Howard, 36, has not competed for the US men’s team since the 2014 Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cup in Brazil, where the team reached the round of 16 for the second consecutive World Cup with Howard as the starting goalkeeper.
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On Wednesday the USMNT will take on Jamaica in the Gold Cup semi-finals, and hopefully from there it will be on to see if they can take it all home. We spoke but obviously they are very busy with the Gold Cup at the moment.
“I spoke to coach [Jurgen] Klinsmann, and we have had open lines of communication”, Howard said.
“I will make myself available for selection”. “It was a tough decision to make”. All it’s done is to fuel my fire to get back in there. I have missed the boys, the competition and playing in front of the US fans..
The latest interview echos comments made about his timeline for a return from last month.
After deciding to remove himself from team selection in August of a year ago, Howard has decided he simply missed the opportunity to don the red, white and blue again. The next worldwide friendly for the USMNT is on September 4 against Peru, and Howard readily admitted that’s when he’d like to be back in action for his country.
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His skills are unquestioned, but after a down year while playing for his club team Everton F.C. Howard will have to fight for his old spot on the squad. His 15-save performance in the quarterfinals against Belgium last July was the most saves ever at a World Cup, according to Resources.FIFA.com. Howard earned his first cap in 2002 and went unused at the 2006 Federation Internationale de Football Association World Cup in Germany.
