International Soccer Standouts Attend UW Hoops Game

The Husky basketball program enjoyed a couple well-known visitors at its recent game against Portland in Bank of America Arena.

Seattle Sounders FC standouts Kasey Keller and Steve Zakuani were among the near sellout crowd that watched the Huskies take down one of the West Coast Conference's title favorites 89-54 on Dec. 19.

Keller, a native of nearby Lacey and a Portland graduate, has played most of his career on the international stage in such high-profile leagues as the English Premier League and the German Bundesliga. The former U.S. National Team keeper recently captained Sounders FC in its phenominally successful inaugural season.

Zakuani, a native of London, England, grew up playing in the Arsenal FC youth system and was the top pick in Major League Soccer's SuperDraft after earning national college player of the year honors at Akron. He is a forward for Sounders FC and is looking forward to meeting fellow London native and Arsenal fan, Matthew Bryan-Amaning.

"It was great. I've always been a huge basketball fan - even when I was growing up in London watching the Lakers early in this decade," said Zakuani, who played . "I love the NBA. I don't really follow college as much, but it was great. They won and it was a blowout. They played well and the atmosphere was good. The size of arena and the amount of fans there kind of surprised me, so it was a good night overall."

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