Benny Feilhaber

Benny Feilhaber

File:FeilhaberHeadshot.jpg Feilhaber at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
Personal information
Full name	Benny Feilhaber
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Center/Attacking midfielder
Team information
Current team	AGF Aarhus
Number	17
Youth career
2000–2003	Irvine Strikers
2003–2005	UCLA
2005–2006	Hamburger SV
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2005–2007	Hamburger SV	9	(0)
2007–2008	Derby County	10	(0)
2008–	AGF	51	(4)
International career‡
2007–	United States	38	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of November 23, 2010 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of October 13, 2010

Benny Feilhaber

Medal record
Representing United States
Football
Maccabiah Games
	2005 Maccabiah	Football

Benny Feilhaber (born January 19, 1985) is an American soccer midfielder who currently plays for AGF Aarhus in Denmark's Danish 1st Division.

Early life

Feilhaber was born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was raised in his father's Jewish religion. His paternal grandfather emigrated from Austria 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 spent approximately eight years in the New York City suburb of Scarsdale where he played for the local soccer team, the Scarsdale Lightning. 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 team-mate 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.

Career

Hamburg

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 ninety minutes in a 2–1 win against Bayer Leverkusen, Hamburg's first win of the season.

Derby County

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.

AGF Aarhus

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. 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 couldn't 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 pitch. 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.

International career

Feilhaber was called up twice to the full U.S. national team 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 offer from Andreas Herzog to play for Austria and said that he would instead focus on earning a place on the U.S. national 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. 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 on a volley in the 2007 Gold Cup final on June 24, 2007, against Mexico.

After being demoted to the reserves at Derby and picking up a series of injuries, Feilhaber saw 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.

After more than a year since his last action with the senior team, Feilhaber was named to the U.S. roster for the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. Along with former UCLA teammate Jonathan Bornstein and fellow UCLA alum Carlos Bocanegra, Feilhaber played in the upset of top-ranked Spain in a semi-final game on June 24, 2009. He orchestrated the second goal, rounding Gerard Pique to find Landon Donovan, who found Clint Dempsey for the finish in the center. He then appeared in the final, in which the U.S. fell to the country of his birth, Brazil 3–2.

Feilhaber was a part of the 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Feilhaber was used as a substitute, gaining playing time in two of the three group stage matches against Slovenia (draw) and Algeria (win). USA finished first in the group after a stoppage time goal by Landon Donovan leading United States to a 1–0 win against Algeria in the last match, where Feilhaber played the entire second half. Feilhaber was substituted in for Findley in the second half of the USA-Ghana game. Commentators remarked on his ability to generate plays and praised his readiness to make decisions, many of which were key passes to set up chances to score. One such pass was a through ball for Clint Dempsey, who was then fouled in the box. Landon Donovan took the subsequent penalty and scored to tie the score at 1–1, although Ghana would later come back in the first half of extra time to score through Asamoah Gyan, ending the game 2–1.

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
01.	June 2, 2007	Spartan Stadium, San Jose, USA	China	2 – 1	4 – 1	Friendly
02.	June 24, 2007	Soldier Field, Chicago, USA	Mexico	2 – 1	2 – 1	2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup

Honors

United States

• CONCACAF Gold Cup Champions (1): 2007

See also

• List of select Jewish football (association; soccer) players

External links

• AGF profile
• official Danish Superliga stats
• Benny Feilhaber at Soccerbase