They will be rivals on the field on Friday when Real Salt Lake and the Colorado Rapids square off in a pivotal match in the Western Conference race and the deciding match in the Rocky Mountain Cup. However, after the final whistle Tim Howard can go back to being friendly with Kyle Beckerman and Nick Rimando.
Longtime friends and teammates dating back to their youth days, Howard will get his first taste of the Rocky Mountain Cup after making his return to MLS with the Rapids on July 4 and the U.S. National Team goalkeeper will do so in a match that will likely see his two friends reach some career milestones.
In the match, Rimando will surpass Kevin Hartman with his 417th career game played and Beckerman will overtake Steve Ralston if he plays into the 88th minute with 33,143 career minutes played – the most ever by a field player in MLS.
Howard was effusive in his praise of the two RSL mainstays.
“Those are two guys who I admire. Those are two guys who I’ve been in locker rooms with for a long time,” Howard said in an interview on ESPN 700’s On Frame on Monday night. “To see what they’ve done … For me who’s been in the game for a long time, records are awesome, but the best records are the ones that speak to longevity. Everybody can do this or that for a short period of time. It takes special guys to be good for a very long time. So I think it’s incredible.”
Beckerman, like Howard’s head coach with the Rapids Pablo Mastroeni, has garnered a reputation as a winner on the field who will tread through hell or high water to help his teams succeed. That drew rave reviews from Howard, who has 106 caps with the U.S. National Team and backstopped the Stars and Stripes in 2010 and 2014 and was also on the squad in 2006.
“He’s a warrior. He’s a guy who when you line up in the tunnel … and you see the back of his jersey, you know that no matter what happens, he’s going to give a full shift,” Howard said. “He was a huge reason – a HUGE reason – for our success in the World Cup in 2014.”
Howard, who played with Manchester United and Everton in between stints in MLS from 2003 until this summer, said he knows what to expect from the Rocky Mountain Cup because of conversations with his own club as well as talks he’s had with Beckerman and Rimando through the years.
As in any match, friendships go out the door when the match kicks off, but in derby matches the wins are a little sweeter and the losses sting just a little more.
“As long as Kyle doesn’t score on me on Friday all bets are off,” Howard laughed. “I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Kickoff for Friday’s match is scheduled for 6 p.m. MT from Rio Tinto Stadium with national coverage on UniMas and the local broadcast on KMYU.
To hear the full interview, click below.
