Pros

Patient Reis Happy with Debut Display By Andrew Hush
January 31, 2006


In the aftermath of his debut for the USA national team against Canada recently, Soccer New England caught up with New England Revolution goalkeeper, Matt Reis, to find out how his first experience at international level had gone.

Matt Reis

The 30-year-old Revs number one had endured a somewhat frustrating year in 2005 with regard to his international ambitions, having been a part of several squads without seeing any playing time. Reis was a non-playing member of the CONCACAF Gold Cup wining squad in July, a month in which he commuted back and forth from USA training sessions to play for his club. In October, when Panama came to Gillette Stadium, Reis was once again involved, but had to watch from the sidelines as Tim Howard got the nod from Bruce Arena.

With how close he had come before to pulling on the national team uniform, Soccer New England began by asking what his hopes were as he entered training camp on 4 January and when he first heard that he would start against Canada:

Matt Reis: Coming in I figured that I would probably get one game with us having a few matches lined up. I found out a couple of days before that I would be playing. Bruce told us that I would play against Canada and that Kevin Hartman would start a week later against Norway.

SNE: Can you describe your emotions as the game approached? Were you nervous?

Reis: I was just excited and looking forward to the game. I wasn't too nervous beforehand, although there was a bit of emotion there when the anthem was being played. I was pleased to get an early touch when one of the Canadians had a shot that luckily came straight at me.

It's a lifelong dream and to do it in front of so many family members in my home state was great. It's just a shame my wife (Nicole) wasn't able to be there or see it on television. She was back home in New England working!

SNE: One of the key moments in the game came when he made a save from Dwayne de Rosario as he broke through on you. Can you talk us through that moment?

Reis: I just remember the ball being lost in midfield and, with Chris Klein having pushed up, De Rosario was open on the left in a huge hole. He took a touch and, as he advanced, I just tried to stay solid and close down the angle. He just blasted it off me. I remember he did a similar thing when I played against him for the Revolution a while back.

SNE: After the game, how did you feel about your performance? You seemed to be of the players that got the most plaudits.

Reis: It was great, I couldn't really have asked for much more. Regarding the team, a lot of guys had not played for two months and most of us had never played together. It was tough playing the formation we did to break down Canada, who got a lot of men behind the ball and were tough to break down.

We had to start somewhere I guess. That game was always going to be big for Canada. They aren't going to the World Cup and wanted to show what they can do. We didn't really play that badly, we just weren't that good.

SNE: How has training camp been? Is it tough, knowing that throughout the camp, you are basically on trial with World Cup places at stake?

Reis: This camp has the cream of the crop when it comes to the MLS guys. There are things you can get away with in training with your club that you can't here.

In the back of my mind I just want to position myself to be fit and ready. If I have a strong showing and go well in the early season then hopefully I'll put myself in a good situation.

I guess you can't help thinking you are being watched and there is pressure but it's just soccer and I've been doing that since I was a kid. I just try to play every day and get a little bit better each time.