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Kenny Cooper

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This article is about the currently active soccer player. For the elder, his father, see Kenny Cooper, Sr. For the calypsonian, see Mighty Bomber.
Kenny Cooper
Personal information
Full name Kenny Cooper
Height 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 FC Dallas
Number 33
Youth career
2003–2004 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Manchester United
2004 → Académica Coimbra (loan)
2005 → Oldham Athletic (loan)
2006– FC Dallas
International career‡
2007– United States
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 June, 2009
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 July, 2009

Kenny Cooper (born October 21, 1984) is an American soccer player who currently plays for FC Dallas in Major League Soccer.

Career

Youth

Cooper's father, Kenny Cooper Sr., played professional soccer as a goalkeeper in England before moving to the United States to play for Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League. Cooper was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and, under the mentorship of his father, he became an outstanding youth footballer.[1] After retiring from coaching professional soccer, Cooper's father had settled the family in Dallas, Texas, where Cooper attended high school at Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas. He was the Dallas area high school player of the year while playing, graduating in 2003. While playing with the Dallas Solar 85 Soccer Club in the Dallas Cup, an international youth tournament, Cooper caught the attention of several former NASL players who contacted Jimmy Ryan, Director of Youth Football at Manchester United. Ryan had also once played with Cooper's father when they were both with the Tornado. Ryan contacted the Coopers and invited Kenny to England for a trial. The fact that Cooper's father was a native of England helped grease the skids for Cooper as United did not need to acquire a work permit for him. Following a successful week-long trial, United signed him on a free transfer. At the time Cooper had intended to attend Southern Methodist University, but decided to forgo playing college soccer in order to pursue his professional career.[2]

Manchester United

During his time with Manchester United, Cooper was unable to break into the first team, spending his time with the reserve squad. As a result, the team loaned him to Académica de Coimbra of Portugal at the beginning of the 2004–05 season. However, the loan was terminated after half a season due to Cooper seeing very limited playing time. After a brief return to Manchester, the team loaned him again, this time to Oldham Athletic.[3] When it became obvious that Cooper had little chance of becoming a starter with Manchester United, the team released him midway through the 2005–06 season to allow him to pursue other opportunities. He saw time in one game with Sunderland before returning to the U.S.

FC Dallas

Cooper signed with FC Dallas on February 6, 2006 and made an immediate impact on the team. He made his first MLS appearance on April 1, 2006 and scored his first MLS career goal helping FC Dallas to a 3-2 victory against the Chicago Fire. Kenny made his first MLS start the following week against Real Salt Lake on April 8, 2006 scoring the teams first goal in a 2-1 victory. He finished his first MLS season tied for sixth in goals scored with 11 and made 31 appearances. At the start of the 2007 MLS Season, Cooper scored four goals in the first eight seasons before he suffered a broken right tibia in a 3-1 win against the Los Angeles Galaxy by strong tackle from Tyrone Marshall that put him out for a majority of the season. This ended his hopes of playing in the 2007 Copa América and for the national team. Cooper ended the 2007 season with a total of 12 starts out of 14 appearances, four goals, and 2 assists.

Cooper was linked with a possible move to Cardiff City on July 27, 2008, after the club made a £2,000,000 bid.[4] Norway's Rosenborg bid more than that and also offered a salary of $1.2 million.[5] FC Dallas ultimately rejected both bids and decided to keep him. Rumors again sprang up in during the January 2009 transfer period that he would be moved (Scottish Premier League club Hibernian F.C were at the forefront) but as before no moves were made.

In the 2008 MLS season, Kenny led FC Dallas with 18 goals and started all 30 games. He was the only FC Dallas player to appear in all regular season games that year. Cooper finished the season tied for the league lead with four game-winning goals. 14 of Coopers 18 goals either tied or gave FC Dallas the lead, while the other four goals helped increase the team's lead. He was named to his first MLS All-Star First XI selection and MLS Best XI team. He earned back-to-back MLS Player of the Week honors for his two goal performances against the Los Angeles Galaxy (4-0 win) on July 27, 2008 and Toronto FC (2-0 win) on August 8, 2008. Kenny was also named the MLS Comeback Player of the Year for 2008.

International

After the retirement of Brian McBride, Cooper was considered to be a potential long-term solution at striker for the national team.[6] Cooper got his first cap and first goal for the national team on January 20, 2007, against Denmark where he scored a goal after coming on near the end of the game. He then appeared in a game against Guatemala, which was played in his MLS club's home stadium, Pizza Hut Park, as a second half sub. He was unable to take part in the 2007 Copa América after he was sidelined with a broken right tibia. On November 20, 2008, Cooper got his first World Cup Qualifying start and his first World Cup qualifying-round goal against Guatemala in the final game of the semifinal group stage.[7]

International goals

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. January 20, 2007 Home Depot Center, Carson, California  Denmark 3–1 3–1 Friendly match
2. November 19, 2008 Dick's Sporting Goods Park, Commerce City, Colorado  Guatemala 1–0 2–0 2010 World Cup Qualifying Third Round
3. July 18, 2009 Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  Panama 2–1 2–1 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup Quarterfinals

References

  1. ^ Carlisle, Jeff (2006-04-27). "Carlisle: On Kenny Cooper". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-07-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  2. ^ Connolly, Marc (2004-03-11). "Cooper thriving with Red Devil reserves". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-07-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  3. ^ Seltzer, Greg (2005-04-04). "Cooper gets another early call". ESPN. Retrieved 2008-07-25. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  4. ^ Roberts, Simon (2008-07-27). "Cardiff City are hoping that Cooperman will come to their rescue after a series of blows in the summer transfer market, writes Terry Phillips". Wales Online. Retrieved 2008-07-27. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
  5. ^ Mahoney, Ridge (2008-07-29). "Scorers pushing MLS to the brink". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2008-07-29.
  6. ^ Galarcep, Ives (2007-01-08). "Plenty of opportunity in Bradley's first training camp". ESPN. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
  7. ^ Hunt, Steve (2007-06-10). "Cooper injury casts cloud over win". Frisco, Texas. Retrieved 2009-02-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |dateformat= ignored (help)
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