Benny Feilhaber scored his fair share of bangers in a Sporting Kansas City uniform.
The playmaking midfielder had a penchant for long-range stunners throughout his heralded playing career, as evidenced by the four Sporting KC Goal of the Year awards he earned in six seasons with the club.
Among Feilhaber's best strikes at Children's Mercy Park was a right-footed rocket that ultimately launched Sporting into the victory column on March 18, 2017.
Three years ago today, Feilhaber exploited a pocket of space and just about blew the roof off Children's Mercy Park with a scintillating 37th-minute goal in a 2-1 defeat of the San Jose Earthquakes. The dipping effort was Sporting's first goal of a 2017 campaign that ended with a Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup title and a seventh consecutive playoff appearance.
Feilhaber announced last Wednesday his retirement from professional soccer, ending a brilliant 15-year career highlighted by an MLS Cup and two U.S. Open Cup championships with Sporting as well as a Concacaf Gold Cup title and FIFA World Cup appearance with the United States Men’s National Team.
Feilhaber, 35, scored 56 goals in over 400 professional matches during a well-traveled club career that included stops in the German Bundesliga, English Premier League, Danish Superliga and Major League Soccer. Across nine MLS seasons, he recorded 41 goals and 63 assists in 271 appearances and became one of 17 players in league history to notch 40 goals and 60 assists in regular season play. Feilhaber also earned 44 caps for the U.S. Men’s National Team from 2007-2017, notably winning the 2007 Concacaf Gold Cup, helping the USA to a second-place finish at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and playing three matches at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
