Darlington Nagbe

Darlington Nagbe

Personal information
Date of birth	(1990-07-19) July 19, 1990
Place of birth	Monrovia, Liberia
Height	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder Winger
Club information
Current club	Portland Timbers
Number	6
Youth career
2008–2010	Akron Zips
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2007–2010	Cleveland Internationals	18	(7)
2011–	Portland Timbers	95	(17)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of October 27, 2013. † Appearances (Goals).

Darlington Nagbe (born July 19, 1990) is a Liberian footballer currently playing for the Portland Timbers in Major League Soccer.

Career

College and amateur

Born in Liberia,^[1] the Nagbe family lived in France, Greece and Switzerland due to Joe Nagbe's footballing career, before settling in the Cleveland, Ohio area in 2001 when Darlington was 11 years old.^[2]

Nagbe grew up in Lakewood, Ohio, where he attended Lakewood High School and then St. Edward High School, scoring 18 goals and adding 10 assists as a senior. He was a member of the Region II ODP team, was a 2007 adidas ESP All-Star and was member of the Ohio North ODP team, as well as winning four Ohio state club titles with the Cleveland Internationals.

Nagbe played college soccer at the University of Akron, scoring 19 goals and contributing 19 assists in 73 matches during three collegiate seasons. He was a Soccer America All-Freshman first team honoree, and was named the All-MAC Newcomer of the Year in as a freshman in 2008. As a sophomore in 2009 Nagbe was named to the NSCAA All-America Second Team, the Soccer America MVP Second Team, the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Season Second Team, the All-Great Lakes Region First Team and the All-Mid-American Conference First Team. In 2010 Nagbe helped the Akron Zips to their first ever national championship, a 1-0 regulation win in the College Cup Final against Louisville; he was subsequently named to the NSCAA All-America First Team, the All-MAC First Team, the College Cup All-Tournament Team, and was honored with the MAC Hermann Trophy as the 2010 College Soccer Player of the Year.^[3] His coach at Akron was Caleb Porter, who played four games for San Jose in 1999 and is currently his head coach with the Portland Timbers.

During his college years Nagbe also played four seasons with the Cleveland Internationals in the USL Premier Development League, scoring 7 goals in 18 league appearances.^[4][5][6][7]

Professional

Nagbe was selected by Portland Timbers in the first round (2nd overall) of the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.^[8][9] After missing the first couple of weeks of the season due to injury, Nagbe made his professional debut on April 2, 2011 in a 1-1 tie with New England Revolution.^[10] Nagbe scored his first goal with a brilliant volley (which was eventually named the 2011 MLS goal of the year) in a 2-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City on July 2, 2011.^[11][12] He found the net twice with two excellent shots on March 31, 2012, though they weren't enough to keep the Timbers from going down, 2-3, to a resurgent Real Salt Lake.

On 15 June 2013, Nagbe scored a goal of the season contender with a no-look spinning finish against FC Dallas.^[13]

Personal

Darlington is the son of Somah Nagbe and Joe Nagbe, the former captain of the Liberian national team. He is currently a Liberian citizen. He has two younger sisters, Martha and Seta, and one older brother, Joe Jr. He is married to Felicia Houtz Nagbe who just recently gave birth to their first child, a daughter, named Mila.^[14]

Career statistics

As of January 1, 2014.

Honors

Club

• NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship (1): 2010

Individual

• MLS Goal of the Year Award: 2011
• MLS Fair Play Award: 2013

See also

• List of current MLS players

References

External links

• MLS player profile
• Akron profile