Benny Feilhaber

2010: Came on at halftime of the USA’s last three matches of the FIFA World Cup against Slovenia, Algeria and Ghana … Started in the 2-1 victory against Turkey on May 29 in Philadelphia … Also got the nod against his native Brazil in the 2-0 loss on Aug. 10 … Appeared in a total of eight matches, starting four … 2009: Made his first appearance for the U.S. team in nearly 15 months when he entered as a halftime sub of the 2-1 win against Honduras on June 6 in Chicago … Appeared in all five matches of the Confederations Cup with two starts … His ball to Landon Donovan continued the play that led to the USA’s second goal in the 2-0 semifinal victory against Spain … He was a similar cog in the link to Santino Quaranta’s goal in the 2-0 victory against Honduras in Gold Cup group play on July 8 in Washington, D.C.  … One of two players to appear in World Cup qualifying, the Confederations Cup, and the Gold Cup in 2009 for the U.S. … Made two starts in final round qualifying, including the 2-2 draw against Costa Rica on Oct. 14 back in D.C. … Played 90 minutes in front of his home crowd in Aarhus when the U.S. lost 3-1 to Denmark on Nov. 18 … 2008: Made just two appearances for the U.S. in 2008, including a late substitute appearance against Mexico in February and a similar cameo in the 3-0 victory against Poland in March … 2007: After making his debut against Ecuador in March, he went on to become one of only seven other players in U.S. history to make 10 or more appearances in their first calendar year with the team … Quickly elevated himself to the first team, seeking to stake a claim to fill the void left in center midfield after the 2006 World Cup … Scored his first goal in a Gold Cup warm-up against China … A member of the team that won the 2007 Gold Cup, he made five appearances throughout the tournament … Provided the Gold Cup moment played on highlight films around the world when he volleyed home the game-winner against Mexico in the final on June 24 in Chicago … Traveled to Venezuela as a member of the 2007 Copa America team … Started the first two matches for the United States, playing 90 minutes against both Argentina and Paraguay … Under-23s: Appeared in all three matches for the U.S. at the 2008 Beijing Olympics … Under-20s: As a late addition to the U-20s pool, he made his first appearance with any youth national team in December 2004 and went on to be named U.S. Soccer’s Young Male Athlete of the Year in 2005 … Figured heavily for the team in 2005, and was included in the U-20 World Cup squad … At that tournament, he impressed while starting every game for the United States before they were eliminated in the second round … His spirited displays in Holland caught the eye of European scouts abroad, and paved the way for his move to Hamburg SV in July 2005 … First Appearance: March 25, 2007, vs. Ecuador … First Goal: June 2, 2007, vs. China.

2010: Appeared in all 17 matches in the first half of the 2010-11 season in the Danish First Division, including 14 league matches and three Cup games … Scored five goals in three games in the span of a week in September, including a hat trick in the 6-3 win against Skive IK on Sept. 21 in the third round of the Danish Cup … Had the lone goal for Aarhus in the 1-1 draw against Hobro two days earlier, and the last-minute game-winning free kick in the 3-2 win on Sept. 26 against HB Koge … 2009-10: Started in 21 of 27 matches played in all competitions … Scored his lone goal in the 3-2 on July 27 at Randers … An injured ankle kept him on the sidelines for the month of March … Aarhus was relegated to Denmark’s first division after the season … 2008-09: Moved to AGF Aarhus of the Danish Superliga on Aug. 15 and debuted for the club as a substitute on Sept. 1 … Knee injuries meant he made only two appearances in the first 20 matches of the 2008-09 campaign … Finally made his first start on April 19, 2009, a 1-0 win against FC Copenhagen … Played in eight of the last nine matches, four as a starter … 2007-08: After a successful summer with the U.S., he opted to move to Derby County in the English Premier League … Made his first appearance for Derby County on Sept. 17, 2007, in a 1-0 win against Newcastle … Ended the season with 10 appearances for the relegated Rams ... 2006-07: Started his second year with Hamburg by earning more minutes with the first team … Made his first career Bundesliga appearance on Oct. 12 against Schalke 04 … Made his first career Bundesliga start later that month when he played the fully 90 minutes in a 2-1 win against Bayer Leverkusen … Also appeared for Hamburg in the UEFA Champions League, when he came on as a second half sub at the Emirates Stadium against Arsenal on Nov. 21 … Made his Champions League debut against Porto on Nov. 1, 2006, losing 3-1 … Finished the season making nine appearances in all competitions for Hamburg as his club finished seventh in the Bundesliga … 2005-06: Signed his first professional contract for Hamburg SV of the German Bundesliga after he caught the eye of their scouts while on U-20 duty in Holland … During his first year for the club, he was limited to only reserve team appearances.

A walk-on at UCLA, he went on to play 16 games in his first season with the Bruins in 2003 … In his next year, he played in every match, helping UCLA to a 14-4-2 record … Scored five goals and had three assists for 13 points as UCLA advanced to the third round of the NCAA tournament.

Born in Brazil to a Brazilian mother and Austrian father, he moved to the United States when he was six years old … One of five U.S. players featured in a photo shoot in Interview magazine before the World Cup … Lists Brazil’s legendary Garrincha as the player he most admires … Has a tattoo that reads Per ardua ad astra, Latin for “through adversity to the stars.”