MLS: Top 5 Goalkeepers in league history
By Matt Coles
2. Nick Rimando
Coming in at No.2 on our list of the best goalkeepers to have featured in Major League Soccer is the only one that has not received the Goalkeeper of the Year award, but he is very much a record-setter in the history of the league.
Before a 20-year career in the American top-flight, Nick Rimando spent his college career with the UCLA Bruins and helped the side to win the College Cup during his freshman year in 1997.
MLS Career & Honours:
- Miami Fusion (2000-2001)
- D.C. United (2002-2006)
- Real Salt Lake (2007-2019)
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- MLS Cup MVP – 2009
- MLS Save of the Year – 2012, 2013, 2019
- All-Time Shutout Record (154)
- All-Time Saves Record (1705)
- All-Time Appearances Record (514)
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- MLS Cup – 2004, 2009
- Supporters’ Shield – 2001, 2006
- CONCACAF Gold Cup – 2013
Rimando was drafted by Miami Fusion with the 35th overall pick in the 2000 MLS SuperDraft and immediately became the No.1 choice between the sticks. He played almost 50 regular-season matches for the club in his two years there, helping the Fusion to lift the Supporters’ Shield in 2001, the first silverware of his professional career.
After the Fusion were contracted following the conclusion of the 2001 campaign, D.C. United selected the shot-stopper with the third overall pick of the subsequent Allocation Draft ahead of the 2002 term. He was an ever-present in his first season with the capital’s side and was the starting goalkeeper for the franchise until he missed the end of the 2003 campaign through injury.
He then had to fight to get the starting job back from Troy Perkins, who would go on to win Goalkeeper of the Year with the club in 2006, and Rimando did so, becoming first-choice again as D.C. went all the way to the 2004 MLS Cup. They defeated Kansas City Wizards 3-2 at Home Depot Center, lifting the title for the fourth time in the first eight years of Major League Soccer’s short history.
The USMNT international then hit the double-digit clean sheets mark for the first time in his career in 2005, an achievement he would reach a total of five times during his illustrious career in the American top-flight. His time with D.C. United came to an end following the 2006 season, as Perkins took over as the starter once again, with Rimando starting just two games all campaign.
He made the move to Real Salt Lake ahead of the 2007 season, and the rest, as they say, is history. In his first season with the club, he led the league with a career-high 146 saves in 27 games and was named the team’s MVP for his debut season in Salt Lake City.
The USMNT star continued his great form for RSL, and he was a key part of the team that went on to lift the 2009 MLS Cup, his second title after winning it five years previous with D.C. He kept nine clean sheets during the regular season that year, and made 18 saves in four appearances in the post-season, as Real Salt Lake beat LA Galaxy on penalties to win it all for the first time in their history, with the ‘keeper making three saves in the shoot-out, and he was named MLS Cup MVP for his efforts.
A year later, and the side embarked on what is the greatest defensive showing in the history of the league, as Real Salt Lake conceded just 20 goals in 30 matches, with Rimando setting the club record with a career-high 14 shutouts over the course of the campaign. He also set the RSL benchmark for the longest shutout streak at 568 minutes, but the team lost out in the first round of the playoffs to FC Dallas.
Rimando continued to break records throughout the rest of his stellar career, with the 2013 season being another one filled with success. In March, he became just the second goalkeeper in the history of the league to record a century of clean sheets, before being part of the United States side that lifted the CONCACAF Gold Cup trophy later that year.
On August 9, 2014, Rimando secured the all-time record for shutouts in Major League Soccer with his 113th clean sheet in regular-season play, and he did so against former club D.C. United. He would go on to finish his career with a massive 154 shutouts, a record that may never be broken.
It is not the only all-time league record he holds either, as he is the only man to have played more than 500 regular-season matches in Major League Soccer. He holds the record with 514, with a total of 553 appearances if you include his 39 post-season clashes as well. Rimando also holds the all-time record for matches won, and the all-time record for saves made, with over 1,700 stops to his name.
It is, and will always be, a surprise that Rimando was never named Goalkeeper of the Year, but he has taken home the MLS Save of the Year award three times, including in the 2019 campaign, which turned out to be his last before he retired from the professional game. What a career, and what a man, well worthy of the No.2 spot on our list.