Benny Feilhaber
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Benny Feilhaber | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | AGF | ||
| Number | 17 | ||
| ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:49, 11 May 2008 (UTC) | |||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Representing  United States
| ||
| Football | ||
| Maccabiah Games | ||
 |
2005 Maccabiah | Football |
Benny Feilhaber (born January 19, 1985 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an American professional soccer player who currently plays for Aarhus Gymnastikforening in Denmark. He normally plays as an attacking midfielder.
Club career
Early career
Feilhaber, of Austrian Jewish descent,[1] was six years old when his family moved from Brazil to settle in the United States.[2] He attended Northwood High School in Irvine, California where he was a standout midfielder on the school’s soccer team. After graduating in 2003 he enrolled at UCLA where he became a mainstay in the Bruins’ midfield. Surprisingly, 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.
Hamburger SV
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, Feilhaber signed for Hamburg 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 90 minutes in a 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg's first win of the season. During the summer of 2007, Feilhaber was linked with a transfer move away from Hamburg with RC Strasbourg, Heerenveen, Celtic, FC Basel, and especially Derby County expressing interest.
Derby County
On August 9 2007 Feilhaber obtained a work permit to play for newly promoted Premier League side Derby County.[3] His signing was completed on August 10 2007,[4] and Feilhaber made his debut for the club on September 17, 2007, coming on as an 80th minute substitute in a 1-0 win over Newcastle United.
After the sacking of Billy Davies and the appointment of Paul Jewell, Feilhaber saw little playing time at Pride Park. During the 2008-09 winter transfer window, Feilhaber was linked with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Major League Soccer, but neither deal was completed.
AGF Aarhus
On August 15 2008 Feilhaber was announced as a new player for the Danish Superliga team Aarhus Gymnastikforening (AGF).
International career
Feilhaber was called up twice to the U.S. squad for friendlies against Scotland on November 12, 2005 and Germany on March 22, 2006, but did not play in either game.
On November 30 2006 he turned down an approach by coach Andreas Herzog to play for Austria and said that he would instead focus on earning a place on the U.S. team.
On March 15 2007, Feilhaber was again placed on the 24-man roster by coach Bob Bradley for friendly matches against Ecuador and Guatemala, on March 25 and March 28, 2007, respectively. Feilhaber made his first career start for the U.S. team in the March 25 2007 game against Ecuador, and scored his first international goal against China on June 2 2007. He scored the game winning goal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcGA2W4d5_E on a memorable 25 yard volley in the 2007 Gold Cup final on June 24 2007.
After being demoted to the reserves at Derby and picking up a series of injuries, Feilhaber has seen less time with the senior national team. However, Feilhaber was named to the U.S. Under-23 squad that competed at the 2008 Summer Olympics. He appeared as a substitute in all three games for the U.S.
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 2 June, 2007 | Spartan Stadium, California, United States |  China |
2-1 | 4-1 | Friendly match |
| 2. | 24 June, 2007 | Soldier Field, Illinois, United States |  Mexico |
2-1 | 2-1 | CONCACAF Gold Cup Final |
Notes
- ^ Powers, John (2007-06-15). "Feilhaber going with the flow". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
- ^ Parikh, Sagar (2005, July 25). "UCLA midfielder signs to German squad". U-WIRE.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "U.S. midfielder Benny Feilhaber gets work permit to play for Derby County". Associated Press. 2007-08-09. Retrieved 2007-08-09.
- ^ Sky Sports | Football | Transfer Centre | Done Deal | Feilhaber completes Rams move
External links
- Benny Feilhaber at Soccerbase
- Hamburger SV official website
- Feilhaber interview on Yanks Abroad
- Feilhaber interview on UCLA.com
- Derby County official website
 | ||
- 1985 births
- Living people
- Brazilian footballers who played for other national teams
- Brazilian Jews
- Brazilian-Americans
- Austrian Jews
- Jewish American sportspeople
- Jewish footballers
- Austrian-American Jews
- People from Irvine, California
- Maccabiah soccer players of the United States
- Footballers at the 2005 Maccabiah Games
- UCLA Bruins soccer players
- Hamburger SV players
- Derby County F.C. players
- Aarhus Gymnastikforening players
- First Bundesliga footballers
- Expatriate footballers in Germany
- Premier League players
- Danish Superliga players
- United States men's international soccer players
- Foreign-born soccer players who played for the United States
- American expatriate soccer players
- 2007 Copa América players
- Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics
- Olympic soccer players of the United States