Feb. 26, 2014 – Revolution acquire Daigo Kobayashi from Vancouver in exchange for draft pick

Daigo Kobayashi has been with seven teams in five countries on three continents, and the Revolution have come closest to becoming his home team. Kobayashi has played 90 games in all competitions for the Revolution, three more than he played for Omiya Ardija in Japan. Among Kobayashi’s former coaches was Osvaldo Ardiles, with Tokyo Verdy’s 2005 Japan Super Cup-winner team. Ardiles, a star with Argentina’s 1978 World Cup-winners, also happened to be the first coach the Revolution interviewed before the team kicked off the 1996 season.

Kobayashi kicks up the technical level of the game when he is on the field, among the reasons Revolution coach Jay Heaps brings him in when he wants to emphasize possession. During Heaps’ playing career, the Revolution tried out two of Kobayashi’s Super Cup-winning Tokyo Verdy teammates, Takashi Hirano and Takuya Yamada, for two games in the 2007 preseason. Seven years later, Kobayashi became the first Japan-born player to sign with the Revolution, followed by Zach Herivaux.

TODAY IN NEW ENGLAND SOCCER HISTORY