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Timbers nab top American player

Cooper has played in German second division

By Paul Danzer, Columbian Soccer, hockey and Community Sports Reporter
Published: February 11, 2011, 12:00am

PORTLAND — The Portland Timbers won’t play a counting Major League Soccer game for 36 days, but on Thursday they celebrated their first significant victory.

At least that’s what the press conference to introduce forward Kenny Cooper felt like.

Head coach John Spencer called Cooper one of the top young American players.

Timbers owner Merritt Paulson called it a “landmark day” for his franchise.

General manager Gavin Wilkinson was all smiles as a player he pursued for months answered questions from media at the Adidas North American headquarters.

Cooper, 26, comes to Portland after 18 months in Europe. Prior to moving to TSV 1860 Munich of the German second division, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound striker scored 40 goals and added 10 assists in 90 MLS games with his hometown team, F.C. Dallas.

“That tells you that you don’t need to teach him how to score goals,” a smiling Spencer said.

Cooper signed with the Timbers on Jan. 17, but couldn’t join the team until Portland received his International Transfer Certificate. He will practice with the team for the first time today.

Under league rules for players returning to MLS after playing abroad, the Timbers had first crack at Cooper. Wilkinson said the league pulled Cooper’s name off the list available players when it realized his contract with the Munich club made it unlikely for Cooper to return this season to MLS.

But Spencer wanted Cooper, and Wilkinson was determined to land him once he realized Cooper had interest in returning to the United States.

It took months of negotiating — including some nights with little sleep for Wilkinson because of the time difference between Portland and Munich — to finalize the deal.

Portland and MLS paid an undisclosed transfer fee to the Munich club for the right to sign Cooper.

“It wasn’t just money. Money’s always a part of it, but it was also a matter of having to get three or four different parties to be cooperative,” Wilkinson said.

“Kenny was still under contract and they valued Kenny very highly,” Wilkinson said. “It was a matter of what it would take to get Kenny out of his contract? And what was an amount that MLS would agree to? And then what were we willing to spend to get Kenny here?”

Cooper has scored five goals in 11 appearances with the U.S. national team, but is not currently in the team’s player pool.

Injuries, including a broken ankle in July, limited Cooper during his time in Germany. He said on Thursday that he is fully fit, and glad to have experienced the passion and intensity of European professional soccer.

“I hope that with those different experiences, I’m a better player, a better person coming back to the league,” Cooper said.

Thursday was all about welcoming to Portland a player who could become one of the more visible Timbers — one that Spencer believes will lead by scoring goals and through his work ethic.

“He trains like a monster. You’re dragging him off the training ground,” Spencer said. “When they see him on the training field — the way he performs and the way he conducts himself professionally — I’m hoping the younger guys pick up on it.”

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Columbian Soccer, hockey and Community Sports Reporter