Park City » When goalkeeper Tim Howard first joined the United States men's national soccer team, he was hardly the savvy, confident and experienced veteran that he is now. The man he was being groomed to replace, Kasey Keller, knew it.

"He knew it was a big jump for me," Howard recalled. "But he just said the easiest thing about being a goalkeeper is you just have to save the ball. It doesn't matter what league you play in, what level, you just have to make saves. It was a good piece of advice."

One he has followed exceptionally well.

In the seven years since then, Howard has blossomed into one of the world's top goalkeepers -- catapulting to fame with legendary Manchester United before succeeding Keller as the first-choice starter for the Americans. Now, the two old friends will renew acquaintances when Howard leads Everton FC against Keller and the Major League Soccer All-Stars in the 14th annual MLS All-Star Game at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday night.

"He's done great," Keller said.

Of course, Keller set the standard.

The 39-year-old keeper for the expansion Seattle Sounders was the original breakthrough goalkeeping star, becoming the first American to become a regular in the English Premier League and playing in four World Cups while setting a record for most goalkeeping appearances on the national team. All-star coach Dominic Kinnear said that even now, he sees "no flaws in his game," despite the perception that Keller has returned to MLS to wind down his long career close to home.

But Howard has followed right along.

League commissioner Don Garber called him one of the "favorite sons" of MLS because of the way Howard progressed through the league, starting as an 18-year-old and playing nearly six seasons with the MetroStars -- now the New York Red Bulls -- before making his historic move to Manchester United for a startling $4 million transfer fee. Three times, he was an MLS All-Star, and he won the league's goalkeeper of the year award in 2001.

"You could definitely see that he was going to be something special," said Real Salt Lake's Clint Mathis, who played with Howard on the MetroStars.

Howard quickly became a hero in his first season with Manchester United -- he was the keeper of the year in the Prem as a rookie -- but just as quickly fell out of favor.

After allowing the goal that eliminated United from the 2004 Champions League, Howard bounced in and out of the starting lineup, and scarcely played during his third season after the team imported Edwin van der Sar as the new starter. That led to a loan deal with Everton, which eventually became a full transfer 21/2 years ago -- at just about the same time he became the starting keeper for the Americans at the start of the buildup to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

"For me, he matured so much when he went overseas," RSL's Nick Rimando said. "He's confident. His players trust him and when he goes out there, he gets results."

Indeed, Everton has finished in the top six of the Premier League in each of the past three seasons with the 30-year-old Howard as its anchor --the New Jersey native also led the Americans to their impressive second-place finish in the recent FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, which included a semifinal shutout of world No. 1 Spain -- and aspires to break the monopoly on the top four spots held by United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

"The next step for us is to win a piece of silverware," midfielder Phil Neville said.

If they do, no doubt Howard will be a big reason, and he owes part of his success to the man who will be on the other end of the field on Wednesday night. Keller "was right in his prime" when Howard joined the national team, "so I got a chance to just work with him, talk to him, lean on him. ... It was really good for me."

mcl@sltrib.com