Minnesota Twin Stars – Profile
Competing in the USASA Region II Open Cup tournament this weekend will be the Twin Stars of the NPSL. Along with seven other amateur teams, they will compete for two berths in the 2010 Lamar Hunt US Open Cup.
Minnesota Twin Stars Profile
“Nobody in Minnesota knows anything about the Twin Stars,” laments Youssef Darbaki, founder of the Twin Stars. “We have very few opportunities for anyone to talk about the team.”
Darbaki, who founded the Twin Stars in 2005, was born in Casablanca, Morocco and played for numerous European teams such as Sporting Lisbon. He eventually made his way to the US playing and eventually coaching. He was with the Moroccan National team from 1980-88.
“My mission statement has always been to give local Minnesota boys a chance to play at a very high level,” said Darbaki.
He has done exactly that with players such as Ansu Toure, who eventually played several years for the Minnestoa Thunder, trialed with the MLS Red Bulls and eventually landed in Vancouver with the Whitecaps where he is now a starter for the team that will move to MLS next season. Other players on the Twin Stars have been Geoffrey Myers, Anus Toure’s step brother Keido Pour and Igor Stosic, known as one of the best players in Minnesota. He has also involved many college players such as Greg Rosenthal of UW Milwaukee.
The Twin Stars have won the NPSL Midwest Division 3 years in a row. A division that includes the Chicago Fire NPSL, Eau Claire Aris FC, Madison 56ers, and the famous Milwaukee Bavarians. This year the division adds the Minnesota Kings FC.
Darbaki says they have made it to the finals twice and played for the Championship once. Last year the team was 5-1-0 heading into the playoffs. They lost to the Sonoma County Sol who won the NPSL Championship. Four of the players on last years Twin Stars team made the NPSL All-Star team last season and Igor Stosic was MVP.
Player Pool for the Twin Stars
Alex Nyom – GK
Lucien Braggeman – MD
Karmil Solarin – DF
Arinze Ezirike – DF
Anthony Keller – DF
Lawrence Talery – FD
Jaman Hamad – FD
Geoffrey Myers – FD
Frederick Neher – GK
Dweh Freeman – DF
Adama Diawara – FD
Zakim Abraham – MD
Kiedo Pour – FD
Leo Gibson – FD
Greg Rosenthal – DF
Richard Kamara – DF
Phong Vang – MD
Michael Green – MD
Michael Egbele – MD
Karim Darbaki -MD
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“local Minnesota boys”? I don’t think a single person in the included match photo are from Minnesota.
So if a young man comes here from another country at the age of 10 or 12 and settles down here he is not a Minnesota boy. Careful with your words. As well, how about the list of the player pool or players he has helped? Where the Thao cousins not Minnesotan? Or Greg Rosenthal?
6 games and your in the playoffs?
Big league!
Just watched the “highlights” from the final NPSL game… LOL… That would be amateur play alright. The field, the speed of play, the number of open breaks to goal with no defenders, the too much dribbling, Etc. Lets remember one thing about a league like this and players this age, most of the really good players/athletes have moved on from soccer and now work jobs and have families that become more important than daddy still trying to prove he is something special.
This would be the best of who’s left…. That makes less than $40,000 and has lots of spare time on their hands.
I’m not a hater of adult amateur soccer, but it must be kept in perspective.
As usual I’m just trying to make new friends…. Soccer is a social thing for me.
Jeff, not even beginning to understand your point. Both these teams really work at getting young players involved. Meaning college age players much like PDL. In fact I haven’t written about the Fire SC ’00 yet but Manny Lagos will be sending some of his amateur contract players with this team to get them some match minutes.
Why does everyone want to hate so bad in MN? Its like no one can respect what someone else is doing without there being a ton of criticism. Every program that is out there, whether you agree or disagree, brings the sport that much closer to the public in general and gives it more legitimacy. It brings the overall level up and builds the base that will continue to allow MN soccer to get better. But everyone has to petty fight about who is better than someone else and who is doing this and should be doing that.
Lord almighty! If it was left up to few critics around who have the loudest voices we would have no soccer programs at all. It’s bad enough that we are at a disadvantage with the weather and all, instead we have Club Directors trying to make a name for themselves by cutting down the pro team and …… well, I could go on and on. But it’s not worth my time.
Jeff, Youssef Darbaki team is not the end all and he well knows that. He has played at a higher level than almost anyone in this state ever has. But he is part of the equation that makes it all work. He is well respected by the Lagos’ father and son and Manny called on his when they were looking for a scrimmage this spring. Youssef heart is in the right place and he works really hard at building soccer in this state, especially for young developing talent and for minorities and immigrants. My hat is tipped to Youssef.
