PHOENIX – Bill Hamid is upset.
Juan Agudelo has just poked a soft goal past him in a drill during this month’s USMNT camp. Hamid pulls himself up off the field on which he had sprawled in an attempt to stop Agudelo. He strikes the goal post with the palm of his hand. He yells.
“That’s all right, Billy,” the voice of head coach Jurgen Klinsmann calls out from across the field. “Forget about it.”
Hamid does.
Just like that, any anger that remains is channeled toward his performance for the rest of the session.
“When I let in a goal I always try to move on as quickly as possible and continue playing,” Hamid said after training Monday. “It’s practice. When you let in a goal you keep going. That’s Jurgen’s mindset, and that’s what I try to follow.”
Klinsmann, who took over as national team coach after the Gold Cup this summer, has brought in a positive attitude to the U.S. camps he’s presided over during his first five months. He’s also brought in Bill Hamid.
The homegrown D.C. United goalkeeper has lived up to big expectations put on him by his club, displaying both skill and savvy after earning the starting role last season. In 28 starts he let in just more than a goal a game and turned in seven shut outs. So perhaps it was no surprise when Klinsmann tapped Hamid to join him in August for what was both men’s first U.S. camp.
Klinsmann wasn’t the only one to take notice of the 21-year-old keeper this season. After much of the credit for his transformation from promising backup to regular MLS starter went to a strong offseason before the 2011 season, Hamid said he worked just as hard this offseason, buoyed by a training stint in England.
“I didn’t really have that much of an offseason. I kept training, kept playing,” he said. “Went over to Europe, kept playing, had the opportunity to go over to West Brom because they were interested in my abilities from my performances last year.
“I went out there and did well.”
Despite his recent success and subsequent call ups, Hamid has yet to make an appearance for the United States. That could change in one of the upcoming friendlies. With no Tim Howard in camp, Hamid could start against Venezuela on Jan. 21 or Panama on Jan. 25. But, with fellow upstart Sean Johnson and the veteran (and former D.C. keeper) Nick Rimando also in camp, Hamid isn’t sure if he’ll get the opportunity.
“I’m not going to say I’m maybe getting my first appearance because right now I don’t know where I stand. But right now I’m just going to come in, work hard and see what happens,” he said.
Hamid said it was a blessing to be called into the camps he’s been in and said the lofty expectations from the coaching staff help him improve as a player. While he’s hopeful his first appearance is around the corner, Hamid’s overarching goal is to perform to his prime in each camp and “see where the chips fall.”
Even if the chips don’t fall his way this time around, it probably won’t be long until you see Hamid making saves in the U.S. kit. He and Johnson are the forerunners to mind the nets for the U-23 team that could head to this year’s Olympics in London.
“That’s a dream come true to go to the Olympics and represent your country,” Hamid said. “Once again, with that, I don’t know where they stand in terms of me. I don’t know where I fall on the depth chart at this point, but going to the Olympics and representing your country is a dream come true.
“That’s something that I hope I get the chance to do.”