Arnold "Arnie" Mausser was born February 28th, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York. Considered one of the finest goalkeepers the United States has ever produced. He is known as the trailblazer for future US goalkeepers such as Kasey Keller, Tim Howard, and Brad Friedel. He was a big man (standing 6' 5") who threw with his right hand, but kicked with his left foot.Growing up in Brooklyn, New York, with two younger brothers,he played numerous sports, his favorite being basketball. However, in the eighth grade, he began playing goalkeeper because of his size. As he got older, he trained with numerous local teams, eventually catching the eye of the coach of the Rhode Island Oceaneers of the American Soccer League. He signed with the team in 1974 and played a single season before moving to the NASL. In 1975, Arnie joined the Hartford Bicentennials, he appeared in 22 games, before joining the Rowdies for the 1976 season. His excellent play with the Rowdies (6 shutouts and 28 goals scored against him in 24 games) led to his selection as a first team NASL All Star.
Despite his success with the Rowdies, coach Eddie Firmani preferred English goalkeeper Paul Hammond who had spent the 1975 season with the Rowdies. As a result, Firmani traded Arnie in 1977 to the Vancouver Whitecaps after the Rowdies signed Hammond. Although this move was not the result of Arnie's actions, a pattern had been set which continued throughout his career and earned him a reputation as a mercenary playing for whoever offered the best pay. From Vancouver, he moved to Colorado Caribous, again after only a single season, making 28 appearances. After only one season in Colorado, he moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, playing in 36 games. Then was traded from the Strikers to the New England Teamen during the 1980 season, but only played in 2 games. At the end of the season, the Teamen moved to Jacksonville, Florida, where he spent the next two seasons as part of the Jacksonville Tea Men, making a total of 50 appearances.
In 1983, he joined Team America, the short lived USSF attempt to form the United States men's national soccer team into a quasi-professional team. In 1984, he played the NASL's last outdoor season back with the Rowdies, with another 23 games under his belt.
When the NASL folded, he briefly played with the Kansas City Comets of the MISL. He would also play a season with the Buffalo Stallions, also of the MISL. In 1986-87, he again returned to the Rowdies to play in the AISA.
He moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers, now of the American Soccer League in 1988, but then to the Albany Capitals of the American Professional Soccer League for the 1990 season. He ended his career back with the Strikers for another two seasons before retiring in 1992.
Arnie's strong play earned him the starting goalkeeper position for the national team with which he earned 35 caps between 1975 and 1985. He generally played well for the national team, earning 10 shutouts. However, he had a hand in one of the worst fiascos in U.S. national soccer team history. In 1985, the U.S. was a tie away from going to the 1986 FIFA World Cup. They had one game left, a home match with Costa Rica in Torrance, California. The U.S. had beaten Costa Rica 3-0 at the 1984 Summer Olympics and had tied them 1-1 in Costa Rica five days before the match in Torrance. However, the U.S. team played disjointed and in the 35th minute, he weakly punched away a cross he could have caught. The ball flopped to the feet of Evaristo Coronado who easily scored the goal which eliminated the U.S. from the World Cup contention and sent Costa Rica to the finals instead. He played one more game for the national team, a 5-0 thrashing by England on June 16th.
Arnie Mausser was inducted in the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2003.
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