser (born February 28, 1954) is an American former

.

Mausser may be considered one of the finest goalkeepers the United States has ever produced. He is known as the trailblazer for future U.S. 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.

Growing up in

(ASL). He signed with the team in 1974 and played a single season before moving to the NASL.

In 1975, Mausser joined the

after the Rowdies signed Hammond.

Although this move was not the result of Mausser's actions, a pattern had been set which continued throughout his career and earned Mausser a reputation as a

.

In the winter of 1983, he briefly returned to the Rowdies for the

of the MISL.

Mauser moved to the

for the 1990 season. He ended his career back with the Strikers for another two seasons before retiring in 1992.

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, appearing in three World Cup qualifying campaigns.^[5] He generally played well for the national team, earning 10 shutouts. However, he had a hand in one of the biggest fiascos in U.S. national soccer team history. In 1985, the U.S. was a tie away from going to the second round of the 1985 CONCACAF Championship qualification for 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 disjointedly, 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 World Cup contention and sent Costa Rica to the second round instead. Mausser played one more game for the national team, a 5–0 thrashing by England on June 16, when he saved a penalty by Glenn Hoddle. Mausser continued to be part of the U.S. national soccer team until the 1990 World Cup, though he never played again. There is some debate as to Mausser not being selected to the 1990 World Cup squad which was likely because the team was looking at its youth rather than veteran leadership at the time.

Mausser was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.^[6]

• NASL/MISL stats