For the third time since opening on June 8, 2011, Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kan. hosted the United States Men’s National Soccer Team. Of the three matches held here over the years, the game on Oct. 11, 2013 was the most important. In it, the United States played Jamaica in the final home 2014 World Cup Qualifier, and the result was a first place standing for the U.S. in their World Cup qualifying group.

This exclusive U.S. team is made up of the best American born soccer players, which play in various tournaments and friendly games and also travel to the World Cup every four years to represent the country.The United States qualified for the World Cup for the seventh consecutive time on Sept. 10, 2013 after beating Mexico 2-0 in Columbus, Ohio. U.S. defender Matt Besler was a key player in both these games.

Besler, a Kansas City native and Blue Valley West graduate, not only played in the game against Mexico, but also started and played the full 90 minutes in the 2-0 win against Jamaica at Sporting Park. Besler, raised in Overland Park, Kan., has played for Sporting Kansas City since 2009. His childhood memories and soccer roots both come from his Kansas City home.

The match in Kansas City was something Besler said he was looking forward to for his entire life. He said he has enjoyed watching his native “cowtown’ grow into the “soccer city” that it’s known by fans and media today.

“It’s something I’ve always hoped for,” Besler said, “but it’s hard to predict that it would be this good and happen so quickly.”

Besler played a large role in making the sport gain so much popularity in the metro area. He’s known to the Sporting Kansas City fans as the “Hometown Hero.” Embodying the spirit well, Besler maintains many Kansas City traditions that he’s had since he was a child, like Easter brunch on the Plaza, the lighting ceremony on Thanksgiving and his annual fall visit to the Louisburg Cider Mill. Like the apple cider doughnuts, playing a game of this caliber in his hometown was sweet.

The atmosphere in Sporting Park is one of the best in the country for soccer according to players and fans throughout the league. When it was opened in 2011, it was obvious the owners had big things in mind. With 33 straight sellouts during the Major League Soccer season since, it’s known that Kansas City fans are loyal to their team. Rain or shine, many fans and groups including “The Cauldron,” Sporting Kansas City’s main supporter sections come out week after week to support their boys in blue, or, in this case, red, white and blue. It was no different on Oct. 11.

“[The game] was something that I had been looking forward to for a very long time. It’s something I’ll always remember,” Besler said. “I take a lot of pride in representing Kansas City.”

For Besler, there is no better place to play than in Kansas City. As his lifelong dream was fulfilled, he also inspires others to have the same kind of faith that he had in the small city’s future. He’s shown the nation that Kansas and Missouri aren’t just fly over states anymore. There is nowhere but up for the city to go from here, and Besler and the rest of his Kansas City and United States teammates will take it there.