Former USMNT Midfielder Benny Feilhaber Retires

Benny Feilhaber announced his retirement on Wednesday, calling an end to a career that included one of the most famous goals in U.S. men's national team history.

Feilhaber, 35, most recently played for Sporting Kansas City, capping a nine-year run in MLS. Prior to that, Feilhaber played for Hamburg in Germany, Derby County in England and AGF Aarhus in Denmark.

Born in Brazil, Feilhaber came to the U.S. when he was 6 and wound up representing the country 44 times on the senior national team level. Both international goals he scored came in June 2007, first in a friendly against China and then in the Concacaf Gold Cup final vs. Mexico. The latter strike is the one that goes down in the history books, with a failed clearance from a corner kick looping to him some 20 yards from goal. 

His vicious first-time volley gave the U.S. a 2-1 win and the title, clearing the way for participation in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, where the Americans beat No. 1-ranked Spain before ultimately blowing a two-goal lead in the final vs. Brazil and settling for silver.

“I remember seeing the ball up in the air and heading toward me. I just had to prepare my body to get underneath it and I never thought about anything else other than trying to hit it toward the net, and I know I probably had Landon [Donovan] out wide on the right,” Feilhaber told SI's Brian Straus in 2014. “I could’ve played a touch to him and had him cross it again, or maybe done something else. But my initial thought was my only thought.”

Feilhaber was also part of the USA's 2005 U-20 World Cup team and 2008 Olympic team–the last U.S. men's team to qualify for the Olympic Games. In MLS, he played for the New England Revolution, LAFC and Colorado Rapids in addition to his two stints with Sporting KC during which he won the 2013 MLS Cup and 2015 and 2017 U.S. Open Cup titles.

His 2015 season was his best in MLS, with 10 goals and 15 assists yielded Best XI and MLS All-Star honors.