Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt (born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player, who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. De Rosario last played for the Mississauga MetroStars of the Major Arena Soccer League. A versatile attacker, he played for the Toronto Lynx, FSV Zwickau and

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

early in his career. He came to prominence in the 2000s playing in

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

for the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

, Toronto FC, New York Red Bulls and D.C. United. A four-time MLS Cup champion, he also won the 2011 MLS Most Valuable Player award. He is the ninth-leading scorer in MLS history with 104 goals. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most decorated Canadian players of all time. Internationally, De Rosario represented the Canadian national team from 1998 to 2015 where he was the country's all-time leading scorer, with 22 goals in 81 games. De Rosario is a

2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the fifth edition of the Gold Cup, the soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), and the 15th overall CONCACAF tournament. It was held in Los Angeles, Miami, and San Diego ...

champion and four-time Canadian Player of the Year. As part of the Canadian Soccer Association's 2012 centennial celebration, he was honoured on the all-time Canada XI men's team.

Club career

Early career

Born in Scarborough, Ontario, De Rosario is the son of Guyanese immigrants to Canada. He began playing soccer at age three with Scarborough Blizzard SC, later playing with the Malvern Majors. As a 14-year-old, De Rosario rejected an offer from A.C. Milan after a successful trial because he was not ready to commit to living in Italy. De Rosario began his professional career in 1997 at the age of 18, signing with the Toronto Lynx of the A-League. Halfway through the season, however, De Rosario signed with German side FSV Zwickau. After two seasons with Zwickau, De Rosario returned to North America, signing with the Richmond Kickers in 1999. After a slow 1999 season, in which he registered two goals and five assists, De Rosario scored fifteen goals and provided five assists while leading the team to a 20–6–1 record in 2000.

San Jose Earthquakes

The next season, when Canadian Frank Yallop was named head coach of the

, De Rosario was one of his first acquisitions. De Rosario proved Yallop's judgment right, scoring five goals and four assists in only 1,072 minutes for the Earthquakes in 2001, playing an important role as the team went on to win the MLS Cup; he scored the golden goal in the final and was named MLS Cup MVP. De Rosario had similar success in 2002, registering four goals and eight assists in 1,637 minutes, though the Quakes fell short of a repeat. In 2003, a torn ACL hobbled De Rosario for much of the season but he still managed to make a late surge, registering four goals and three assists in only 686 minutes and helping lead the team to a second MLS Cup championship. De Rosario played 1,211 minutes in 2004, scoring five goals, including the 2004 MLS Goal of the Year, and three assists. In December 2004 De Rosario had a trial with Nottingham Forest, but he was not offered a contract by the team. In 2005, following

Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor fo ...

's departure, De Rosario moved to midfield and promptly led MLS in assists with 13, while scoring nine goals, including the 2005 MLS Goal of the Year – the only player ever to receive that honour in two consecutive years – for a powerful bending free kick in the last regular season game against the Los Angeles Galaxy. He was named to the MLS Best XI six times (2005–07, 2009–11).

Houston Dynamo

Due to San Jose's failure to reach a stadium agreement with AEG, De Rosario, along with the rest of his Earthquakes teammates, moved to Houston for the 2006 season. During the 2006 MLS All-Star Game in Chicago, De Rosario scored the only goal of the game in the 70th minute to lift the MLS All Stars to a 1–0 win over Chelsea, a pre-season friendly for the London club. De Rosario was one of only four players on the MLS team to play the entire match. De Rosario and the Houston Dynamo captured the

2006 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2006 was the 11th edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), and took place on November 12, 2006. It was contested between the New England Revolution and the Houston Dynamo to decide the champion of th ...

title by beating the New England Revolution on November 12, 2006. The Dynamo won in a shootout, and De Rosario successfully converted his penalty kick. De Rosario signed a contract extension with Houston through 2010, where he was reported to make $325,000 per year. He was later transferred to Toronto before the end of his contract. The next year, De Rosario assisted on Joseph Ngwenya's equalizing goal and scored the winning goal of the

2007 MLS Cup MLS Cup 2007 was the 12th edition of the MLS Cup, the post-season championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the United States. It was played on November 18, 2007, at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium in Washington, D.C., between the ...

final, giving Houston a 2–1 win over the Revolution and the Dynamo their second championship. De Rosario was named MLS Cup MVP, the first player ever to win the award twice. De Rosario made his third consecutive all-star appearance at the 2008 MLS All-Star Game in his home country, when the game was held in Toronto. He scored the decisive goal on a penalty kick in the 69th minute in the MLS All-Stars' 3–2 victory over West Ham United.

Toronto FC

De Rosario was traded to Toronto FC on December 12, 2008, in return for

Julius James Julius James (born 9 July 1984) is a Trinidadian footballer. Career College James played college soccer for the University of Connecticut, and was a 2007 Hermann Trophy candidate and Lowe's Senior CLASS Award finalist. Professional James dra ...

and allocation money, after long speculation that De Rosario would move to his hometown club. He made his competitive debut for Toronto FC on Saturday, March 21 against the

Kansas City Wizards Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and the team clubhouse and ...

