Matthew (Matt) John McKeon (born September 24, 1974) 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 ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who played seven seasons 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 Cana ...

. He earned two caps with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

and was a member of the 1996 U.S. Olympic soccer team.

Youth

McKeon was born in St. Louis, Missouri. McKeon graduated from

De Smet Jesuit High School De Smet Jesuit High School is a Catholic, college preparatory high school for boys located in Creve Coeur, Missouri, in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Saint Louis. The school began classes in the fall of 1967. It was named in honor of the p ...

where he was a

Parade Magazine ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a readership of 5 ...

High School All American soccer player his senior season. He was also the 1992 Gatorade Boys Soccer Player of the Year. A product of

Saint Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university with campuses in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, and Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, ...

, where he was a 1994 and 1995 First Team All-American. In 1996, the

Missouri Athletic Club The Missouri Athletic Club (often referred to as the MAC), founded in 1903, is a private city and athletic club with two locations. The Downtown Clubhouse is in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri, USA and the West Clubhouse is located in the St. L ...

awarded him the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

. McKeon is one of 22 college players to be part of the 40-40 club, having both 40 goals and 40 assists in their college career.

Professional

On March 4, 1996, McKeon was the first pick in the

1996 MLS College Draft The 1996 Major League Soccer College Draft was held on March 4, 1996, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. History As Major League Soccer prepared for its first season, the league began stocking teams with players. As the teams were being created at the s ...

, going to the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse a ...

. He was known as a tough defender, and led the league in fouls committed during the 1997 season. The Wizards traded him to 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 ...

for Chris Henderson in November 1998. A year later, the Rapids traded him and

Peter Vermes Peter Joseph Vermes (; born November 21, 1966) is an American professional soccer coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer. As of 2022, Vermes is currently the longest-tenured head c ...

to the Wizards for Scott Vermillion, an allocation, and an exchange of draft picks. McKeon was a "

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

casualty" in the 02/03 offseason, being cut from the team despite strong play. In seven seasons in MLS, McKeon scored 13 goals and 19 assists in league play.

International

McKeon earned two

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

with the United States national team, both at the

1999 Confederations Cup The 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fourth FIFA Confederations Cup, and the second organised by FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Mexico between 24 July and 4 August 1999. It was won by Mexico, who beat Brazil 4–3 in the final. Mexico be ...

, his first coming on July 30 against

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. He also played at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

. McKeon currently is the boys youth director of soccer and coaches several teams fo
Sporting JB Marine Soccer Club
in St. Louis.

References

External links

MLS: Matt McKeon

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeon, Matt 1974 births Living people All-American men's college soccer players American soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis Saint Louis University alumni Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players Major League Soccer first-overall draft picks Major League Soccer players Sporting Kansas City players Colorado Rapids players United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players of the United States Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players Major League Soccer All-Stars United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Sporting Kansas City draft picks Association football midfielders