My Story

      when i was 8 years old, I was asked by a neighbors kid if i wanted to play soccer because his team was in desperate need for players. i had no idea that the kid asking me if i wanted to play soccer was the nephew of the infamous Chicago Mob Boss Toni Spilatro! (The movie Casino is based on his life story)How could I say no! I felt if I did my bike might have gotten blown up when I tried to ride home! “Fah-get-a-bout-it!”

So I played a.y.s.o. for the “Los Gatos”(the cats)for two

years. I played the field for a bit and moved in goal when i

was 10. It was a case of “put the big guy in  goal.” I

immediately  fell in love with the position!

At age 11 I was lucky to find a very special coach and mentor

named Larry Griffith (a.k.a. “Coach”)

He coached a team called “The Generals” and his son Aaron was on the team and became my best friend. “Coach” took me under his wing and worked with me almost every single day hitting shot after shot using his ball machine which he invented.

“The Generals” started to grow in stature and respect and so did I. on the west coast we were known as being one of the few club teams who tried to play good soccer, not just “kick and rush”.

“The Generals”

One day while i was at Aaron’s house watching a world cup game between Belgium and Argentina, coach walked in the room and said, “Let’s go with the team to Europe! See some real soccer! we should go to Belgium!

So the players started to raise money for our European adventure.

While in Belgium the players stayed with local families, and again, I was very fortunate to be paired with the “Hex” family.

This simply was the most wonderful, caring family you could ever ask for, and I owe a lot to them and always will appreciate what they did for me.

We played some games, won some, lost some, but the experience of playing in a country where soccer, or football as they call it, is like a religion, well, it’s something you have to experience first hand to truly appreciate it.

We came home a different team. More confident, and with a new found love for the sport of soccer.

Life without soccer now was not an option for me. I knew what I wanted to be in life and nothing was going to stop me! not even the biggest political scandal to hit Vegas soccer! and yes it involved me! Of course!

Here is how it went.........

It was a weekday game, and we were playing our main rivals for the state cup final. We always struggled to beat this team because they just kicked everyone and were much stronger and quicker.

Going into the game we knew the referee was going to be biased for the other team because of a previous business dispute with “Coach”. So we were reminded to stay cool by our captain Aaron.

It was the second half and we were playing well. I had a few great saves, a couple of close calls, and then we go one nil up! Adrenaline is pumping and they start to throw everything at us. I’m now having a great game, and winning is a must for the team, and especially for me because I wanted to repay “coach” for all the time he spent with me to make me who i am to this day!

Then with about 5 minutes left, the referee gets his chance to stick it to us! the other team played a ball over the top to a player who was close to 10 yards offsides. He proceeds to come at me and score the tying goal!.......I lost it!

I ran to the linesman and let him know how I felt. I was angry and felt injustice! I put my hand on his shoulder like you would if you were trying to get someone’s attention, and BAM! RED Card!

I knew I deserved the red card. I should have kept my cool. I let the team down because now we had to put a player in goal and we lost in overtime. I was devastated. Here i am trying to repay coach, and all i did was let him and the team i loved down!

After the dust settled, i awaited the news of my suspension. I figured a couple of games maximum. I Then got a call from “coach” saying they are going to have a hearing because the referee stated in his game report, that i physically abused the linesman! Verbally yes, but physically? No way!

Im at the hearing and have numerous witnesses, who were not allowed to testify on my behalf, including a referee who was at the game watching, stating that i didn’t physically abuse the linesman, i merely brushed against his shoulder. 

In fact, the only people who were allowed to testify was the referee and linesman.

My gut was telling me that no matter what I or anybody said, it didn’t matter. The board had already made up their minds of my fate! I remember before the sentence was announced, the “Judge” who I will not name, but let’s just say he has gone no where in 25 years! still a small fish in a small pond, said to the people in the room.... “I don’t know what I would have done if some punk came up to me and physically abused me! It might have turned ugly! we will now break for 5 minutes and come back with a verdict.”

Again this is the “man” who has the freedom to do what he wants with my case! oh yeah i almost forgot, this was my first ever red card, and up until this point it was only my second yellow card, and one of my yellows was for time wasting!

Then he reads the verdict:

“Ian Feuer will recieve a one years suspension from all organized soccer. you will not be able to participate in any tournaments or games anywhere in the United States for one full Year!”

Now at this point in time, I was crushed! I didn’t know what to do! how could i live for one whole year without my one thing i always craved? I was down for about two days, and then I decided what I was going to do.