MN Twin Stars = Hack soccer, long ball, potential fights most games, etc…
A couple OK individuals.
Rosenthal is a solid college soccer player with a lot of potential.
OK Michigan Mike who seems to be in the know concerning this topic and an expert on the pro team here. Who should we respect and who should we cut down and why? By the way, be prepared for a whole bunch of people to cut down whom ever you think is doing things right because thats the Minnesota way.
Sorry it’s not all cherries on top Brian.
Fire SC 00′ (formerly TC Fire if I am not mistaken) are a formidable team. They have a lot of current D1 college players that came through the MN Youth system and they have built a very young and strong team. They will be good for quite some time. Is this more of what you were looking for BQ?
Haters gonna hate.
Somebody put up a schedule so folks who want to see some action can go to a game and maybe someday Internet shit-talking won’t have to be what decides who’s the most professional-looking soccer club in town.
NPSL – Midwest Division (Twin Stars & MN Kings)
http://www.npsl.info/schedules/2010/21727682.html
MASL – First Division (Fire SC ’00)
http://www.masl.org
Not exactly sure what role NPSL serves, Twin Stars and MN Kings aren’t any better than Fire SC ’00 or other top MASL DI teams.
I don’t think that Minnesota amateur soccer gets the respect they deserve in this state, or the country for that matter. Each year, the Thunder would host an exhibition with the Inferno ’95 team from the MASL, and each year Inferno ’95 would give them a battle, even winning on occasion. If you look at the history of the Lamar US Open Cup, amateur teams have consistently made it to the round of 16 with some teams actually making it to the quarterfinals by knocking out USL and MLS teams. Go to http://www.thecup.us if you’d like to see some of the history of the tournament. All I’m saying is that you don’t have to be a paid player, to be a great player. There are many, many DI-D3 soccer players that have the ability to play professionally, but simply choose a different career path. Where do these players go after college to continue playing? Just a thought.
I love the name “Twin Stars” although I am confused by the Est. 1997 in the logo, but you state that Mr. Darbaki created the team in 2005. Why the difference?
Can’t answer that and Mr. Mr. Darbaki and the Wiki says 95 so those guys must be correct. Maybe the logo was created in 97?!?!
Hey it’s a better logo than a lot of pro teams have.
Twin Stars used to be a Hmong select team and was founded in ’97. The team evolved to what it is today when Ron Carter and Darbaki took it over in order to have a semi pro indoor team that was called the Minnesota Blast. When Ron stepped away, Youssef took over and entered the team into what is now the NPSL under the original Twin Stars name. At least that’s how I believe it unfolded.
I have to agree with MN Soccer Guy. The top 3-5 teams in the MASL are as strong as the Twin Stars and most likely stronger than the new Kings team.
In fact most of the players from those 2 teams play together on some of the MASL D1 teams.
PS…my previous post isn’t a knock on the Twin Stars or Kings just noting that the level of play in the top tier of MASL D1 league is excellent as it’s loaded with current and former college and some pro players.
No problem with your comment nor with MN Soccer Guy. They are politely stating an opinion and or asking a question that leaves things open for debate. Neither of you are dumping on someone else. You’re stating your opinion in a respectful way.
Thanks MOM
Rosenthal is not in the included photo. He is an outstanding player. They are not hacks, they would give the NSC stars a run for their money…as would the top 3 or 4 MASL teams.
That’s not very nice Jeff. You have now taken over the throne as meaneset poster on the site… Meanie.
I have watched the Twin Stars play a few times recently, I thought they were hacks (hack= a lot of fouling). Rosenthal definitely has the ability to take his game to the next level.
I was one of the commentators on the highlights clip from the NPSL Final Four last year, and there are two things that I have to share.
First, the field they were playing on made it impossible to play in an attractive style. The grass was very thick and too long, eliminating any type of short passing game the teams may have wanted to play. In addition, there were large sections of the turf that had been replaced with large uneven seems running just outside the penalty area that broke up several promising attacking sequences.
Second, the highlights you are seeing are from the two Extra Time periods of the final. So, it is no wonder that the defending is shambolic after both teams played 90 minutes in the semifinals the night prior and had already played 90 minutes of soccer in the final. Tired legs and tired minds makes for poor defending.
Ryan
Thanks for the insight Ryan. I appreciate you taking the time to explain that.
