A four-year varsity starter at Jesuit Dallas, Kenny Cooper’s soccer career had a propitious beginning as the then-freshman netted the game-winning goal in the last-ever TCIL state championship game. By his senior season, during which the Rangers were ranked No. 4 in the nation, Cooper was the driving force for one of the State’s most dominant programs. The Rangers had 13 wins and zero losses that season, and allowed just two goals all year. After the season, Cooper was recognized as a 2003 McDonald’s All-American and was selected the Dallas Morning News Player of the Year.
Originally committing to national college power, SMU, Cooper instead went overseas, as the 2003 Dallas Morning News Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex High School Athlete of the Year was offered the chance to sign with Manchester United Soccer Club fulfilling his childhood dream.
Cooper played nearly three years for Man U’s reserves before heading back to the United States and FC Dallas of the MLS. From 2006-09, Cooper scored 40 goals for FC Dallas and led the league with four game-winning finishes during the 2008 season. During that highly-decorated 2008 campaign, Cooper was named to the MLS all-star team, the year-end MLS Best XI, and was voted the MLS Comeback Player of the Year.
Cooper earned his first cap and first goal for the U.S. National Team on Jan. 20, 2007, against Denmark. On Nov. 20, 2008, Cooper was tabbed with his first World Cup Qualifying start, and later scored his first World Cup qualifying-round goal against Guatemala. One year later, he scored the game-winning goal for the United States in the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup and then added another goal in the semifinals five days later.Â
Traveling back to Europe where he enjoyed a successful stint with 1860 Munich in the top flight of Germany’s Bundesliga, Cooper returned to the MLS in 2011 where he scored 32 goals over three seasons with the Portland Timbers, New York Red Bulls and FC Dallas. In 2014, Cooper paced the Seattle Sounders in capturing the 2014 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Scoring six goals in four games, he was named the U.S. Open Cup Player of the Tournament.