I was going to train even harder! Commit even more of my time to make sure these losers didn’t destroy my dreams! And to show them who they were dealing with!

As I found out in life, “Things don’t happen to you, they happen for you!”

I’m now 15 and Living in California, and attending Canoga Park High School. I’m getting bored with everyone trying to impress the wrong people. I saw good kids turn bad because they wanted to be “cool” and “impress”. But impress who? The total loser dropout kids who wanted to drag you down to their level so they could feel secure? No not me, I wanted to reach my dreams of playing soccer in Europe.

One of my all time favorite keepers was the fromer German International, named Toni Schumacher, so when I saw an ad in Soccer America that he was attending and instructing at at camp, I just had to go!

Again I raised money working odd jobs, mowing lawns, picking

up trash, mopping floors!.....well not really! mom and dad paid

for it, but it sounded cooler if you thought I worked for it!

So I headed off on my own to Alabama University

where the week long camp with Toni Schumacher was

located.

When I met him he immediately took to me. Maybe

because i had all the schumacher gear. We trained hard all week, and at the end I was awarded keeper of the week by him. After the award ceremony he called me over to talk. I was amazed at his “coolness”!

He told me that he felt I could play in Europe! That I had what it takes to make it in the toughest places to play. He saw something in me, and said “You remind me a lot of myself when I was your age!”

Was I hearing this correctly? did my idol just say I was good enough, and that I remind him of himself? Wow! I was in heaven!

So I called my mom, and told her, “ Mom, Toni Schumacher just told me to move to Europe to pursue a soccer career. He thinks I am good enough!”

My mom immediately said yes! my dad wasn’t so sure but after a while came around and gave me his blessing as well.

I am now 16, on my own, and back in Belgium with the Hex family, whom I stayed with on my previous trip to Europe.

On our previous trip to Belgium, the coordinator on the Belgium side was a man by the name of Guy Bonny. He lived down the street from the Hex family, and had a couple of connections in the soccer scene, he said he would help me try and find a team when I got over there. Guy is one of the reasons i am who i am today. What he did for me is incredible, and I owe him Big Time!!

He knew the reserve team coach at F.C. Brugge. The biggest team in Belgium, and asked if I could have a try out. The coach agreed to a try out in between his teams practices. I was excited, and nervous to say the least!

So Guy drove me to the F.C. Brugge stadium, and training facility.    It is awesome! 40,000 seater stadium, with 11 training pitches right outside. Very awe inspiring, and very intimidating! Especially for a kid coming from a country where baseball, basketball and football rule the sports scene.

It was a teusday night, wet, and cold. I met a man by the name of Gilbert Marmenhout, the reserve team coach. We quickly met, and

he asked me to be on the pitch in 5 minutes ready for the try out.

Now I can’t remember the specific drills we

did, but I do remember doing well and just

going for it! not leaving anything behind!

What have I got to lose?

I finished the session and went in for a

shower while Guy talked to the coach. I wasn’t sure what they thought of me, all i know is I did all I could and left it all on the pitch.

I met Guy and the coach and was told that they were willing to invest the time in training me, because they see that there is something there. Probably the same thing Toni Schumacher saw.

They told me I will be 3rd keeper on the 16’s and that I will have to establish myself if I want to stay for the long term. I told them, “I don’t care if I start as 10th keeper! I will do what it takes to play in that stadium one day!”

I couldn’t believe it! A major powerhouse soccer team from Europe wants me! I quickly called my parents  to tell them the great news!

It must have been bitter sweet because my parents and I were always best of friends, so it meant that I would be gone for at least a year before i could come home.

F.C. Brugge put me up with a foster home and AGAIN i was very fortunate to land at the Home of a lady named Madelaine De Meulemeester. I don’t think I could have asked for anything more from a foster parent.

Now they say the way to a man’s heart is through his belly, and I can tell you she stole my heart from day one! It was like living with a gourmet chef! I was in heaven being someone who love’s his food!

Now i’m still only 16 and you have to be 18 in Europe to drive, so everyday I rode my bike to school, and after school i would ride to training.

This went on for about a year and then out of the blue I got a call from the 2nd team coach. He told me he needed me to travel to France to play in a tournament. All 3 of his keepers were injured or sick, and he said he has been watching me train for a while and was impressed with my progressions as a keeper.

So off to France, I played against some of the top teams in the world including a game against Glasgow Rangers which we lost 2-0 but I actually had an unreal game! so much so that when I got back from France, F.C. Brugge offered me a pro contract as the third keeper of the first team!

