COMMERCE CITY — As is his habit, Kosuke Kimura was the last player on the practice field. Long after his Rapids teammates headed for the showers, Kimura hammered cross after cross into the penalty area from the right wing, working on his accuracy.
“His work ethic,” said Rapids fitness coach John Ireland, “is just incredible.”
Kimura started the first seven games of the season at right back, but a stress fracture in his left ankle kept him out for eight weeks. He returned to normal training last week and was a second-half substitute for Scott Palguta in Sunday’s 1-1 tie with New York.
“I had no idea if I was going to go in,” said Kimura, dripping sweat. “All the defenders have been good; we had not lost a game for like five games. Right after the second half started, Steve (Guppy, assistant coach) came up to me, he’s like, ‘Kosuke, get ready.’ I’m like, ‘Oh, my God.’ I’m like, ‘When I get in, I’m never going to stop running, just keep attacking, attacking, attacking.’ “
For a high-energy player known for hard work and dedication, being sidelined for two months was torture.
“It’s frustrating, because with World Cup you watch a soccer game every day, and these guys training every day hard,” Kimura said. “It was a tough time.”
Kimura’s return presents coach Gary Smith with some lineup dilemmas. Kimura is one of five who have been the key men in the back four, but now Smith has five for four spots.
“The situation will dictate who plays and when they play,” Smith said. “At the weekend, it was a tactical move to take Scott off and push Marv (Wynne) inside. I thought adding Kosuke with a bit more energy to our attack out wide, and to have Marvell’s sheer pace in the middle, in the end proved right.”
Lots of news in Toronto.
Toronto FC, which hosts the Rapids Saturday, will be without Julian de Guzman and Amadou Sanyang, who are suspended because of their involvement in a fight during a 1-1 tie with Houston last week.
TFC also signed Spaniard Miguel Angel Ferrer Martinez (better known as Mista), who played on two Spanish League champions with Valencia. He will not be eligible to play until July 15.
Long streaks.
Toronto and Colorado both lost in the first week in May and haven’t lost since. Toronto is unbeaten in seven games with four ties. Colorado is unbeaten in six games with three straight ties. Colorado beat TFC 3-1 here on April 18.
Road ties are usually satisfying, but Sunday’s draw was aggravating because of what Smith called a “schoolboy error” defending a corner kick. Juan Pablo Angel was left open on the doorstep of the goal and scored easily.
“No doubt about it,” said Smith, “we should have beat them.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@
