Matt Besler
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||
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| Full name | Matthew Scott Besler | |||||||||||
| Date of birth | February 11, 1987 | |||||||||||
| Place of birth | Overland Park, Kansas, U.S. | |||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | |||||||||||
| Playing position | Defender | |||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||
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Current team
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Sporting Kansas City | |||||||||||
| Number | 5 | |||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||
| 2001–2005 | KCFC Alliance | |||||||||||
| College career | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
| 2005–2008 | Notre Dame Fighting Irish | 90 | (5) | |||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||
| 2009– | Sporting Kansas City | 200 | (3) | |||||||||
| National team‡ | ||||||||||||
| 2006 | United States U20 | 1 | (0) | |||||||||
| 2013– | United States | 39 | (1) | |||||||||
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Honours
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| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of November 18, 2016. ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of November 11, 2016 |
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Matthew Scott "Matt" Besler (/ˈbiːzlər/; born February 11, 1987) is an American soccer player who currently plays for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer. Besler is also a mainstay on the United States Men's National Team as a left-sided central defender.
Besler was a four-year All-Conference player at Blue Valley West High School in Overland Park, Kansas. He led Blue Valley West to the Kansas 5A State Championship as a senior, scoring 23 goals with 19 assists, and holds the season and career marks in total points (124), goals (40) and assists (44) at Blue Valley West. He was also a member of the KCFC Alliance club team and a key member of the Region II Olympic Developmental Program (ODP) which competed in the 2004 ESP All-Star game.
Besler played college soccer at the University of Notre Dame, playing in 90 games (73 starts) and scoring 5 goals during his college career. He received All-American and Academic All-American honors as a senior, was named the NSCAA 2008 Senior College Men's Scholar All-America Player of the Year, and was named to the All Big East Team 3 times. He helped Notre Dame gain 4 straight berths in the NCAA championship, including the program's first two trips to the quarterfinals in 2006 and 2007.
Besler was drafted in the first round (8th overall) in the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by the Kansas City Wizards. He made his professional debut on March 28, 2009, as an 87th-minute substitute during a 2–1 loss at the Colorado Rapids. He scored his first professional goal on March 26, 2011, in a 3–2 loss to the Chicago Fire. On July 10, 2011, Besler was added to the 2011 MLS All-Star team via the fan text message vote. In 2012, Besler anchored the top defense in MLS with Sporting Kansas City and went on to help the club win the U.S. Open Cup by converting his attempt after the game against the Seattle Sounders went into penalty kicks. He also was named 2012 MLS Defender of the Year and named to MLS Best XI.
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