Tim Howard: The Man Who Made Jose Mourinho and Could Make Rob Green

You know Tim Howard. Howard is the United States goalkeeper, and he is a very fine player. His ribs are currently receiving as much media attention as the rump of Kim Kardashian. Indeed, that kind of focus on ribs is usually reserved for fat dudes at a diner.

You know Jose Mourinho. Mourinho is arguably the finest coach of his generation. He shook up the football world by winning the UEFA Champions League with FC Porto; let the magnitude of that achievement sink in for a second.

Mourinho earned a move to Chelsea, where he shone under the glaring spotlight of the English Premier League, and then repeated his Champions League winning feat with Inter Milan in 2010. He will soon embark on what will doubtless be a very entertaining spell in charge of Real Madrid.

The question is, what on earth does Howard have to do with that?

Allow me to take you back in time.

It is March 10, 2004, and Manchester United lead FC Porto 1-0 at Old Trafford. A 2-1 defeat in Portugal means United are set to advance on away goals to the next round of the UEFA Champions League.

FC Porto forward Benni McCarthy launched a seemingly nonthreatening injury time free kick right at Howard as young and little known coach Jose Mourinho looked on. Howard made a big error, dropping the routine catch, which allowed Ricardo Costinha to score the winning goal and sent Manchester United crashing out.

The resulting celebration saw Mourinho sprint down the touchline and announce his exuberant personality to the world’s media.

Porto went on to win the Champions League and this achievement caught the eye of Chelsea’s Russian billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.

Would Jose have been hired by Chelsea had his Porto team crashed out to Manchester United in the first knockout round? The answer is likely no, and how history would have changed we can only guess at in a Butterfly Effect type scenario. What we do know is that without Howard’s error Porto would not have won the Champions League.

While the incident was a career springboard for the brilliant Mourinho, it was the start of a tough time for Howard. United fans and media immediately turned on Howard with “Yanks a Lot Tim” and “The Yank is a Plank” being among the crueler headlines.

A goalkeeper having his previous achievements forgotten by a scornful public—sound familiar? If Rob Green needs an example of how to overcome difficult times, he can view Howard as the perfect example.

Howard had been excellent at United, and even been voted Premier League Goalkeeper of the Year by the players themselves in the prestigious PFA awards. However, the Porto error led to a spell on the bench as Roy Carroll replaced him. Brave Howard battled back to reclaim his place by season’s end, picking up an FA Cup Winners Medal in the process.

However, such is the tough nature of football. His difficult times were not over.

In the next season, Howard made more errors and was never really forgiven by the United fanbase. Manchester United signed Edwin Van Der Sar, and Howard found himself down the Premier League food chain at Everton in 2006.

Rather than pondering what might have been, Howard has simply excelled for the Blues. He has played a part in making Everton a well respected defensive outfit which have achieved great things in his years there. His personal highlight may have been saving two penalties in a shootout win over none other than Manchester United in an FA Cup semifinal.

Howard has also overcome obstacles off the field. Tim has suffered from Tourette’s syndrome—a condition that was mocked by cruel British fans with chants of “swear in a minute, he’s gonna swear in a minute”—since the age of 10.

Rather than getting involved in Ron Artest style fan confrontations, Howard simply silenced many crowds by not allowing their team to score.

Throughout it all, Howard has had one eye on the FIFA World Cup—a tournament in which he is excelling and has beat out stiff competition over the years from greats such as Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel—with the USA team.

Howard spoke of his move to Everton in an interview with USA Today.

“It was my new lease on life. The move to Everton was the starting point, and the finishing line was in 2010, and I needed to win that race. So, in my head, I had it mapped. In 2006, I was 27. In 2010, I would be 31, and from what I hear, that’s the time when a goalkeeper is just coming into his prime.”

Howard is indeed winning that race. It may seem to Green right now that such a high profile error cannot be overcome, that a reputation is tarnished.

Howard proves that wrong, and has likely bounced back better than any keeper in history.

For more on Tim's battle with Tourette's click here.

For more on the infamous Porto game click here.