Sporting KC defender Matt Besler recaps his unforgettable, life-changing 48 hours

The text came in late Thursday afternoon, with its urgency marked by a series of capital letters.

“CALL ME ASAP,” it read.

Matt Besler stood on a soccer field in St. Vincent, training with the United States men’s national team for a World Cup qualifying match the following day, when his phone buzzed. A half hour later, as he read the message from his wife, he knew its meaning.

The couple’s first baby, daughter Parker Rhea, was on the way — more than a week before its Sept. 12 due date.

“I got that feeling in my stomach,” Besler said. “When I called back, sure enough, she was in the hospital.”

In his initial thought process, Besler scoured for ways to return to Kansas City before realizing it would be impossible to make it home in time.

Instead, he followed the delivery from his villa in St. Vincent, which he shared with Sporting Kansas City teammate Graham Zusi. At 4 a.m. in the foreign country, Besler woke when his wife, Amanda, was scheduled to start pushing.

Besler paced around the apartment for nearly three hours, receiving an occasional update.

“I wanted so badly to wake Graham up to share that experience with someone,” Besler said. “But I knew it was the day before a game, and I knew he was going to be starting, too.

“So I was just going back and forth around the room trying to be as quiet as possible.”

At 6:45 a.m. in St. Vincent — an hour ahead of Kansas City time — Besler received a face time call.

“As soon as I hit accept, I could see the doctor with our baby, and she was handing it to Amanda for Amanda to hold for the first time,” Besler said. “It was amazing.”

Only a few hours later, Besler was due to meet with his teammates for a pregame meal. He told U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann he wanted to be in the starting lineup for the Americans’ afternoon matchup with St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

That provided the setting for another memorable moment — his first international goal. Besler scored in the first half of a 6-0 victory, then promptly put his arms together, mimicking a “rock the baby” celebration with his teammates.

For most of the game, he had successfully blocked out the news back in Kansas City, trying to instead focus on the match.

The goal changed things.

“It was just impossible not to think about it right then,” Besler said. “I think I had been anxious about not being able to be there. But now that I know everyone is healthy and it worked out, I don’t think I would’ve changed a thing. It was truly a special day.”

The special day left one thing uncompleted — a meeting with his daughter.

The options for a quick trek home were limited or perhaps nonexistent. Besler analyzed flying into Omaha, then driving to Kansas City.

He even considered an option that had him boating to Barbados for a flight.

In the end, he joined the team’s charter flight to Jacksonville, which included a stop in Barbados. Then he left his teammates behind for a trip to Kansas City with a connecting flight in Charlotte.

“I think that’s really when all this hit me — when I landed in Kansas City and got in the car and started driving to the hospital,” Besler said. “After this amazing day, I knew that I was driving to go meet my daughter. That’s all something I’ll never forget.”

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 3:35 PM with the headline "Sporting KC defender Matt Besler recaps his unforgettable, life-changing 48 hours."