Bryan Kanu

Bryan Kanu is a Nigerian-American footballer from Cincinnati, Ohio currently playing with the Cincinnati Kings.

Early life
Kanu hails from Cincinnati, Ohio. He graduated from St. Xavier High School. During his time there, the Bombers captured two league titles, and finished as Ohio Division-1 runners-up, losing out to the national champion St. Ignatius High School. It was the first time St. Xavier had reached the Ohio Division-1 final since winning the title back in 1983.

The Bombers posted an 18-3-2 record, and Bryan finished as his teams top goal-scorer with 13 goals in 23 games. For his efforts he won the award of Offensive MVP for his team.

After helping his club, Cincinnati United Premier, lift the Tampa Bay Sun Bowl—one of the top youth tournaments in the United States—Bryan was awarded with title of "MVP of the Sun Bowl". Clint Dempsey of Tottenham Hotspur has also been a recipient of this award.

Career
Bryan Kanu played for the University of Louisville. After a slow start to his college career, and red-shirting after breaking his leg, Bryan began to find his old form again.

He would go on to win the award of Offensive MVP in the New Mexico Lobo Invitational Tournament at the University of New Mexico, after helping his team lift the tournament trophy. He was also awarded with a spot on the All-Tournament Team, despite not being named as a starter in any of the matches. Other school's participating in the event were Michigan State University, UC Davis, and the University of New Mexico. He finished the season ranked 4th on the team in points with 4 goals and 3 assists despite making only 6 starts. A team that went on to produce four MLS Super-Draft picks, and one participant in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

After some heated disagreements and falling out of favor with the manager, Bryan left midway through the 2009 campaign to join up with Cruzeiro Esporte Clube for training.

Bryan gained valuable experience while playing with Cruzeiro Esporte Clube in Belo, Horizonte, Brazil in 2009. While there, he came up against the likes of Dynamo Kiev's Eduardo Pereira Rodrigues, and Tijuana's Fidel Martínez.

In 2012, Bryan made 5 appearances with the Kings, wearing the number 14 shirt. Although his primary position is a striker, he was mainly deployed as a right-midfielder during the Kings' season due to a lack of depth in the position. In a match against the Chicago Inferno, coming on in the last twenty minutes, Bryan tried to inspire a late come-back attempt, providing an assist for the Kings' first goal in a 3-2 loss.

In late 2012, after finishing the season with the Kings, he moved to Aba, Nigeria to play with Enyimba International F.C. of the Nigerian Premier League.

Personal
Bryan grew up playing football with the Chicago Fire's MLS Rookie of the year defender Austin Berry. He has also other famous teammates, such as Aaron Clapham, who was selected in the final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup by the New Zealand National Football Team, Colin Rolfe of the Houston Dynamo, Kenney Walker of the 2012 MLS Cup winning LA Galaxy, and Freddie Braun of the Portland Timbers.

Bryan also works with the Charlie Cooke Soccer School in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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