American soccer goalkeeper a hero in England

This country's most important men's soccer game of the year to date is tonight at RFK Stadium. The U.S. Olympic team, needing a win to advance out of first-round pool play, meets favored Portugal.

All tickets are sold. The place will be packed. But it still can't match what U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller has seen playing the last four years for Millwall , his English League club.

A rare American playing in England, Keller is something of a folk hero to fans of London-based Millwall. From what he has been told, Keller said yesterday, he has had children named after him, "probably in the double digits. And a score of pets. … The fans have kind of adopted me." And these are fans known for a much darker, more notorious side.

"The Millwall fans have the reputation of being the worst hooligans in Europe and have had that reputation for a long, long time," Keller said. "In some of the documentaries I've seen, they've been considered the founders of hooliganism in Europe. And they actually take that with pride – they usually make sure they emphasize that point at least once or twice a year."

Keller remembers gazing into the crowd during one game and seeing a couple of policemen haul off a woman. "Oh, that's interesting," he thought.

"About five minutes later, I see the police escorting her back behind me," Keller said. "I'm like, 'What's going on here?' The ball is at the other end, so I'm turning around. She's pointing up, and they're passing her kids down. She's been ejected from the game, and they're passing her kids down.

"That's typical Millwall. It's your mom who's yelling at everybody and starting fights and things like that. That's what people don't realize. With most teams, fights start with 20-year-old kids. At Millwall, it's 40-year-old men." And women.

Many soccer people consider Keller to be one of the top goalkeepers in Europe, and it was viewed as a travesty when he was left off the '94 World Cup team. Olympic coach Bruce Arena made sure Keller was one of the three overage or over-experienced ringers on an otherwise 23-and-under team.

It isn't just Keller's skill level that makes him valuable to this team. A year ago, playing without any ringers, the U-23s went to the Pan-American Games and left in disgrace, without scoring a goal.

With midfielder Claudio Reyna and defender Alexi Lalas joining Keller, the United States lost to powerhouse Argentina, 3-1, on Saturday and defeated lightly regarded Tunisia, 2-0, on Monday.

"One of the things he brings to our team is confidence – not necessarily ego, but pride, maybe," starting defender Clint Peay said of Keller. A few months ago, Peay said, the team would have been intimidated playing Argentina, "and maybe even Tunisia."

Because he is now a regular member of the U.S. team that will begin qualifying for the '98 World Cup this year, there is a chance Keller won't be back at Millwall next season. A losing streak at the end of this season relegated the club to the second division, and Keller, who commands a transfer fee of well over $1 million, would be highly sought in Europe's top leagues. But he relishes his relationship with the crazed fans of Millwall and actually speaks with fondness of how English fans treat their players.

"It's almost pure hostility at times," Keller said. "Either your home crowd is extremely hostile because you're not playing well or the away crowd is always hostile. Here, you make a mistake and everyone's like, 'Oh, unlucky.' There, everybody's like, 'What the ... are you doing?' That really matures you."