Sporting Kansas City captain Matt Besler has forged a heralded career as one of the most iconic and accomplished players in club history. With four major championships and over 300 competitive appearances to his name, Besler has shouldered a leading role throughout Sporting's meteoric rise from MLS afterthought in the late 2000s to a perennial title contender in the decade that followed.
Besler's standout performances at his hometown club translated into a golden opportunity with the United States Men's National Team—an opportunity Besler took full advantage of from 2013-2017. During that time period, the center back logged 47 appearances at the senior international level, highlighted by four starts at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil and two Concacaf Gold Cup titles.
In a feature story published today on USsoccer.com, Besler looks back on his first experience with the U.S. MNT at the 2013 January Camp. The article comes as the current crop of American players, led by head coach Gregg Berhalter, kick off January Camp seven years later.
“Any time you’re involved with the National Team, getting to be around that environment and represent the U.S., that’s the pinnacle of your career," Besler said. "I don’t want to downplay that opportunity because it’s such a big one. Try to take in as much as possible, be yourself, show your personality. It is a January Camp, hopefully all those players will get multiple opportunities to show what they can do, but things can happen very fast.”
Click here to read the full feature story.
Besler and Sporting will kick off the 2020 MLS regular season on Feb. 29 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC before hosting the Houston Dynamo on March 7 in the club's highly anticipated home opener at Children's Mercy Park.
The best way to guarantee tickets for 2020 home matches at Children’s Mercy Park is to join the Sporting Kansas City family and become a Season Ticket Member. Several multi-game ticket packages for the 2020 season are also on sale now at SportingKC.com, including the limited-time Home Opener Pack that bundles the game on March 7 with two flex matches. Single-game tickets for the first half of Sporting’s home schedule will go on sale to the general public in the near future.
