Matt Napoleon (born August 18, 1977) is a retired American

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

who played professionally 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 ...

and the

USL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

. He was a member of the

United States men's national under-20 soccer team The United States U-20 men's national soccer team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team competes is the FIFA U-20 World Cup, which is held every two years. The United States' b ...

at the

1997 FIFA World Youth Championship The 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, known as the 1997 FIFA/Coca-Cola World Youth Championship for sponsorship purposes, was the 11th staging of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA World Youth Championship. It was held from 16 June to 5 July 1997 i ...

Player

Youth

Growing up, Napoleon played for the FC Delco youth club and graduated from

Neshaminy High School Neshaminy High School is a public high school in Middletown Township ( Langhorne post office address) in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the only high school in the Neshaminy School District, serving students in Middletown Tow ...

in 1995. He attended

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, playing on the men's soccer team for three seasons.

Professional

On January 15, 1998, Napoleon signed a professional contract with

MLS Project 40 Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional 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 sanctioned by the United S ...

. The league placed him with the

Miami Fusion Miami Fusion F.C. was an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team played from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one ...

. He played four games for the Fusion in 1998 in addition to playing for the Project 40 team which competed in the

USISL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

. On January 19, 1999, the Fusion traded Napoleon to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

for Tim Sahaydak. Napoleon spent two seasons with the Crew before moving 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 ...

. On April 14, 2001, the Rapids waived Napoleon. In May 2001, he signed with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

of the

. He went on loan to the

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

during the 2001 season. In 2002, Napoleon remained with the Timbers, going on loan to the Dallas Burn on July 13, 2002, for a

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

game. In August and September 2002, he went repeatedly on loan to the

, but never entered a league game. Napoleon retired in January 2003. However, he came out of retirement and made an appearance for the

Charlotte Eagles The Charlotte Eagles is an American amateur soccer team based in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Founded in 1991, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. The team plays its home games at the ...

in 2003 before retiring again.

International

In 1997, Napoleon earned three

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

. He played another nine non-international games with the U-20 team as it prepared for the

. In that tournament, Napoleon backed up Andy Kirk. In 1998 and 1999, Napoleon played for the

United States men's national under-23 soccer team The United States U-23 men's national soccer team, also known as the United States men's Olympic soccer team, is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is qualification into and competition at the quadr ...

as it prepared for the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

. Napoleon was an unused alternate for the team at the Olympics.

Coach

While with the Portland Timbers, Napoleon also served as an assistant coach with the

Portland State University Portland State University (PSU) is a public research university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1946 as a post-secondary educational institution for World War II veterans. It evolved into a four-year college over the next ...

women's soccer team.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Napoleon, Matt Living people 1977 births American men's soccer players Columbia Lions men's soccer players Miami Fusion players MLS Pro-40 players Colorado Rapids players Columbus Crew players Charlotte Eagles players FC Dallas players Major League Soccer players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players A-League (1995–2004) players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Soccer players from Pennsylvania Men's association football goalkeepers