Hahnemann: I Want to Play in Seattle

Seattle’s own second most famous goalkeeper, Marcus Hahnemann, has given an interesting interview with the Sunday Mercury, in which he declares his interest in finishing his career in Major League Soccer.

He told the West Midlands newspaper:

“I want to play for a couple more years, maybe more, but that depends on a lot of things. Kasey went back to Seattle and they’re getting 30,000 season ticket holders every game and that is something I dreamed about when I was playing for them, crowds like that. We had decent crowds for the big games, say 12,000. Now 30,000 every game is just incredible.”

‘‘I go back and watch it and I’d love to be part of that at some stage. I’ve just got to see how the timing and everything works. The plan has always been to finish my career in the MLS. But you never know what is going to happen, I thought that I was going to finish my career at Reading and then a week later I was gone. That’s how it works in this game.”

In the interview, Hahnemann reveals how he paid his own way across the pond and trained with Wolves fierce local rivals, Aston Villa for a while.

Hahnemann played 65 games for the Seattle Sounders between 1994 and 1997, before moving on to join Sounders next opponents, the Colorado Rapids. He has made six appearances for the USA, and according to the Mercury interview, still harbours hopes of selection to Bob Bradley’s squad for South Africa. The competition is tough though with Tim Howard and Brad Guzan seemingly ahead of him, with Troy Perkins and MLS Cup Final hero Nick Rimando also in Bradley’s mind.

Full Sunday Mercury Article

Photo from the 1995 Sounders Media Guide c/o the GOALSeattle.com Photo Museum