I had just turned 17 and in less than a year I had gone from 3rd keeper of the 16’s to 3rd keeper of the full team, and training everyday with some of the top players in the world!

It’s now the first day of training with the first team, and again it’s very intimidating. I arrive early and park my Mary Poppins bike(you have to be 18 to drive in Belgium) while all the others arrive in BMW’s and Mercedes. Yes i signed a professional contract before i could drive!

Big names fill the locker room, Jan Ceulemans, Franky Van Der Elst, Marc Degryse just to name a few and I look to see Ian Feuer on one of the lockers. Wow! That had always been a dream of mine to see my name engraved on a famous football teams locker. It was mine! I was part  of something big. In my locker is a load of new gear. Tracksuits, shoes, shirts, gloves, you name it! i have to admit, it felt pretty good to get free gear!

I meet all the players and they all seemed nice, giving me the typical quotes from famous hollywood movie’s and making fun of our cuisine. (they think all we eat are hamburgers)

We get changed and go out for our first training session of the new season!

The training pitches are beautifully manicured and I couldn’t wait to train on them! I had been dreaming of this day for as long as I could remember.

What I didn’t realize was that we wouldn’t train on those pitches for a while. We would be in the forrest a few miles down the road running! We didn’t even see a ball the first week of training!

Finally after a week of torture and coming close to last in all the runs, we get to train with the ball on those lovely pitches I was telling you about! To say I was excited and nervous was an understatement! I wanted to prove to the whole world that this Vegas born kid could hack it with the big timers in europe!

The first training  session went really well. I made some really good saves, got kicked a few times, and came out strong on a couple of crosses, taking out whatever was in my path. I felt I was gaining the trust of the team and the coaches.

This continued for the next few weeks and then I started to have a couple of mediocre to bad sessions. One day we were finishing the training session with a small sided game and I wasn’t having the best of training sessions. I don’t know why but I guess it was one of those days, well in my case, one of those weeks! So I wanted to finish the training session on a high note by winning the small sided game.

I started off really well,  making a few really awesome saves to keep my team in the game. The game was tied 3-3 when the coach yelled out “Next goal wins”! for the next few minutes no one could score. both the other keeper and myself were unbeatable. Then Jan Ceulemans our team captain and captain of the Belgian National Team, cuts in from my left, shoots near post hard and low, and scores!

(For those of you who don’t know, there is an unwritten law in goalkeeping, which is “Never get beat to your near post.”)

So the other team celebrates, my team is pissed, and i’m looking at a long 24 hours before I can redeem myself in the next training session!

All the players start to walk towards the locker room when a senior defender who was on my team during practice named Pascal Plovie came up to me and said these words.......

“What the .... are you doing here?! you can’t catch a ball, you can’t kick a ball, and you can’t ever become a top goalkeeper! why don’t you go back home and play baseball or whatever it is you stupid americans do!

I wanted to defend myself and tell him where to shove it, but he was a senior player, and I was barely 17! I also found out very quickly that when a senior player says something you listen and take it!

I didn’t want to seem weak so as i was holding back my tears i just looked at him and said “i will work very hard for that to not happen again.” He replied with a shake of his head and walked off.

I went in and had a long shower thinking about what had just happened. Who was this guy to tell me who i could and couldn’t be? I told myself I wasn’t going to let this affect my belief system and that i was going to use this episode as fuel for the burning fire inside of me that wanted to play football.

That night i replayed that goal in my head over and over until i saved it. I did this also with every other goal i let in that day. This was the night i discovered visualization even though i didn’t quite know it then.

The next day in training i needed to do well. i didn’t just do well, i had my best session yet. I even got a wink and a smile out of my boy, Pascal!

It’s now mid-season and F.C. Brugge are in the middle of a Uefa Cup run beating the likes of Dynamo Kiev and Borrussia Dortmund. Since i was the 3rd keeper and not on the bench I used to stand behind the goal to analyze the keepers from the other teams. It wasn’t allowed that a pro sits behind the goal due to hooligan problems so i would cover myself up with hats and big winter jackets so no one could recognize me. (although my hieght usually gave me away)

At training we find out that our next opponents will be against the mighty A.C. Milan from Italy! Baresi, Gullit, Rijkaard, Van Basten! you could name the whole team! it was probably the best team in the world at this point in time. The keeper for them was Rossi a 6 foot 6 italian with the same build as me so i especially wanted to see how he did things.

