Kosuke Kimura

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. 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. A four-year letterman with the Leathernecks from 2003 to 2006, he also played with the Thunder Bay Chill of the USL Premier Development League.

Professional

Kimura was drafted by Colorado Rapids in the 2007 MLS Supplemental Draft, and in doing so became first Japanese-born player in the history of Major League Soccer. 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. 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…

Kimura holds a U.S. green card which qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Colorado Rapids

Major League Soccer Eastern Conference Championship: 2010 MLS Cup: 2010 New York Red Bulls

MLS Supporters' Shield: 2013