Kasey Keller
On growing up on his family's egg farm in Lacey, Wash.
We had 40,000 chickens. I helped gather eggs, but that consisted of sitting at a table. I would press a button, and a conveyer belt would bring the eggs. I also worked in the processing house, where the eggs get cleaned and weighed. My job was to take the finished carton off a circular table that was rotating and then place it in a crate based on size and grade. You know--A or AA.
On meeting his wife, Kristin, in grade school
She lived a few miles away, and a friend and I would ride our bikes to school and pick her up along the way. We never dated. We went to one dance together in high school, but we knew we were going in different directions. Then when she was a senior at Pepperdine and I was a junior at Portland, I met up with her in L.A. and we talked. I came back to Portland and broke up with my girlfriend.
On renting a German castle while playing for Borussia Mönchengladbach
It's more than 1,000 years old. The original structure was built in 970 by the Franks. It has some issues, but it's fun. There's a moat and a garden. When the kids [eight-year-old twins Cameron and Chloe] started at the international school in Düsseldorf, they were like, "Is it O.K. if we tell people we live in a castle?" I told them I wouldn't offer that information without somebody asking. Like, "Oh, by the way, I live in a castle."
On his need for speed
Luckily Germany has an autobahn, so I can drive fast legally. I tuned up my Porsche 911, so it goes a little faster. My wife's really thrilled, as you can imagine. There are not many places where people drive their kids to school at more than 100 miles an hour and get passed.
On headbanging
I'm a big heavy metal guy--Soulfly, Slipknot, Metallica. But I don't listen to it before a game. There's no reason to get fired up from listening to something that's just slamming when sometimes you don't have anything to do for 70 minutes. For me it's about concentration.
On the U.S.'s World Cup group: the Czech Republic, Italy and Ghana
The group's a monster. What makes it more difficult is having two European teams--European teams are more successful in Europe, and South American teams are more successful in the Americas. To draw two big European teams in our group is a definite disadvantage.
On whether he'll ever play in MLS
I would love to. I've spoken to MLS on a couple of occasions, but I never got a vibe that MLS wants me to come home and play. The last time I mentioned I would be interested, I didn't get a call back for three weeks. I'm not optimistic that they want me, but I would love to finish my career [in the U.S.].
KELLER, 36, WILL FACE THE CZECH REPUBLIC IN THE U.S.'S FIRST 2006 WORLD CUP MATCH ON JUNE 12.
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SPORT-PRESSE-FOTOS (KELLER ACTION)
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Photograph by Michael J. Lebrecht II/1Deuce3 Photography