Football
Stephan Uersfeld, Germany correspondent 9y

Former Germany goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand has 'dream' to go to U.S.

Former Germany goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand wants to see the world before his son, who turned 3 on Friday, enrolls at school. His dream is to work in the United States, his agent told ESPN FC.

Hildebrand, 35, made a surprise comeback in Germany towards the end of 2014, when he played his 300th Bundesliga match in early December.

Having already stood between the posts for Stuttgart, Hoffenheim and Schalke, Hildebrand joined Eintracht Frankfurt as a free agent in late September after his contract at Schalke ran out in the summer.

Following the injury of first-choice keeper Kevin Trapp and an illness-related absence of his backup Felix Wiedwald, Hildebrand returned between the sticks for three league games in December, showing in all of them that he still has it in him.

However, with former Germany under-21 keeper Trapp returning after the winter break and with the future of Wiedwald, who has been linked with a return to Werder Bremen, still up in the air, Hildebrand might get a shot at staying in Frankfurt.

"It's a dynamic process," Jorg Neblung, Hildebrand's agent told ESPN FC, and added that the future of the former Germany international, who won seven caps between 2004 and 2007, also hinges on the developments at Frankfurt.

Still, Hildebrand wants to leave Europe in the foreseeable future, his agent added. "It remains Timo's wish to work in the United States before his son's first day at school," Neblung said about Hildebrand's plans. "And that's not even about MLS."

Earlier this week, Neblung rejected rumours that Hildebrand, who has a three-year-old son, would return to Seattle, where he trained with the Sounders in early September.

"He wanted an opportunity to see what soccer was like in the States," said Sounders coach Sigi Schmidt, who got to know Hildebrand at the 1999 under-20 World Cup.

The Seattle Times quoted Schmidt as of telling Hildebrand: "Why don't you come on over? You'll see what a club is like in the U.S. and what Seattle's like. Also, with the rest of MLS: The training, the atmosphere, the professionalism."

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