Team USA’s goalkeeper passed on Manchester United, the club that helped shape David Beckham’s career, for Harvard—and has zero regrets

Matt Freese stopping a soccer ball entering the goal (Credit: John Todd/ISI Photos/ISI Photos via Getty Images)

Before he became Team USA’s starting goalkeeper, Matt Freese had a choice many young student athletes might only dream about: sign an apprenticeship contract with Manchester United—or walk away and attend Harvard University.

Instead of joining the English club that helped produce stars like David Beckham and Cristiano Ronaldo, the Pennsylvania native chose the Ivy League. At Harvard, he studied economics and computer science while continuing his soccer career with the Crimson, straddling two worlds that rarely overlap at an elite level.