Kosuke Kimura
![]() Kimura playing with the Colorado Rapids (MLS) 2011 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Date of birth | 14 May 1984 | ||
Place of birth | Kobe, Japan | ||
Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
Position(s) | Defender | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Nashville SC (assistant) | ||
Youth career | |||
1998–2002 | Kawasaki Frontale | ||
College career | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2003–2006 | Western Illinois Leathernecks | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2004 | Thunder Bay Chill | 13 | (0) |
2007–2012 | Colorado Rapids | 117 | (4) |
2012 | Portland Timbers | 17 | (1) |
2013–2014 | New York Red Bulls | 37 | (0) |
2015 | Widzew Łódź | 12 | (0) |
2015 | Atlanta Silverbacks | 19 | (0) |
2016 | Rayo OKC | 33 | (0) |
2017 | Tulsa Roughnecks | 24 | (0) |
2018–2019 | Nashville SC | 47 | (1) |
Managerial career | |||
2022– | Nashville SC (assistant) | ||
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Kosuke Kimura (木村光佑, Kimura Kōsuke) (born 14 May 1984) is a Japanese former professional footballer who is currently the assistant manager of Nashville SC. A long-time veteran of Major League Soccer, he has also played in Poland. He was the first player in MLS history who was born in Japan.[1]
Career
![](http://178.128.105.246/cars-http-upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Kosuke_KImura_Colorado_Rapids.jpg/250px-Kosuke_KImura_Colorado_Rapids.jpg)
College and amateur
Kimura's career in organized soccer began with the youth team of Kawasaki Frontale. By the age of 15, he played for the Kawasaki Frontale reserve team. A foot injury aged 17 hampered his opportunity to sign a professional contract with the club.[2] Despite this, he would eventually earn an athletic scholarship to play college soccer at Western Illinois University after moving to the United States, where he took an intensive English-language course and the SAT, on which he achieved a near-perfect score on its mathematics section.[1] A four-year letterman with the Leathernecks from 2003 to 2006,[3] he also played with the Thunder Bay Chill of the USL Premier Development League.[4]
Professional
Kimura was drafted by Colorado Rapids in the 2007 MLS Supplemental Draft,[5] and in doing so became first Japanese-born player in the history of Major League Soccer.[6] He was a bit-part player for much of his first two seasons, playing four games in his rookie season, and featuring in 18 games in 2008, 17 as a starter. He scored his first career goal on May 2, 2009, in a game against Real Salt Lake.[7] During the 2010 playoffs, he scored the game-winning goal against San Jose that sent the Colorado Rapids to MLS Cup 2010. Kimura then played for a full 90 minutes (plus 30 minutes of extra time) to help the Colorado Rapids capture the MLS Cup against FC Dallas with a 2–1 victory in Toronto, Ontario. While with Colorado Kimura appeared in 117 league matches and scored 4 goals.
Kimura was traded to Portland Timbers in exchange for allocation money and an international roster slot in July 2012.[8] Five months later, Kimura was traded to New York Red Bulls along with a second-round pick in the 2013 MLS SuperDraft in exchange for Home Grown Player rights to Bryan Gallego and allocation money.[9] On March 3, 2013, Kimura made his official debut for New York starting for his new club in a 3–3 draw against his former club Portland Timbers.[10]
Following the 2014 season, New York announced that it would not exercise its 2015 contract option on Kimura.[11]
In February 2015, Kimura signed with Polish side Widzew Łódź.[12]
In July 2015, Kimura signed with Atlanta Silverbacks of the North American Soccer League.[13]
In January 2016, he signed with expansion Rayo OKC.[14]
On December 7, 2017, Nashville SC announced Kimura as a new signing.[15]
Personal life
Kimura holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.[16]
Honours
Colorado Rapids
- Major League Soccer Eastern Conference Championship: 2010
- MLS Cup: 2010
New York Red Bulls
References
- ^ a b Bell, Jack. "Determination and Hard Work Distinguish Defender for Rapids," The New York Times, Tuesday, September 14, 2010.
- ^ "Rapids' Kimura's dream takes him halfway around world". asiaxpress.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
- ^ Kosuke Kimura (profile) – Western Illinois University Athletics.
- ^ Thunder Bay Chill highlights. Archived 2011-01-20 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Stats Centre: Kosuke Kimura Facts". Guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2012-02-26. Retrieved 2009-09-03.
- ^ Nguyen, Joe (2009-05-15). "Rapids' Kimura's dream takes him halfway around world". AsiaXpress.com. Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
- ^ "Major League Soccer: Box Score: Main". Archived from the original on 2010-01-19. Retrieved 2009-05-03.
- ^ "Rapids acquire allocation money, international slot from Portland for Kimura". MLS. July 5, 2012. Archived from the original on December 15, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ "Timbers send Kimura, draft pick to Red Bulls for allocation, Homegrown rights". MLS. December 3, 2012. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ "Portland Timbers 3 New York Red Bulls 3". mlssoccer.com. 3 March 2013.
- ^ "Red Bulls announce contract options not being exercised for 2015 season". MLS. December 2, 2014. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ "Kōsuke Kimura zawodnikiem Widzewa". 90minut.pl (in Polish). 10 February 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
- ^ "Silverbacks Sign Defender Kosuke Kimura". NASL. July 2, 2015. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ "Rayo OKC Adds Veteran Presence With Michel, Kimura Signings". NASL. January 21, 2016. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
- ^ "Nashville SC Signs Another MLS Cup Champion, Defender Kosuke Kimura". Nashvillesc.com. Retrieved 2019-04-08.
- ^ German Sferra (January 17, 2012). "Rapids have four International roster slots available". Colorado Rapids. Archived from the original on February 3, 2014. Retrieved November 13, 2014.
External links
- Kosuke Kimura at 90minut.pl (in Polish)
- Kosuke Kimura at Major League Soccer
- 1984 births
- Living people
- Sportspeople from Kobe
- Men's association football midfielders
- Japanese men's footballers
- Colorado Rapids draft picks
- Western Illinois Leathernecks men's soccer players
- Thunder Bay Chill players
- Colorado Rapids players
- Portland Timbers players
- New York Red Bulls players
- Widzew Łódź players
- Atlanta Silverbacks FC players
- Rayo OKC players
- FC Tulsa players
- Nashville SC (2018–19) players
- Major League Soccer players
- North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players
- USL League Two players
- USL Championship players
- I liga players
- Japanese expatriate men's footballers
- Japanese expatriate sportspeople in Poland
- Japanese expatriate sportspeople in the United States
- Expatriate men's footballers in Poland
- Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States
- Nashville SC non-playing staff