San Jose Earthquakes goalkeeper David Bingham had a night he will never forget – earning his first cap for the United States Men’s National Team in a friendly against Canada on Friday evening. The U.S. found a late goal to emerge victorious 1-0, giving Bingham his first cap, win, clean sheet and full 90-minute performance all on the same night. His presence and poise between the posts garnered attention from the match commentators, who referred to him as “confident” and “comfortable” towards the end of the national broadcast.
Head coach Jurgen Klinsmann shared that sentiment.
“I think he really had a good game,” said Klinsmann, who felt his play during the month-long camp warranted the start on Friday. “He came off the line, controlled his box. He tried to play the ball out quickly. He tried to find midfielders right away in higher positions.
“He was confident. He was not nervous. I told him, ‘It’s nothing else than playing for the Earthquakes. Just play your game and do it the way you are used to. And if there’s something to modify later on, we can talk about that, but don’t overthink that situation.’
“He seemed calm from the beginning, but also alert. He was sharp. He was quick in whatever he did. And so having Luis [Robles] and David now part of the picture as well widens our goalkeeper pool.
“It’s just a good feeling for us coaches now to see there are two or three other goalkeepers that are ready when we need them.”
Bingham has had somewhat of a meteoric rise over the past year or so, going from a young Quakes backup goalkeeper to the starting XI of the national team.
He was handed the reigns to the Earthquakes starting goalkeeper position ahead of the 2015 season. He had four starts in five total appearances at the time, although the then 25-year-old net minder did possess an impressive 4-1-0 record to his credit.
Fast forward one year and Bingham has developed into one of the premier keepers in Major League Soccer. In his first season as a starter, he helped San Jose more than double its win total, while pitching 12 shutouts, just shy of the league lead.
Let’s take a look back at Bingham’s 2015 season and what he can continue to build off of in 2016:
- The only member of the team to play every minute of every MLS match this season, Bingham became just the second player in team history to play all 3,060 minutes, joining Jon Busch in 2014.
- Spanning from Aug. 8 at Houston to Sept. 5 vs. Philadelphia, Bingham and San Jose’s backline held opponents off the board for 448 consecutive minutes, the longest streak in MLS in 2015.
- Bingham notched 12 shutouts during the year, tying the club’s record set in 2005 by Pat Onstad.
- In just the second game of the year, Bingham made a career-high seven saves to help San Jose earn a 3-2 victory over Seattle Sounders FC at CenturyLink Field.
- Bingham’s 1.15 goals against average this season ranks second lowest among all keepers in club history to make at least 30 starts in a season (Onstad – 0.97; 2005).
- Bingham and the Quakes defense allowed just 11 goals on home turf in 2015, fewest by any MLS team in a single season since 2013.
