Alexander Frank Nimo (born March 21, 1990) is a former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. Born in Liberia, he represented the United States at youth level.

Early life

Alex moved with his parents, Tommy and Maima Nimo, to a refugee camp in

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

as an infant. There he spent most of the first nine years of his life as the family escaped from the

First Liberian Civil War The First Liberian Civil War was the first of Second Liberian Civil War, two civil wars within the West African nation of Liberia which lasted between 1989 and 1997. President Samuel Doe's regime of totalitarianism and widespread Political cor ...

. Nimo and his family were granted asylum as political refugees and moved to

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

with the assistance of Catholic Ministries. In Oregon, he was discovered by the late

University of Portland The University of Portland (UP) is a private Catholic university in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1901 and is affiliated with the Congregation of Holy Cross, which also founded UP's sister school, the University of Notre Da ...

soccer coach Clive Charles and placed in

F.C. Portland FC may refer to: Businesses, organisations, and schools * Fergusson College, a science and arts college in Pune, India * Finncomm Airlines (IATA code) * FranklinCovey company, NYSE stock symbol FC * Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pa ...

Career

Youth

In 2003, Nimo was chosen for the player pool of the under-14 U.S. national team. The midfielder attended

Benson Polytechnic High School Benson Polytechnic High School (BHS) is a technical public high school in the Portland Public Schools district. Its campus is located in the Central Eastside commercial area of Portland, Oregon, United States. Students are given a special em ...

in Portland, and was a two-time all-state forward. He was considered one of the best players to ever come out of Oregon. He was named a

Parade All-American ''Parade'' was an American nationwide Sunday newspaper magazine, distributed in more than 700 newspapers nationwide in the United States until 2022. The most widely read magazine in the U.S., ''Parade'' had a circulation of 32 million and a read ...

, and all-state at Benson. Nimo received his U.S. citizenship in November 2006. In 2007, he joined the U.S. Residency camp located in

Bradenton, Florida Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a pri ...

, and played for the U-17 national team.

Professional

In the

2008 MLS SuperDraft The 2008 MLS SuperDraft took place on January 18, 2008 in Baltimore, Maryland. It was the ninth annual Major League Soccer MLS SuperDraft, SuperDraft. The first selection was made by the Kansas City Wizards, after acquiring the selection from t ...

, Nimo—who had already been signed by the league to a

Generation Adidas Generation Adidas is a joint venture between Major League Soccer and U.S. Soccer aimed at raising the level of young professional soccer talent in the United States. The program, sponsored by Adidas, offers professional-ready players in the U.S ...

contract worth $45,000 per year—was selected 17th overall by

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

. He scored his first goal for the team on July 9, 2008, in an exhibition game against

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

, but would not see any league appearances during the season. Shortly before the opening of the 2009 season, in March, the club announced that Nimo would be loaned out to the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

of the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

. He was loaned to the Timbers again for the 2010 season. It was announced on November 18, 2010, that Nimo would graduate from the MLS

program at the end of the 2010 season. On January 10, 2012, Nimo went on trial with Polish team Bytovia Bytów, which played in

Polish Second League II liga (Druga liga, ), currently named Betclic II liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is a Polish football league that sits at the third tier of the Polish football league system. Until the end of the 2007–08 season, ''II Liga'' referre ...

(3rd tier).

JK Tammeka Tartu

On March 7, 2012, Nimo signed a two-year contract with Estonian

Meistriliiga Meistriliiga (), officially known as A. Le Coq Premium Liiga for sponsorship reasons, and commonly known as the Premium Liiga, is the highest division of the Estonian Football Association annual football championship. The league was founded i ...

club

JK Tammeka Tartu Tartu Jalgpallikool Tammeka, commonly known as Tartu Tammeka or simply Tammeka, is an Estonia, Estonian professional Association football, football club based in Tartu that competes in Meistriliiga, the top flight of Estonian football league sy ...

. He made 34 appearances and scored six goals for the team in that season. The contract was mutually terminated before the 2013 season.

International

In 2006, Nimo was called up to the

United States U-17 men's national soccer team The United States U-17 men's national soccer team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation. The highest level of competition in which the team may compete is in the FIFA U-17 World Cup, which is held every two years. Competitive re ...

as it entered its qualification campaign for the

2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007, the twelfth edition of the tournament, was held in South Korea between 18 August and 9 September 2007. For this event, the number of teams had been expanded from 16 to 24, with the top two of each group and the four ...

. He then played all four U.S. games at the World Cup as the U.S. went to the Round of 16 before being eliminated by Germany. In 2008, he became a regular with the United States U-20.

Honors

Portland Timbers

Commissioner's Cup (1):

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

References

External links

*
Portland Timbers player profile
* ttp://www.liberiansoccer.com/Nimo_long_journey_leads_him_to_Utah200712345617.htm Nimo's long journey leads him to Utah LiberianSoccer.com
2008 combine notable for defensive talent
– ESPN * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nimo, Alex 1990 births Living people Liberian men's footballers American men's soccer players Men's association football forwards American people of Liberian descent Real Salt Lake players Portland Timbers (2001–2010) players Footballers from Monrovia USL First Division players USSF Division 2 Professional League players American expatriate men's soccer players Tartu JK Tammeka players Meistriliiga players Expatriate men's footballers in Estonia Benson Polytechnic High School alumni Soccer players from Portland, Oregon United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players Real Salt Lake draft picks American expatriate sportspeople in Estonia Liberian expatriate sportspeople in Estonia 21st-century American sportsmen