The following is a guest post by Zach Lowry.
Before he represented his country on the biggest stage in all of sports, before he won the most prestigious trophy in the American soccer scene, Kellyn Kai Perry-Acosta was just a kid from Plano, Texas, who wanted to become a professional soccer player. He didn’t care that he was sticking out from the other kids in his school who wanted to play more traditional sports like basketball, football and baseball. He didn’t care that he might be seen as the weird kid playing a foreign sport; he just wanted to ball out.
Born and raised in Plano to a Japanese-American father and an African-American mother, Acosta joined FC Dallas’ academy in 2009 and progressed through the youth ranks before eventually attracting a scholarship offer from the University of Maryland. But despite committing to play for the Terps, Acosta opted to sign a homegrown contract with Dallas in May 2012 – the same year that he was named U.S. Soccer Development Academy Central Conference Player of the Year.
After being forced to wait a year before making his senior debut, Acosta broke into the Dallas team in August 2013 and made nine consecutive starts, emerging as a crucial figure at the right back position.
“Looking back on it, I found a deeper appreciation for soccer when I grew older, but when I was younger, I was just a kid that just enjoyed playing,” stated Acosta in an exclusive 3rd Degree Net interview. “I would wake up, go to training, and then go to school right after. I got to compete with my lifelong friends, and we got better and better each and every day. It was one of those things where, when you’re in it, you don’t really take it all in.”
“But, I mean, a lot of credit goes to FC Dallas,” Acosta continued. “They gave me an opportunity to play professionally, and there were a lot of steps along the way, but I think it helped me mature as a person and as a player. I was under a microscope at 13/14 years old, so I was just cognizant of the things that I did outside of playing, like how my grades were, what I put into my body, being disciplined. All the different things that you don’t really think about as a 13 or 14-year-old, I was already implementing these things into my everyday routine.”
Acosta kicked off the 2014 season as a starter before missing four months with a knee injury, but he would nevertheless bounce back in stellar fashion by scoring 4 goals and 1 assist in 26 appearances in 2015 and transitioning to a central midfield position.
Similar to other MLS veterans like Maurice Edu, Jermaine Jones and Brian Dunseth, Acosta combined a fearless tackling approach with an impressive passing ability, whilst he also showcased an impressive efficiency in the final third with 2 goals and 3 assists in 39 appearances in 2016 and 6 goals and 3 assists in 30 appearances in 2017. With Acosta running the show in midfield, Dallas were able to claim their first-ever Supporters’ Shield title and put an end to a 19-year trophy drought with their U.S. Open Cup triumph. However, they were unable to secure their maiden MLS Cup after losing to Seattle Sounders in the Western Conference Semifinals.
“I remember being in Dallas’ youth residency watching Dallas lose to Colorado in that freezing 2010 MLS Cup Final…but then after we won the U.S. Open Cup and Supporters’ Shield, I’m like ‘Ok, we’re going for the trouble, we’re there, we’re close. I think we caught an injury bug late into the season, and so we were missing out on some key guys, but were still disappointed to not win. I still have a little bit of a sour taste in my mouth because I thought we really had a great team. It was unfortunate that we weren’t able to bring the big trophy home, but I was happy to be able to achieve that once in my career in LAFC.”
Acosta’s Dallas journey came to an end in the summer of 2018 after he was traded to the Colorado Rapids in exchange for Dominique Badji. It didn’t take long for him to establish himself as a vital cog in Colorado’s midfield, helping the Rapids transform from one of the league’s worst teams to one of its best, before eventually being acquired by Los Angeles FC in exchange for $1.1 million in General Allocation Money ($550k GAM in 2022 and $550k GAM in 2023). Acosta enjoyed a seamless transition to life in California, helping the Black and Gold win the Supporters’ Shield as well as a maiden MLS Cup, before spearheading them to the Concacaf Champions Cup Final and MLS Cup Final in 2023.
He then made the move to Chicago Fire for the 2024 season, where he established himself as an essential figure in midfield and earned the praise of MLS’ leading pundits like Bradley Wright-Phillips, Kevin Egan and Marcelo Balboa. However, despite linking up with Gregg Berhalter, under whose tenure Acosta became a regular figure in the USMNT’s midfield, Acosta saw his playing time diminish in 2025, making just 22 appearances across all competitions. Having begun the season as a starter and captain, Acosta ended the year in an unfamiliar situation – a benchwarmer – playing just four minutes in their final five matches.
“You gotta hold yourself accountable, because if you start getting the lens where you think that you’re too good, I think that’s when you kind of fall. And for me, I mean, this past year, I didn’t play as much as I would have liked. I didn’t contribute to the team’s success as much as I would like, so it’s important for me not to be content and want to grow and push. That’s how I got to this position in my career, and with however many years left I have to play, I want to make the most of it.”
