On Thursday, the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer selected senior defender Kofi Opare in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft in Indianapolis. Opare was the 24th-overall pick, becoming the seventh player in Michigan soccer’s 12-year history to be picked in the SuperDraft.
Opare was one of 54 seniors — and one of just three Big Ten players — to be invited to the MLS Combine in Florida on Jan. 11-15. There, he put the memory of a disappointing junior campaign in 2011 and a senior season marred by injuries behind him, and impressed scouts during the tryout. Speaking before the draft, Opare expressed his desire to play professional soccer.
“I want to see how far I can play,” he said Wednesday. “Hopefully it’s the MLS.”
When he got to the Combine, though, Opare felt nervous. But once he stepped onto the soccer field, the jitters disappeared.
“I realized, ‘OK, this is soccer,’ ” he said. “We play for the joy of our lives. Let’s go out and have fun.”
It worked. As defenders were taken off the board in the first round of the draft, ESPN listed Opare as one of the best remaining central defenders. Then, the good news came: Opare wasn’t going to Toronto or Montreal, teams that struggled in 2012. He was joining the Galaxy, the two-time defending MLS Cup Champions.
“I’m very excited and honored to represent the University of Michigan on the professional level,” Opare said. “It is a dream come true and something I have looked forward to since I was young. Representing the Los Angeles Galaxy is something I am truly looking forward to.”
Opare started 71 matches in his collegiate career and played in more contests than all but 12 players in program history. He also ranks fifth in program history for minutes played — 6,411 — and was a captain as a senior and defensive MVP in 2011. His teammates in Los Angeles will include Landon Donovan, arguably the best American player of all time.
“This is an exciting day for Kofi and the Michigan men’s soccer program,” said Michigan coach Chaka Daley in a statement to the Daily. “We are pleased to have one of our own go to a perennial MLS power like the LA Galaxy.”
Los Angeles already has a starting center back in Omar Gonzales, and it bolstered its defense by drafting defender Tommy Meyer from Indiana in 2012. But the Galaxy selected two defenders on Thursday, perhaps in preparation for the retirement of aging stars. Former Michigan coach Steve Burns believes that Opare has both the physical capacity and the work ethic to make an impact at the professional level.
“I think he’s a good learner and a student of the game,” Burns said. “He watches it from the eyes of a pro. Whether or not he can make a roster is a different story. He has to go out there and prove it.”