Scott "Benny" Benedetti (born November 13, 1966 in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

) is an American retired

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player. He began his professional career with the semi-professional

F.C. Portland FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Paki ...

in 1986 and ended it with the U.S. second division club

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at P ...

in 2005. While he spent most of his career in the U.S. divisions, he had just over a season in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

and half a season in the

Primera División de México The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional Association football, football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and amo ...

with

UNAM Pumas Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Found ...

. He earned one

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

with the U.S. national team in 1996. He played in such places as South Korea, Thailand, England, Austria and Scotland.

High school and college

Benedetti attended Centennial High School in

Gresham, Oregon Gresham ( ) is a city located in Multnomah County, Oregon, in the United States of America, immediately east of Portland, Oregon. It is considered a suburb within the Greater Portland Metropolitan area. Though it began as a settlement in the mid- ...

. Benedetti attended the

University of Portland , mottoeng = The truth will set you free , established = 1901 , type = Private university , religious_affiliation = Catholic (Congregation of Holy Cross) , endowment = $218 million , president = Robert D. Kelly , students = 3,731 (fall 20 ...

where he played men's soccer for

Clive Charles Clive Michael Charles (3 October 1951 – 26 August 2003) was an English football player, coach and television announcer. He was one of five National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) coaches to win more than 400 games. Born in Dagenham, E ...

from 1985 to 1989. In 1988, he was named a First-Team All-American as the Pilots went to the NCAA Final Four before falling to eventual champions

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

.
/sup> In 1994, Benedetti was inducted into the

Hall of Fame.
/sup>

Professional

While still in college, Benedetti played for

of the

Western Soccer Alliance Western Soccer Alliance was a professional soccer league featuring teams from the West Coast of the United States and Western Canada. The league began in 1985 as the Western Alliance Challenge Series. In 1986, it became the Western Soccer Alli ...

(WSA) during the collegiate off-season. The semi-pro nature of the league allowed him to retain his

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...

eligibility. In 1988, Benedetti led the WSA in scoring with eight goals while the team finished at the bottom of the standings. This led to his selection to the All-Star team, an honor he received each season until 1991. In 1989, he scored eight goals and added an assist for F.C. Portland team which finished second in the North Division. Portland lost to the eventual WSL champion

San Diego Nomads Nomads Soccer Club (formerly San Diego Nomads) is an American soccer club based in San Diego, California. From 1986 to 1990, the club fielded a professional senior team, but has since operated as an amateur and youth club. History The Nomads wer ...

in the post-season semi-finals. After graduating from college, Benedetti played a single season with the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League. After four seasons with Portland, Benedetti signed with the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm competes in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The team was founded by Ginger Ackerl ...

in February 1990. In 1991, he moved again to the

Colorado Foxes The Colorado Foxes were a professional soccer team, based in Commerce City, Colorado, that played in the American Professional Soccer League, and later in the A-League, between 1990 and 1997. The Foxes won two APSL titles, in 1992 and 1993. In 19 ...

. In 1992, Benedetti played half a season for the

Miami Freedom The Miami Sharks were an inaugural franchise of the third incarnation of the American Soccer League in 1988. The team was renamed the Miami Freedom and joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the ASL merged with the Western Soc ...

and a season with the

. In 1993, Benedetti returned to the

. That year the Foxes defeated the

Los Angeles Heat Los Angeles Heat joined the Western Soccer Alliance in 1986. They joined the American Professional Soccer League in 1990 when the WSL merged with the American Soccer League, then folded in 1990. The club played in Torrance, California at West Hi ...

for the APSL championship in a shootout after the game ended tied after overtimes. Benedetti would play for the Foxes again in 1994, but after that, his career has a blank spot for which there are no records. In 1996, the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, la ...

drafted Benedetti in the eighth round (seventy-second overall) of the Inaugural MLS draft. Benedetti started thirty-two games during the 1996 season. In 2001, Benedetti signed with the

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

. He played five seasons with the Timbers, retiring after the 2005 season.

National team

On October 16, 1996, Benedetti earned his single

with the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

in a 4–1 loss to Peru. The national team had gone on strike over a disagreement with the

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of the sport of soccer in the United States. Headquartered in Chicago, the federation is ...

(USSF) and the federation was forced to field a team of fringe and non-national team players for this game.

Post-playing career

Since retiring from playing, Benedetti has entered the ranks of the youth soccer coaches with the Lake Oswego Youth Soccer Club. He currently owns a real estate investment business and an award winning home building company, Axiom Luxury Homes.

References

External links

Sams-Army profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Benedetti, Scott 1966 births Living people All-American men's college soccer players Sportspeople from Gresham, Oregon American soccer players American expatriate soccer players Soccer players from Oregon Portland Pilots men's soccer players Western Soccer Alliance players Portland Timbers (1985–1990) players Seattle Storm (soccer) players Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Tacoma Stars players American Professional Soccer League players Major League Soccer players Miami Freedom players Club Universidad Nacional footballers Colorado Foxes players Colorado Rapids players USL First Division players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Expatriate footballers in Mexico American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Liga MX players United States men's international soccer players University of Portland alumni A-League (1995–2004) players Association football forwards Association football midfielders