Matt Besler plays half his professional soccer games a short drive from his childhood home. He’s a rare breed among athletes in that sense.
But the Johnson County native reached the pinnacle of his career some 4,500 miles away in South America. It was the 2014 World Cup in Brazil that turned Besler from hometown kid into nationally recognizable name.
He shined in the biggest sports tournament in the world, quadrupled his Twitter following in a matter of days and became the subject of an iconic photo. There he is, dressed in the American uniform, standing over Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the world’s most prolific goal scorers, as Ronaldo sits on the grass and begs the referee for a call.