Benny Feilhaber's exquisite half volley on Saturday could prove to be one of Sporting Kansas City's biggest goals of the season.
The 50th-minute strike drew Sporting level with San Jose and set the stage for a dramatic comeback at Children's Mercy Park, as Graham Smith opened his professional scoring account 26 minutes later to help the hosts secure three precious points in the Western Conference playoff race.
Take a closer look at the MLS history books, however, and Feilhaber's goal—his first since rejoining the club in May—carries even greater significance.
The 34-year-old midfielder is now one of 17 players in Major League Soccer history to record at least 40 goals and 60 assists throughout his regular season career. Feilhaber joins Portland Timbers playmaker Diego Valeri and Columbus Crew SC veteran Federico Higuain as the only active MLS players on the exclusive list.
Among the 17 players in the 40/60 club, six have played at Sporting Kansas City for part of their career. Those six include Feilhaber, Preki, Mark Chung, Brad Davis, Chris Henderson and Chris Klein.
PLAYERS WITH 40 GOALS + 60 ASSISTS
(MLS REGULAR SEASON ALL-TIME)
<strong>Player</strong> |
<strong>Goals</strong> |
<strong>Assists</strong> |
<strong>Seasons</strong> |
<strong>Years</strong> |
Landon Donovan |
145 |
136 |
15 |
2001-2014; 2016 |
Jeff Cunningham |
134 |
70 |
14 |
1998-2011 |
Jaime Moreno |
133 |
102 |
15 |
1996-2010 |
Ante Razov |
114 |
66 |
14 |
1996-2009 |
Jason Kreis |
108 |
74 |
12 |
1996-2007 |
Dwayne De Rosario |
104 |
77 |
14 |
2001-2014 |
Preki * |
79 |
112 |
10 |
1996-2005 |
Steve Ralston |
76 |
135 |
14 |
1996-2009 |
<strong>Diego Valeri</strong> |
<strong>74</strong> |
<strong>80</strong> |
<strong>7</strong> |
<strong>2013-present</strong> |
Cobi Jones |
70 |
91 |
12 |
1996-2007 |
Mark Chung * |
61 |
76 |
10 |
1996-2005 |
Brad Davis * |
57 |
123 |
15 |
2002-2016 |
<strong>Federico Higuain</strong> |
<strong>55</strong> |
<strong>63</strong> |
<strong>8</strong> |
<strong>2012-present</strong> |
Chris Henderson * |
51 |
80 |
11 |
1996-2006 |
Javier Morales |
50 |
83 |
11 |
2007-2017 |
Chris Klein * |
49 |
69 |
13 |
1998-2010 |
<strong>Benny Feilhaber *</strong> |
<strong>40</strong> |
<strong>60</strong> |
<strong>9</strong> |
<strong>2011-present</strong> |
* Sporting Kansas City player for part of his MLS career
BOLD - Active MLS player
Feilhaber and Sporting will continue their playoff pursuit Thursday night when second-place Minnesota United FC visits Children's Mercy Park for an MLS Rivalry Week showdown at 8:30 p.m. CT.
Tickets for the contest are available at SeatGeek.com or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL to secure a Family 4 Pack, consisting of four tickets, four Coca-Cola products, four hot dogs and four bags of chips. The match will be shown live nationally on ESPN, the ESPN app and ESPN Deportes, while listeners can catch the action locally on Sports Radio 810 WHB and ESPN Deportes KC 1480 AM. The Final Whistle postgame show will air immediately afterwards on 810 WHB.
