Spotlight on Tim Howard

On Saturday, May 30th, Tim Howard will step into the spotlight in front of thousands of raucous fans at the famed Wembley Stadium. Millions of more viewers will watch on TV as Howard and his Everton side take on Premier League powerhouse Chelsea for the right to lift the FA Cup. If Everton are able to win their first piece of hardware since 1995, much of the praise will be heaped on Howard who has been nothing less than spectacular for the Toffees, recording a club record 16 shutouts. Along the way to the final, Timmy delivered one of the most spectacular displays of shear brilliance when he stonewalled his former club ManU, including two saves in the penalty shootout.

Immediately following the FA Cup final, Timmy will hop on a plane and join his compatriots for two critical qualifying matches - June 3 in Costa Rica and June 6 against Honduras at Chicago's Soldier Field (both matches shown live on the ESPN Networks). Howard and the US
team will then travel to South Africa for the Confederations Cup, which pits the Red, White and Blue against three of the more dangerous teams in the world. On June 15 they take on reigning world champions Italy, then on June 18 they face five-time world champions Brazil and on June 21 they go up against current African Cup of Nations winners Egypt.

It won't be an easy road for the US national team or Everton, but with Tim Howard in goal at least both teams have a rock solid foundation to build upon.