Shane Edward O'Neill (born September 2, 1993) is a professional

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 who plays as a

center-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

for

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 Cana ...

club

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

. Born in Ireland, he represented the United States at international level.

Club career

Colorado Rapids

O'Neill joined the

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

with 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, lat ...

youth system in 2009. He led the Rapids U18 team in scoring in 2011–12 with 10 goals in 15 games, helping them reach the playoffs. O'Neill originally signed to play college soccer at the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...

, however on June 19, 2012, O'Neill signed with the

as a Home Grown Player. Three months later, he made his professional debut in a 3–0 victory over the

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 ...

, coming on as an 86th minute substitute for

Jeff Larentowicz Jeffrey Adam Larentowicz ( ; born August 5, 1983) is an American former soccer player. He was a starting midfielder on the Colorado Rapids' 2010 MLS Cup Championship team, and a starting defender for Atlanta United's 2018 Cup-winning side. Dur ...

. O'Neill became a regular starter in 2013 and received strong reviews, earning the Rapids' Young Player of the Year award and a nomination for U.S. Soccer Young Athlete of the Year as the Rapids returned to the playoffs. His first career goal came in a 4–1 home win over Montreal Impact on May 25, 2014.

Apollon Limassol

On August 7, 2015, O'Neill was bought by Cypriot club

Apollon Limassol Apollon Limassol FC ( el, Απόλλων Λεμεσού, ''Apollon Lemesou'') is a Cypriot sports club, based in Limassol. It has football, basketball and volleyball teams. Founded in 1954, Apollon FC currently plays in the Cypriot First Divisi ...

for an undisclosed fee. On August 31, 2015 he was loaned out to Royal Mouscron-Péruwelz in Belgium. The loan was cut short on December 23, 2015, and he returned to

Limassol Limassol (; el, Λεμεσός, Lemesós ; tr, Limasol or ) is a city on the southern coast of Cyprus and capital of the district with the same name. Limassol is the second largest urban area in Cyprus after Nicosia, with an urban populatio ...

having not made an appearance for the Belgian club. He had subsequent loan spells with

League 2 The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

side

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on Ne ...

and

NAC Breda NAC Breda (), often simply known as NAC, is a Dutch professional football club, based in Breda, Netherlands. NAC Breda play in the Rat Verlegh Stadium, named after their most important player, Antoon 'Rat' Verlegh. They play in the Eerste Div ...

in Jupiler League, never featuring for Apollon Limassol.

Excelsior

O'Neill joined

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

on a one-year deal for the 2017–18 season.

Orlando City

In June 2018, O'Neill returned to MLS when he signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Orlando City. He made his debut in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal defeat to

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

on July 18 and made his

MLS 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 ...

debut for the club three days later at

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451-1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, capital of the U.S. state of Ohio Columbus may also refer to: Places ...

. On November 21, 2019, it was announced O'Neill had his contract option for the 2020 season declined by Orlando as part of the end-of-season roster decisions.

Seattle Sounders FC

On January 14, 2020, O'Neill signed with

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

. O'Neill made his Sounders debut on February 20 coming in as a substitute against

CD Olimpia Club Deportivo Olimpia is a professional Honduran football club based in Tegucigalpa, Francisco Morazán. The club is the nation's most successful team both in the domestic league and in international club competitions. History Olimpia was f ...

in the

Concacaf Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

. He scored his first goal for the club in the 2020 MLS Cup Playoffs on December 1 against

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

Toronto FC

On December 22, 2021, O'Neill signed a three-year contract, beginning in 2022, as a free agent with

. He made his debut on February 26 in the season opener against

, as a substitute.

International career

O'Neill is eligible to represent both the United States and the Republic of Ireland. On October 9, 2012, O'Neill was called up by the United States U20 national team for the 2012 Marbella Cup in Spain. A day later, O'Neill made his debut for the U20s in a 2–1 loss to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

, however he suffered an eye injury that ruled him out for the rest of the tournament. He later played for the US at the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011 ...

. He has yet to debut for the US senior team and has indicated a willingness to accept a call for his native

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. He participated in a US camp in January 2014, although he was dropped prior to a friendly against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

. He was called up to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

senior squad for a friendly against

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...

in February 2015.

Personal life

O'Neill is the son of former All-Ireland winning

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

Gaelic football Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach; short name '), commonly known as simply Gaelic, GAA or Football is an Irish team sport. It is played between two teams of 15 players on a rectangular grass pitch. The objective of the sport is to score by ki ...

er, Colm O'Neill, and is a nephew of former Kerry Gaelic footballer, Maurice Fitzgerald. O'Neill is the younger brother of Darragh O'Neill, a former punter for Colorado Buffaloes football team. O'Neill's family immigrated to the United States from Ireland when he was a toddler after his father won a green card through the

Diversity Immigrant Visa The Diversity Immigrant Visa program, also known as the green card lottery, is a United States government lottery program for receiving a United States Permanent Resident Card. The Immigration Act of 1990 established the current and permanent D ...

lottery program. O'Neill grew up in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Colora ...

and attended Fairview High School. In his senior year of high school, O'Neill was named the Colorado's player of the year by

Gatorade Gatorade is an American brand of sports-themed beverage and food products, built around its signature line of sports drinks. Gatorade is currently manufactured by PepsiCo and is distributed in over 80 countries. The beverage was first develo ...

and selected to the All-Colorado boys soccer team. O'Neill played basketball in high school and was named to the second-team all-5A team for his performances during his senior year. Although he committed to the

, O'Neill ultimately signed with his hometown team the

at the age of 18.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:ONeill, Shane 1993 births Living people American soccer players American expatriate soccer players Irish emigrants to the United States Colorado Rapids players Apollon Limassol FC players Royal Excel Mouscron players Cambridge United F.C. players NAC Breda players Excelsior Rotterdam players Orlando City SC players Seattle Sounders FC players Toronto FC players Association football defenders Republic of Ireland association footballers Association footballers from County Cork Expatriate footballers in Cyprus Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Major League Soccer players Eerste Divisie players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Eredivisie players People from Midleton Soccer players from Colorado Homegrown Players (MLS) Sportspeople from Boulder, Colorado