BTW, I wrote a post on my blog about the poor field conditions experienced by the teams in the NPSL Final Four. You can read it here.
http://pwt-blog.blogspot.com/2009/08/final-thoughts-on-npslff.html
This year’s Final Four will be held in my town and I can assure you, if a team wants to play an attractive style, they will not be hampered by the field conditions.
The Twinstars were a bit unfortunate during that tournament. They really hurt themselves just as they seem to be gaining momentum in the semifinals by getting a silly red card. They never recovered and Sonoma dominated the rest of the match.
As for the overall level of the NPSL, it is an amateur league and shouldn’t be compared to a professional leagues. There are some very good players and very good teams. Several players from the NPSL have gone on to play professionally. However, I would not be surprised if there are a few better teams in a state or city leagues. That’s the nature of amateur soccer, but as Brian said, the NPSL fills a need in the US soccer community for a national league for aspiring players who need seasoning and it does it at a much lower cost point for team owners than the USL’s PDL.
wish their website was constructed. interesting article. soccer culture in this state runs deep. i dig how your site attempts to cover as much of it as possible. a nice ongoing tutorial for a transplant like me.
I did not have a clue about the Twin Stars up until this year. I plan on making it to some of their matches, and I also plan on going to some MN Kings matches as well (for sure the 5/5 match at Roseville HS). Yeah, it might not be the best soccer, but then again, the soccer that us wannabe’s play on Tuesday nights up at NSC is downright pathetic. However, we do it becuase WE WANT TO HAVE FUN!
I do think that people need to keep it all in perspective. Yes, I would rather have a EPL team in our town (well, I guess it would not be EPL then), or a MLS team. However, I go to the games and support teams like the MN Stars, et. al because:
1) It is a great opportunity to socialize;
2) I get to watch soccer and be outside;
3) Depending where the match is, I can drink beer while watching soccer; and
4) I learn more about the game by watching it played at a higher level.
I hope that more people can see the benefits of watching a soccer game regardless of what level it is, and enjoy the beautiful game. By the way, my son’s U6 team has their last match Saturday morning. Now that is something else to watch…
Josh, the website was working on Wednesday. Not sure what happened. Sadly, they site is not very updated nor intuitive. Nothing like the Kings website.
futty, does your son play in st paul? i’ve been looking a league for my 6 yr old, but I’m finding it to be a somewhat convoluted process.
now, back to your regularly scheduled programming…
Rosenthal plays on the Cougars D1 team in the MASL. They were a 3rd place team in the league last summer. Last year the Cougars had at least 3-4 other D1 players on their roster along with a slew of top level players from the MIAC conference. They had at least 2 players from the Twin Stars on the team, maybe 3. This year I hear they have players from the Twin Stars and Kings on their roster.
The top tier of teams in this division play excellent soccer. Many former Thunder players and at least a few current Stars players have played in the D1 division of the MASL.
Check out the schedules at http://www.masl.org and go see a few games for yourself. They’re all free with no admission.
People need to go back to the concept and purpose of the Open Cup, which more or less is a funnel for all organized levels to have a chance to play in. MASL has put out great representatives for 15-20 years. The NPSL is a great concept and serves a different model. Some of the teams in the NPSL Midwest division have been around a long time – Madison 56’s being one. The diversity of Minnesota soccer is represented pretty well right now in so many amateur levels compared to even 10 years ago. Ranging from the MASL and MN Cup reps to the differences in the Twin Stars and the new Kings team. There is nothing wrong with this; it makes the game far more rich and thick. Look at the backgrounds of Tiny Ticket, Gotsmanov, Bunbury and even Lagos come from? Compare pickup games on any day in St. Paul and Lakeville. Welcome to 2010 Minnesota, soccer aside.
I’ve heard of the NPSL, Twin Stars and Kings only last year, and I took a closer look at the NPSL. I’m very happy to see this league growing and giving interested clubs an option beyond the USL PDL. The NPSL is also considered to be the 4th tier in US Soccer but clubs are not charged an arm and a leg by a system like the USL. I honestly hope that this league grows in their current system. It’d be great if we could have a few more teams around this Upper Midwest in this league. Ryan, I really like your evaluations and comments.
fotbalist, did you see this article Kyle Nelson wrote on the NPSL for IMS?: http://bit.ly/ckNM0h
and this one he did on the Kings:
http://bit.ly/9mHaVA
Also, I have an article written by Ryan Manning which I will be putting up shortly explaining the MASL.
We play the fire on 5/8 at Park High School. Come to the game and see what its all about.
Tim,
You will likely be playing a Fire team without their collegiate players…
wheres all the hmongs on twin stars???
Yes, things seemed to have changed with the Twin Stars.