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

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

who played with eight different NASL teams from 1975 to 1984. He is a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

. 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 Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, as well as being the starting goalkeeper for the U.S. national team. He is a four-time FIFA World Cup partici ...

, Tim Howard, and

Brad Friedel Bradley Howard Friedel (born May 18, 1971) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Friedel played 84 games for the United States national team between 1992 and 2005, and represented his country at ...

. He was a big man (standing 6' 5") who threw with his right hand, but kicked with his left foot.

Early life

Growing up in

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, with two younger brothers, Mausser played numerous sports, his favorite being

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. However, in the eighth grade, he began playing goalkeeper because of his size. Most of his early experience he got playing for ''Blau-Weiss Gottschee'' in

Ridgewood, Queens Ridgewood is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It borders the neighborhoods of Maspeth, Middle Village and Glendale, as well as the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Bushwick and East Williamsburg. Historically, the neighborhood s ...

. He graduated from

Brooklyn Technical High School Brooklyn Technical High School, commonly called Brooklyn Tech and administratively designated High School 430, is an elite public high school in New York City that specializes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. It is one of th ...

. As Mausser got older, he trained with numerous local teams, eventually catching the eye of the coach of the

Rhode Island Oceaneers Home field was Pierce field East Providence RI Rhode Island Oceaneers was a soccer team. History The original Rhode Island Oceaneers soccer team was established in 1974. That season, they won the league title after a 16-2 regular season. U.S. Socc ...

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

Club career

In 1975, Mausser joined the

Hartford Bicentennials The Connecticut Bicentennials were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1975 to 1977. Originally founded as the Hartford Bicentennials, the team relocated to New Haven, Connecticut after the 19 ...

of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

(NASL). He remained with the team for only a single season before moving to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Champions ...

before the start of the 1976 indoor season. He led the Rowdies to the 1976 indoor title, winning all of his starts. Outdoors in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, his excellent play with the Rowdies (six shutouts and 28 goals scored against him in 24 games) led to his selection as a first team NASL All Star and the North American player of the year. Despite his success with the Rowdies, the Tampa Bay coach

Eddie Firmani Edwin Ronald "Eddie" Firmani (; born 7 August 1933) is a former professional football player and manager. A former forward, he spent most of his career in Italy and England. Born in South Africa, he represented the Italy national team internat ...

preferred English goalkeeper Paul Hammond who had spent the 1975 season with the Rowdies. As a result, Firmani traded Mausser in 1977 to the

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

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

mercenary A mercenary, sometimes also known as a soldier of fortune or hired gun, is a private individual, particularly a soldier, that joins a military conflict for personal profit, is otherwise an outsider to the conflict, and is not a member of any o ...

playing for whoever offered the best pay. From Vancouver, he moved to the

Colorado Caribous The Caribous of Colorado were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) during the 1978 season. The team was based in Denver, Colorado and played their home games at Mile High Stadium. After the seaso ...

, again after only a single season. After only one season in Colorado, he moved to the

Fort Lauderdale Strikers Fort Lauderdale Strikers may refer to: *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983), member of North American Soccer League from 1977 to 1983 *Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994), member of American Soccer League from 1988 to 1989 and American Profes ...

, then was traded to the

New England Teamen The New England Tea Men were an American professional soccer team based in Greater Boston. They played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Their home venues for outdoor play were Schaefer Stadium (shared with the NFL's ...

during the 1980 season. At the end of the season, the Teamen moved to

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the seat of Duval County, with which the ...

, where Mausser spent the next two seasons as part of the

Jacksonville Tea Men The Jacksonville Tea Men were a soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida, United States. Overall, the Tea Men played a total of four seasons in Jacksonville, first in the major league-level North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1980–1982, ...

. In the winter of 1983, he briefly returned to the Rowdies for the indoor Grand Prix, making one appearance. From there Mausser joined Team America, the short-lived USSF attempt to form the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ha ...

into a quasi-professional team. In 1984, he played the NASL's last outdoor season back with the Rowdies. When the NASL folded, he briefly played with the Kansas City Comets of the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL). He also played a season with the

Buffalo Stallions The Buffalo Stallions were a soccer team based out of Buffalo, New York, that played in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1979 to 1984. Their home arena was Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. It was the last professional club for which the Portugues ...

of the MISL. Mauser moved to the

, of the American Soccer League in 1988, then to the

Albany Capitals The Albany Capitals joined the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soccer League. The club played in Albany, New York. After ...

of the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

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 A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

with which he earned 35

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

between 1975 and 1985, appearing in three World Cup qualifying campaigns. He generally played well for the national team, earning 10 shutouts. However, he had a hand in one of the biggest fiascos in US national soccer team history. In 1985, the US was a tie away from going to the second round of the

1985 CONCACAF Championship The 1985 CONCACAF Championship was the ninth edition of the CONCACAF Championship. It also served as the qualification for the 1986 World Cup. A total of 18 CONCACAF teams entered the competition. The North, Central American and Caribbean zone w ...

qualification for the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

. They had one game left, a home match with Costa Rica in Torrance, California. The US had beaten Costa Rica, 3–0, at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

and had tied them, 1–1, in Costa Rica five days before the match in Torrance. However, the US 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 Evaristo Coronado Salas (born 13 September 1960) is considered the best Costa Rican football striker during the 1980s. Club career Born in Ciudad Cortés, Coronado is one of the most recognized sports figures in his country. He played his e ...

who easily scored the goal which eliminated the US 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 US 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

in 2003.

References

External links

NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mausser, Arnie 1954 births Living people Albany Capitals players American expatriate sportspeople in Canada American expatriate soccer players American Indoor Soccer Association players American Professional Soccer League players American Soccer League (1933–1983) players American Soccer League (1988–89) players American soccer players Blau-Weiss Gottschee players Buffalo Stallions players Colorado Caribous players Expatriate soccer players in Canada Association football goalkeepers Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1988–1994) players Fort Lauderdale Strikers (1977–1983) players Connecticut Bicentennials players Jacksonville Tea Men players Jewish American sportspeople Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players National Soccer Hall of Fame members New England Tea Men players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Rhode Island Oceaneers players Soccer players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Brooklyn Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Team America (NASL) players United States men's international soccer players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players 21st-century American Jews