Benny Feilhaber

His paternal grandfather emigrated from the Austrian capital city of Vienna to Brazil in 1938 to escape the Nazi regime.

Feilhaber was six years old when his family moved from Brazil to settle in the United States and attended Nottingham Country Elementary in Katy, Texas.

He spent approximately eight years in the New York City suburb of Scarsdale where he played for the local soccer team, the Scarsdale Lightning.

Benny Feilhaber (born January 19, 1985) is an American soccer coach and former professional player who is currently head coach of MLS Next Pro side Sporting Kansas City II, an affiliate of Sporting Kansas City.

A midfielder, Feilhaber played for clubs in Germany, Denmark, England, and the United States.

In 1996, he led the team and won the New York State Cup for the U-12 division.

He attended Northwood High School in Irvine, California, where he was a standout midfielder on the school's soccer team.

He also played club soccer for the Irvine Strikers, winning various youth national titles.

He was coached by youth coach Don Ebert.

After graduating in 2003 he played college soccer at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he became a mainstay in the Bruins' midfield.

At UCLA he was roommates with future national teammate Jonathan Bornstein.

Feilhaber made the team as a walk-on, rather than being recruited with a scholarship offer.

After his second year at UCLA Feilhaber was called up by the U.S. U-20 national soccer team to play in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands.

His performances in the tournament caught the attention of scouts from several European teams and, after representing the U.S. in the 2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel where he won a silver medal playing for it alongside Jonathan Bornstein and Leonid Krupnik, Feilhaber signed for Hamburger SV in July 2005.

In the 2005–06 season, Feilhaber played with the Hamburg reserve team in the third division, or Regionalliga.

On October 12, 2006, Feilhaber made his Bundesliga debut, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 home loss to Schalke 04.

His first start came on October 22, 2006, when he played ninety minutes in a 2–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg's first win of the season.

On August 9, 2007, Feilhaber obtained a work permit to play for newly promoted Premier League side Derby County.

His signing was completed on August 10, 2007, and Feilhaber made his debut for the club on September 17, 2007, coming on as an eightieth-minute substitute in a 1–0 win over Newcastle United.

After the sacking of manager Billy Davies and the appointment of Paul Jewell, Feilhaber saw little playing time at Pride Park.

During the 2007–08 winter transfer window Feilhaber was linked with Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv and American club New England Revolution but neither deal was completed.

Derby released Feilhaber on a free transfer after being relegated from the Premier League after only one season.

On August 15, 2008, Feilhaber signed with Danish Superliga team Aarhus Gymnastikforening, commonly known as AGF.

He made his debut for the club on September 1, 2008, coming on as a 59th-minute substitute in a 0–3 loss to FC Nordsjælland.

Feilhaber made his debut for AGF in August 2008 and managed to play 58 games and scoring eight goals.

He scored his first Superliga goal and was named Man of the Match against Randers on July 27, 2009.

During the spring season AGF struggled with injuries to key players, including Feilhaber.

Feilhaber recovered slowly, but could not help the team avoid being relegated.

Despite relegation Feilhaber remained at the club for the following season.

Feilhaber clearly stated that he would have preferred a transfer to a bigger club, but when the transfer window closed he concentrated his efforts on the field.

Born in Brazil but raised in the United States, he represented the United States internationally, including at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Feilhaber was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

He is Jewish, and was raised in his father's Jewish religion.

Feilhaber played very well in August, September, and October 2010, helping AGF to take a solid lead in the league.

In the first 8 league games and 3 cup games, he scored six goals.

Most notably he scored a hat-trick in the 6–3 win over Skive in a Danish Cup match.

He also scored a superb goal from a free kick three minutes into added time against Køge securing a vital 3–2 win.

Feilhaber gained significant respect from the fans due to his professional attitude in the fall of 2010.

After the winter break, AGF continued their winning streak in order to secure promotion to the Danish Superliga, but Feilhaber was mostly benched with a minor injury.

On April 16, 2011, on the last day of the American transfer window, AGF sold Feilhaber to MLS.