As it turned out, i wasn’t able to sit behind the goal for this game. A few days before the game the 2nd keeper got injured in training, so that meant I would be sitting on the bench in the European Cup against A.C. Milan!

The build up was amazing! you could feel the tension and atmosphere grow with each minute of the day. There was crowd trouble, flares, smoke bombs and the crowd was absolutely electrifying! We ended up drawing the game 0-0 with our keeper Danny verlinden playing absolutely amazing.

After the game I was buzzing from the excitement. I couldn’t wait to get back to training the next day and try and duplicate the little details that i saw from both keepers the night before, so i got on my bike and drove home to my foster family.

As i drove home, i passed by an ambulance attending a girl who had just been hit by a car. i slowed down to catch a glimpse and then kept going. Not knowing that the girl on the floor was to be my future wife and mother of my children.

A year later in a local pub on new years eve, i was talking to a Brugge supporter named Bart Van De Bourry when the most beautiful and amazing girl walked in. After mentioning to Bart how beautiful i thought this girl was he replied with... “Who her?... that’s my sister Trui... would you like to meet her?”

A week later we went out on our first official date and have been together ever since.

A couple of years later i was talking to Trui about the A.C. Milan game when she mentioned that, that was the night she got hit by a car.

Pretty cool story eh?!

It’s now my second 2nd season as a professional with F.C. Brugge and I have moved up to 2nd keeper. Very exciting and at the same time a big challenge. I am still only 19 and far from experienced, but if the coaches didn’t think i was capable, they wouldn’t have moved me up to no. 2.

I’m doing really well now and growing up really quick. The only problem is that i’m sitting the bench and not playing. So i asked my coach if there was a possibility to go on loan somewhere and play. A team in Brussels and in the same division as Brugge called R.W.D.M. needed a keeper and the next weekend i was starting my first professional game for them. It was against Beveren at home.

I was nervous but confident before the game. I had a great warm up and knew from then i was going to “tear it up!” I did just that and after a few good saves we won 1-0. A clean sheet on my debut! what more could i ask for? After the game i immediately went up to the players lounge to thank Guy Bonny. He was the one who sacrificed hours and hours of his time to help me achieve what had just happened, me playing a professional game in Europe.

The next person to thank on my list was Trui and mom and dad so they got a call in the middle of the night to hear the great news.

I was buzzing and couldn’t wait to play the next game!

I went on a great run playing the next 19 games. The press has really built me up to be the next best thing. But as I was soon to find out, the press like to build you up, just to then tear you down!

Our next game was against K.V. Mechelen and it was the game of the week so it was televised. The keeper for K.V. was Michelle Preuedomme, one of my favorites, so I wanted to impress.

The game started well, I made a few good saves but then a long ball got played in just outside the box, my defender went to head it back up the field and miss hit it right over my head. I jumped up to try and tap it away but i didn’t get enough on it to keep it out. 1-0!

Mistake by my defender, mistake by me. I went on to make four more crucial saves to keep us in the game, but we couldn’t get the ball in the net. After the game in the locker room, the coach found a scapegoat in me, and hammered me! He basically put the loss down to me, and again I took it like a man. I figured i had received plenty of positive press, so now it was time to “take one for the team” as they say.

The following morning i get a call from my agent at 6:30 in the morning and he tells me to not read the papers! So of course I listened and went back to sleep......You kiddin me?! I got dressed and went straight down to the local shop and bought at least 10 different papers. I had to see what the big deal was.

What i was about to read was absolutely astonishing! Every single paper hammered me! Even my own coach didn’t defend me. He added fuel to the fire by publicly criticizing me and ridiculing me. besides my own players and supporters, I felt the whole country was now against me. 

The following game i was benched and sat out the last 8 games of the season. Even though the mistake i made wasn’t anything major in most people’s eyes, it was enough for the coach to not even give me a chance to redeem myself in the following game. He was not even man enough to talk to me and look me in the eye to give me a justified reason for my disgraceful treatment.

I stayed positive and at the end of the season I got a call from U.S. Soccer saying they would like me to join the U.S. Olympic Team for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics!

The Olympics! The worlds biggest sporting event! what an honor. 

To be continued............

                             

Toni Schumacher

F.C. Brugge Stadium

Ian with the Wildcats as u10 State Champions. I am on the bottom row, 4th from the left. Notice how they spelled my name Dan Fever.

Ian age 8 with his first team in A.Y.S.O the “los Gatos”