Football
Austin Lindberg, Senior Editor 10y

Matt Besler open to leaving MLS

On the back of a strong World Cup with the United States, center-back Matt Besler refused to rule out a move away from Major League Soccer.

Besler has played with the same professional club since Sporting Kansas City drafted him in 2009, but he acknowledged that the World Cup has given him greater exposure.

"We all have to realize that at the World Cup, there's opportunities that come from playing on that stage," Besler told ESPN FC.

"I think everyone involved -- me, the owners, Peter [Vermes] -- they're going to look into opportunities, they're going to evaluate certain opportunities and make a decision from there."

Sporting CEO Robb Heineman told The Kansas City Star on Thursday that the MLS club has received "enormous interest" in Besler and SKC and U.S. teammate Graham Zusi "from different leagues around the world."

"I'd say there's a strong possibility [transferring to a club in Europe] could happen based on the interest that's out there," Heineman told the Star.

But until a move materializes, Besler said he's content playing for his hometown club, which won the MLS Cup last season.

"We'll see what happens," Besler told ESPN FC. "Right now I am under contract with Sporting, and I'm happy. I'm very happy in Kansas City.

"We have a lot of good things going there. I think we're in contention almost every year to win championships, and that's what I want to do."

Besler returned to the U.S. on Thursday morning after the national team's 2-1 loss to Belgium on Tuesday.

Belgium forced U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard to make 16 saves, and coach Jurgen Klinsmann said on Wednesday that he would have liked to have seen his team be less conservative.

Besler agreed the Americans need to find a better balance between attack and defense.

"I think the Germany match, you can fairly say that we started too far back -- we sat back too much," Besler said. "I would love to be able to go out and attack Belgium for 90 minutes, but I don't know if that's possible.

"One of the things we need to get better at is we need to be able to attack more."

^ Back to Top ^