Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/USA TODAY Sports
By RYAN TOLMICH
After 14 MLS seasons, 104 goals and four MLS Cups, Dwayne De Rosario has officially called it a career.
The 36-year-old announced his retirement via an Instagram post Sunday while revealing his new role as an ambassador for Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, owners of Toronto FC.
De Rosario’s career spanned 18 seasons, the best of which came in MLS. A member of the San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo, Toronto FC, New York Red Bulls and DC United throughout his career, De Rosario retires as the league’s sixth all time leading goalscorer.
The midfielder retires having been named to seven MLS All-Star teams and six Best XIs, while also earning honors as 2011 Most Valuable Player for a season that saw the Canadian score 16 goals and provide 11 assists.
In addition, De Rosario retires as Canada’s all-time leading goalscorer with 22 goals in 81 appearances while also being a part of the Canada team that claimed the 2000 Gold Cup, the only in the team’s history.
Starting his career with the Toronto Lynx, FSV Zwickau 12, and Richmond Kickers, De Rosario began his time in MLS as a member of the San Jose Earthquakes. Scorer of the golden goal that clinched the Earthquakes the 2001 MLS Cup final, De Rosario was named Most Valuable Player in his first of two MLS Cups in San Jose.
De Rosario continued with the team upon relocation to Houston, collecting two more MLS Cups in 2006 and 2007, the latter of which saw the midfielder score another championship-clinching goal. De Rosario then moved to Toronto, for whom he retires as the club’s all-time leading goalscorer with 28.
Stints with the New York Red Bulls and D.C. United soon followed before De Rosario returned to Toronto FC in 2014, scoring one goal for the club in his final campaign.
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