Matthew 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

who played seven seasons in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

. He earned two caps with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT), officially recognized as USA by FIFA, represents the United States in men's international Association football, soccer. The team is governed by the United States Soccer Federation, which is ...

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

Youth

McKeon was born in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. McKeon graduated from

De Smet Jesuit High School De Smet Jesuit High School is a Catholic college preparatory high school for boys 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 Belgian Je ...

where he was a

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

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 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Missi ...

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

, going to the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The administrative offices are located in downtown K ...

. 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 Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

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

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 Java ...

with the United States national team, both at the 1999 Confederations Cup, his first coming on July 30 against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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.

Honors

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

External links

MLS: Matt McKeon

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKeon, Matt 1974 births Living people All-American college men's soccer players American men's soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis Saint Louis University alumni Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players First overall MLS draft picks Major League Soccer players Sporting Kansas City players Colorado Rapids players United States men's international soccer players Olympic soccer players for 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 Men's association football midfielders 20th-century American sportsmen