Former Colorado Rapids Homegrown defender Shane O’Neill continued his climb up the European soccer pyramid on Wednesday, when it was announced that he’d signed with Dutch Eredivisie club Excelsior Rotterdam.
O’Neill, 23, played parts of four seasons with Colorado, appearing in 52 regular season matches with the Rapids before joining Cypriot club Apollon Limassol in August 2015. The center back never played for Apollon, going on loan to Belgium and England and Dutch second-division side NAC Breda last summer. He helped Breda win promotion to the Eredivisie before transferring permanently from Apollon to Excelsior on Wednesday. Excelsior finished 12th in the Eredivisie last season, three points out of the relegation places.
Born in Ireland but raised in Colorado, O’Neill represented the US at the 2013 FIFA Under-20 World Cup and has spent time in camp with the US men’s national team. He doesn’t have any caps with the USMNT.
