- SB Nation Denver
The Timbers bolstered their back line and added a sixth continent to their roster on Thursday as Portland acquired defender Kosuke Kimura from Colorado.
Kimura, the first Japanese-born player in Major League Soccer history, played six seasons with the Rapids and raised the Cup as a key member of the 2010 MLS champs. The 28-year-old played in all 34 games for Colorado last year and has a goal and two assists this season. He won his former club’s Humanitarian of the Year award in 2010 and has a reputation as a non-flopping, hard-working right back.
Timbers owner Merritt Paulson twinted at the addition this morning, then outlined the terms of the trade: Portland sends allocation money and an international spot to Colorado, but no current PTFC players were shipped. Timbers coach John Spencer indicated post-training that Kimura will play on Saturday against Salt Lake, while Timbers fans are already working on chants.
Peep the full press release here, along with a collection of Kimura highlights here. For more on Kimura, check out this 2009 story about his journey to the States, along with his official web site.
Cool. I like this guy. Though we could have used someone with experience playing at altitude a couple weeks ago.