, setting up

Jim Brennan James Gerald "Jim" Brennan (born 8 May 1977) is a UEFA Pro License-holder Canadian soccer manager, analyst and former player. During his playing career he played as a defender in Canada and England, most notably with Bristol City, Nottingham ...

for Toronto's first goal in a 3–2 victory. He scored his first goal for Toronto from a header in a 1–1 draw at BMO Field against FC Dallas. De Rosario was expected to miss the first two to four weeks of Toronto FC's training camp due to a calf injury obtained in the January 31, 2010, match against Jamaica, and returned to game action in Toronto's 1–0 preseason win versus the University of South Florida. On April 8, 2010, De Rosario was named

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

of Toronto FC, the second in the club's history, after the retirement of

. Two days later, De Rosario scored his first goal of the 2010 season, his team's first, in a 4–1 loss to the New England Revolution. On April 15, 2010, De Rosario scored twice in Toronto's 2–1 home opener win against the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

. In his next game versus the Colorado Rapids, De Rosario scored his fourth goal of the season, and more importantly, became Toronto FC's all-time leading scorer in the regular season. De Rosario again found the back of the net on April 25 in a 2–0 home win against

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders Football Club is an American professional men's soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete as a member of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). The club was established on November 13, 2007, and began ...

, scoring the first goal, his fifth of the season. Until O'Brian White scored the second goal for Toronto, De Rosario had previously scored all of Toronto's goals up until that point in the season. For his efforts in that game, he was awarded the MLS Player of the Week for week 5. De Rosario was again honoured with the Player of the Week award on week 10 of the MLS season, for his two-goal performance against his former team the

. De Rosario had scored the second and third goal in Toronto FC's 3–1 win. De Rosario continued to have a successful 2010 season for Toronto, culminating in a spot on the MLS All-Star team, scoring a goal in the 5–2 loss to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

. On August 3, 2010, De Rosario scored against C.D. Motagua in the second leg of Toronto FC's CONCACAF Champions League preliminary round tie, which at the time, put TFC ahead on 2–1 on aggregate. They would eventually win 3–2 on aggregate. On December 28, De Rosario was confirmed to be on trial with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

club Celtic by manager Neil Lennon. Dwayne and Celtic inquired about the possibility of a short-term loan deal until the MLS season kicked off in March, however new Toronto FC coach

Aron Winter Aron Winter (born 1 March 1967) is a Dutch former professional football midfielder and manager for Suriname. He has played for Ajax and Sparta Rotterdam in the Netherlands, for Italian sides Lazio and Inter Milan, and for the Netherlands nationa ...

and the league denied any further negotiations. De Rosario scored the first Toronto goal of the 2011 season on March 19 in a 4–2 away defeat to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in what was the league's first all Canadian match up. The goal scored in the 20th minute was also the 8000th goal scored in Major League Soccer's history.

New York Red Bulls

New York Red Bulls acquired De Rosario on April 1, 2011, in exchange for midfielder Tony Tchani, defender

Danleigh Borman Danleigh Borman (born 27 January 1985 in Cape Town) is a South African footballer who plays as a defender. Career College and amateur Borman began his career in the youth system of South African Premier Soccer League side Santos, before mov ...

and a first round

2012 MLS SuperDraft The 2012 MLS SuperDraft was the thirteenth annual SuperDraft presented by Major League Soccer. It was held on January 12, 2012 at 12:00 p.m. (ET). The draft was reduced from three rounds to two with the 19 MLS clubs selecting a total of 38 p ...

pick. He scored his first goal for New York on a penalty, as the second goal, in a 3–2 loss to Chivas USA.

D.C. United

D.C. United acquired De Rosario on June 27, 2011, in exchange for midfielder Dax McCarty. He scored his first goal for the club against his former club New York Red Bulls on his return to Red Bull Arena. On July 30, 2011, his double gave United a 2–0 victory over former club, San Jose. On August 6, 2011, he led United to a 3–3 draw against Toronto F.C. with his hat-trick. All three goals were scored while United played with ten men following an early ejection of goalkeeper Bill Hamid. His second hat-trick was recorded on September 25, 2011, as he recorded all three goals in the span of 9 minutes, setting another MLS record. De Rosario completed the season with a total of 16 goals and 12 assists over 32 games. Of those, 13 goals and 7 assists were made during his 17 games with United. On August 29, 2012, De Rosario scored his 100th MLS goal, in a 2–2 home draw against the Red Bulls. He was the seventh player to reach the milestone.

Return to Toronto FC

After having his option declined by D.C. United, De Rosario returned to Toronto FC on December 18, 2013, after being chosen in the

2013 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2013 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 12, 2013 (Stage 1) and December 18, 2013 (Stage 2). All 19 Major League Soccer clubs were eligible to participate. The Stage 1 and Stage 2 Drafts were conducted in the same order as the ...

. He officially signed with the club on January 9, 2014. It was announced on December 3, 2014, that Toronto had declined the option to renew De Rosario's contract.

Brief retirement

De Rosario announced his retirement on May 10, 2015, and that he would be taking an ambassador role with Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.

