FC Cincinnati, winner of Major League Soccer’s 2023 Supporters’ Shield as the team with the best regular-season record, has started 2024 with quiet confidence.
While it lacks the flash of the New York Red Bulls or the star power of Inter Miami, it has racked up an impressive 12 points in seven games — good for fifth in the Eastern Conference.
No one embodies that quiet confidence better than Cincinnati’s Kubo, a native of Japan. In March and April, he proved to be one of the most consistent athletes in the league, appearing in all seven of Cincinnati’s games and scoring two goals.
Kubo is one of the last true “utility” players in the league, playing everywhere (except in goal) on the field.
On March 7, Kubo played as a left-sided defender in the CONCACAF Champions League against Monterrey. Ten days later, he switched into a winger position against the New England Revolution and scored the opening goal in the second half.