On December 7, 2017, a mere week after the first round of initial signings, Nashville SC announced the signing of four more players. Just as GK Matt Pickens headed the first group, the headliner of the second round is Kosuke Kimura. Kimura, 33, has made 277 total caps in all leagues, in all competitions, scoring 7 total goals, and assisting on 10 others, in his professional playing career. Kimura was born in Kobe, Japan, and began his playing career in Kawasaki, a city of 1.5 million located just south of Tokyo. Kimura was on track to sign with the professional soccer team in Kawasaki, the Kawasaki Frontale, but a foot injury at the age of 17 prevented this. Undaunted, Kimura chose instead to pursue soccer in the United States after his foot healed, and went on to play collegiate soccer at Western Illinois University. From 2003-2006, Kimura made 79 caps, starting 75 of those matches, during which he scored five goals and assisted on 14 others. He was team MVP during 2005, and team captain during 2006. Kimura attracted the eye of the Colorado Rapids, and was drafted in the 2007 Supplemental Draft by the Rapids.

From 2007 to 2012, Kimura enjoyed immense success with Colorado, making 117 caps and scoring four goals (one of which was the game-winning goal that sent Colorado to the MLS Cup Final in 2010). However, in July of 2012, Kimura was traded to the Portland Timbers, where he made 17 appearances and scored one goal. At the end of the 2012 season, Kimura was traded again, this time to the New York Red Bulls. During the 2013 and 2014 seasons in New York, Kimura made 37 caps, but was released by the club at the end of the 2014 season. Kimura decided a change of scenery was in order, and signed with Polish club Widzew Łódź. Please do not ask me to pronounce that; I have no idea where to even begin. I typed it into Google Translate, and still cannot decipher it. Anyway, Kimura played for….them from February to July of 2015, making 12 appearances, before presumably deciding he had no hope of pronouncing the team name either. In July of 2015, Kimura joined the Atlanta Silverbacks, making 19 appearances.

After the 2015 season, Kimura joined the short-lived team Rayo Oklahoma City for their only season. Here’s a little bit of fun trivia for you, to make you super interesting at any party you surely won’t be invited back to: with 34 total caps for Rayo OKC, Kimura has the most appearances for the club. With the club folding at the end of the 2016 season, that is a record that will most likely not be broken. Kimura signed with the Tulsa Roughnecks, and made 24 caps with Tulsa during the 2017 season.

So, that brings us to why he was signed. Let’s look back at his history: between 2002 and 2012, Kimura played for the Colorado Rapids, and during 2015, he played for the Atlanta Silverbacks. You’ll never guess who managed these teams during those time periods. No, not Bob Bradley. No, not Taylor Twellman, either. No, not Mike Ditka, that’s the wrong kind of football. It was Gary Smith. You know, head coach of Nashville SC, Gary Smith? Yeah. Bet you feel a little dumb now. But why was Kimura signed? Because Smith has coached Kimura, and knows Kimura’s playing style, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and that familiarity goes a long way when one is building a new team from scratch. Who would you trust more to help you move in: a good friend, or a complete stranger you’ve only seen pictures of?

Kimura has played primarily as a right back, with very few forays into playing at left back and as a right midfielder, and even fewer at center back. Kimura even has one appearance where he played as a left winger, but his primary position, by far, is at right back, where has demonstrated great soccer IQ. Coach Smith had this to say on Kimura: “Kosuke is a very experienced outside back with an unquenchable appetite for soccer. He has a work ethic that I have rarely seen and is in perpetual motion throughout the 90 minutes.” You can see a little of that perpetual motion in a highlight reel I found below.

But, just because his position is as a “defender,” don’t think his skillset is only when defending; Kimura is an attacking right back. He can make runs deep into the final third, where he can send dangerous crosses into the box to try and create chances. Kimura demonstrated a little bit of that in the above highlight video you just (hopefully) saw.

So, in conclusion as to why Kosuke Kimura was acquired by Nashville SC: he is well known by Coach Smith, and he is an excellent player. At 33, he has amassed experience in MLS, NASL, USL, and internationally in Poland at Unpronounceable Team Name. As a right back, Kimura has the defensive skills to force opposing players off the ball, or to make mistakes, or to win the ball through excellent positioning and tackling. And, during attacks, Kimura has the skillset to penetrate deep into the final third and create chances for goals.

If you’ve reached the end of this article, and you still want more Kimura, I found a video he did for Portland where he shows off his keepy-up skills: