Kelly Acosta began his career at FC Dallas, making his first-team debut in a 3-0 loss to Seattle in August 2013. He played for the Texan team from 2013 to 2018, before moving on to the Rapids. His good performances in the Colorado team made LAFC, MLS champions, pay attention to him.

As for the United States team, he has had a lot of presence since the youth divisions. He was part of the American under 17 and under 20 teams. He played in the 2011 Under-17 Soccer World Cup and the Under-20 World Cup in 2013. In the USMNT senior team, he made his debut in January of 2016.

Age

Kellyn Acosta was born in Plano, Texas, on July 24, 1995, so she is currently 27 years old.

Parents and ethnicity

Kellyn’s parents are Kennith Acosta, Kanikah Perry. Regarding her ethnic origin, her father is of Japanese origin and her mother is Puerto Rican. He was eligible to play for Japan or the United States.

Salary

According to the firstsportz.com site, Kelly is earning a yearly base salary of around $1.1 million. His salary with guaranteed compensation adds up to more than $1.24 million every year.

Social media

Kellyn Acosta has accounts on the social networks most used by users: Instagram (@kellynacosta), twitter (@KellynAcosta) and facebook (Kellyn Acosta | Los Angeles CA).

On the international front Acosta has played 52 times for the USMNT scoring 2 goals and winning three championships with his country. Nonetheless, on USMNT Twitter the accomplishments of Acosta are brushed over.

For a reason hard to explain, USMNT fans are divided over the importance of players playing in Europe to those playing in MLS. Some fans believe that MLS players have no place or are simply not good enough to play on the USMNT, or any national team for that matter. In an interview with Soccer America, Acosta spoke on the stigma of being an international soccer player in Major League Soccer.

Kellyn Acosta on USMNT anti- MLS fans

“I don’t want to open up a whole can of worms, and I’m not trying to stir the pot by any means, but people have a negative outlook on MLS. They automatically think that if you’re from MLS, you’re not good enough. And that if you’re in Europe, you have to be in the team.

“That’s not necessarily the case by any means. People fail to understand that. Nowadays it’s just trendy to say that. I get it, but they use the results of the team and MLS players as scapegoats. If the game isn’t going well, it’s because of someone from MLS. But if so-and-so was there, it wouldn’t happen. It’s a coulda-shoulda-woulda — kind of frustrating, but that’s football and you have to deal with it.

“Instead of praying on the downfall of players on the team, if you really uplift, promote and help them, I’m sure we would have a stronger team. It’s crazy — people want to see certain guys fail so bad just to prove their point. But it’s like, don’t you want the team to do well?”

Acosta’s feelings have been replicated by other national team players both on the USMNT and other national teams. Carlos Valderrama, legendary midfielder of the Colombian national team, defended MLS while he played for Colombia prior to the 1998 World Cup.

Recently Thiago Almada of Atlanta United was called up by the Argentine national team and is seen as a future promising prospect. While his chances of making the World Cup squad are thin, he was highly praised by head coach Lionel Scaloni, who is hopeful Almada’s MLS play will transcend into a big move to Europe.

Most of the USMNT players in Europe have either played in MLS or been part of some MLS academy most notably Gio Reyna and Weston McKennie.