Wan Kuzain

Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal (born September 14, 1998) is an American soccer player who plays for Sporting Kansas City in Major League Soccer.

Wan Kuzain

Personal information
Birth name	Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal
Date of birth	(1998-09-14) September 14, 1998
Place of birth	Carbondale, Illinois, U.S.
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s)	Midfielder
Club information
Current team	Sporting Kansas City
Number	75
Youth career
2015–2016	St. Louis Scott Gallagher
2016–2017	Sporting Kansas City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016	Saint Louis FC	0	(0)
2016	→ Saint Louis FC U23	2	(0)
2017–2018	Swope Park Rangers	16	(0)
2018–	Sporting Kansas City	6	(1)
2018–	→ Sporting Kansas City II	21	(10)
National team
2015	United States U17	0	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Early

Born and raised by his Malaysian parents[1] in Carbondale, Illinois, Wan Kuzain played Academy soccer with St. Louis Scott Gallagher.[2] With high potential talent, he was chosen to represent United States U-17 soccer team and also trained with Feyenoord Academy in 2015.[3] Wan Kamal signed with United Soccer League side Saint Louis FC together with his fellow academy player, Aedan Stanley on May 21, 2016.[4] While there, he spent time on loan with the club's USL Premier Development League side Saint Louis FC U23.[5]

Swope Park Rangers

After spending time in the Sporting Kansas City academy, Wan Kuzain joined Kansas City's USL affiliate Swope Park Rangers in March 2017.[6][2]

Sporting Kansas City

Kuzain signed with the Sporting Kansas City first team in April 2018.[7] Kuzain scored his first MLS goal on June 3, 2018 against Minnesota United in a 4–1 victory.[8]

International

Kuzain has trained with and represented the United States at the U-17 level.[3][9] He is eligible to represent both the United States and Malaysia.[10] In November 2019, Kuzain was called up to train with the Malaysia U-22 national team ahead of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games.[11] He was left out of the squad due to a "documentation issue".[12]

Career statistics

As of match played April 22, 2018[13][14]

Club	Season	League			Playoffs		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Swope Park Rangers	2017	USL	12	0	1	0	0	0	—	—	13	0
	2018		9	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	9	0
	Total		21	10	1	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
Sporting Kansas City	2018	MLS	6	1	0	0	0	0	—	—	6	1
	2019		0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	0	0
	2020		0	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	0	0
	Total		6	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	1
Career total			23	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	24	1

Honors

Club

Swope Park Rangers

• Western Conference: Winners (Playoffs) 2017[15]
• United Soccer League Cup: Runner-up 2017[16]

Record

• First person of Malaysian heritage to ever play in the United Soccer League and win the Western Conference.[17][18]

References

1. "Wan Kuzain One-on-one: "It'll be an honour to wear either jersey, Malaysia or US"". FourFourTwo. December 12, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
2. "Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal". Sporting Kansas City. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
3. Bergabo, Patrick (August 18, 2016). "Swope Park Rangers sign Albelo, Hernandez, Wan Kamal and Wilkinson from Sporting KC Academy". Sporting KC. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on April 8, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
5. "Statistics - 2016 Regular Season - Premier Development League". www.uslpdl.com. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
6. "'Malaysian Messi' Wan Kuzain creates history with American debut". NST Online. March 28, 2017. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
7. Kovzan, Sam. "Sporting KC signs 19-year-old midfielder Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal as Homegrown Player". SportingKC.com. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
8. Kovzan, Sam (April 13, 2018). "Sporting KC signs 19-year-old midfielder Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal as Homegrown Player". Sporting Kansas City. Archived from the original on April 14, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
9. "Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal in contention for Malaysia U-23 call-up". Football Tribe Asia. Sapporo: Football Tribe Inc. March 30, 2017. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
10. Farah Azharie (November 1, 2019). "Where's Wan Kuzain?". New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: Media Prima Group. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
11. Fadhli Ishak (November 20, 2019). "Footballer Wan Kuzain's poor BM a non-issue". New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: Media Prima Group. Retrieved November 22, 2019.
12. Farah Azharie (November 25, 2019). "Kuzain gutted not to be able to represent Malaysia". New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: Media Prima Group. Retrieved November 25, 2019.
13. Wan Kuzain at Soccerway. Retrieved December 1, 2017.
14. "Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal | Sporting Kansas City".
15. Villanueva, Araceli (November 5, 2017). "Swope Park Rangers wins back-to-back Western Conference Final titles in dramatic Penalty Shootout". The Blue Statement. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
16. MCDowell, Sam (November 13, 2017). "Louisville City FC defeats Swope Park Rangers in USL Cup Final". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
17. Hashim, Firdaus (November 8, 2017). "Kuzain cipta sejarah". BH Online. Media Prima Group. Retrieved November 30, 2017.
18. NSTOnline (pseudonym) (March 28, 2017). "'Malaysian Messi' Wan Kuzain creates history with American debut". New Straits Times. Kuala Lumpur: Media Prima Group. Retrieved November 30, 2017.

External links

• Wan Kuzain at Soccerway