Mississauga MetroStars

In October 2018 De Rosario came out of retirement to sign with the newly formed MASL club, the Mississauga MetroStars; he later scored his first goal for the club in the MetroStars's opening match, an 11–3 loss away to the Baltimore Blast.

International career

De Rosario represented the Canadian U-20 team at the 1997 FIFA World Youth Championship, and the Canadian U-23 team at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

in Winnipeg. He received his first senior cap for Canada on May 18, 1998, against FYR Macedonia at the age of 20. He won the

with Canada and represented them as well at the

2001 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup was the fifth FIFA Confederations Cup and the third to be organised by FIFA. It was also the first in which the original hosts, Saudi Arabia, did not participate (they were the nation who founded the tournament, pr ...

. In 2007, De Rosario won the male Canadian Player of the Year award making it three consecutive years receiving the honour. In 2007, he scored five goals in eight games, the most in a year for the CMNT since John Catliff in 1993. De Rosario was picked for his first CONCACAF Gold Cup in four years, after being selected by coach Stephen Hart in late May 2011 for the 23-man tournament roster. After a disappointing, 2–0 defeat to United States in the opening game of the group Canada failed to exit the group with a 1–1–1 record, they only managed to score two goals both from De Rosario at the penalty spot. De Rosario continued his goal scoring for with two goals in the opening stage of

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

, one came against

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

in early September and the other against Saint Kitts and Nevis in mid November. His goal against Saint Kitts, was his 19th international goal which tied him as Canadian all-time top goal scorer with Dale Mitchell. On December 14, De Rosario was awarded 2011 Canadian Player of the Year receiving 47.7% of the vote,

Simeon Jackson Simeon Alexander Jackson (born March 28, 1987) is a Canadian professional soccer player who currently plays as a forward for Chelmsford City. He has spent the majority of his career playing in England, relocating from Mississauga, Ontario, to ...

in second and Josh Simpson finishing in third. This was the fourth time De Rosario was honoured with the award. On September 7, 2012, De Rosario scored his 20th goal for Canada in a

match against Panama, making him the all-time leading goal scorer for Canada. In De Rosario's final appearance for Canada, he scored a goal in a 1–1 draw with Iceland on January 19, 2015. De Rosario was the country's all-time leading male goalscorer, with 22 international goals in 81 matches, until Cyle Larin surpassed his record in 2022.

Personal life

De Rosario adopted a strict vegan diet in 1994, but started eating fish ten years later. He is married to Brandy De Rosario and has four children, including his sons Osaze and Adisa, who are also professional soccer players. His cousin is Olympic hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. He was appointed to the Order of Ontario in February 2020. His autobiography 'DeRo: My Life', written with Brendan Dunlop was published in May 2021 by ECW Press.

DeRo United Futbol Academy

In 2012, De Rosario established the

DeRo United Futbol Academy DeRo TFC (formerly DeRo United Futbol Academy) is Canadian soccer academy founded in 2012 by former Canadian professional soccer player Dwayne De Rosario based in the Scarborough district of Toronto, Ontario. They previously fielded a Canadian ...

. They entered a team in the League1 Ontario women's division beginning in 2018. In June 2021, the club became an official affiliate team of De Rosario's former club Toronto FC, joining their academy system and re-branded as DeRo TFC.

Career statistics

Club

*1.Includes

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

, DFB-Pokal, and

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

. *2.Includes

CONCACAF Champions' Cup The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

and

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

. *3.Includes MLS Cup Playoffs and North American SuperLiga.

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each De Rosario goal''.

Honours

Club

San Jose Earthquakes * MLS Cup:

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since 19 ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

Houston Dynamo * MLS Cup:

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

Toronto FC *

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

D.C. United *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

International

Canada * CONCACAF Gold Cup:

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

Individual

* MLS MVP Award:

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

* MLS All-Star:

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

* MLS Best XI:

* MLS Golden Boot:

* MLS Goal of the Year Award:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

* George Gross Memorial Trophy:

Canadian Players of the Year The Canada Soccer Player of the Year award celebrates Canada's top male and female soccer players in recognition of their achievements with both the national teams and their respective clubs. Since 2007, voting has been conducted by Canadian coach ...

: 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011 * Red Patch Boys Player of the Year: 2009 *Major League Soccer 25 Greatest Players * Ontario Sports Hall of Fame inductee, 2019 * The Order of Ontario appointee, 2020https://www.ontario.ca/orders-in-council/oc-2122020.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Rosario, Dwayne 1978 births Living people Canadian sportspeople of Guyanese descent Sportspeople from Scarborough, Toronto Soccer players from Toronto Canadian soccer players Association football midfielders Association football forwards Toronto Lynx players FSV Zwickau players Richmond Kickers players San Jose Earthquakes players Houston Dynamo FC players Toronto FC players New York Red Bulls players D.C. United players Mississauga MetroStars players A-League (1995–2004) players 2. Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Major League Soccer MVPs Designated Players (MLS) Major Arena Soccer League players Pan American Games competitors for Canada Footballers at the 1999 Pan American Games Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Canada men's international soccer players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players Canadian expatriate soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate soccer players in the United States Members of the Order of Ontario