Armando Cooper

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Cooper and the second or maternal family name is Whitaker.

Armando Enrique Cooper Whitaker (born 26 November 1987) is a Panamanian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.

Armando Cooper

Cooper with Panama at the 2018 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Armando Enrique Cooper Whitaker[1]
Date of birth	(1987-11-26) 26 November 1987 (age 37)[1]
Place of birth	Colón, Panama
Height	1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[1]
Position(s)	Midfielder
Youth career
2005	Árabe Unido
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2006–2011	Árabe Unido	141	(26)
2011–2015	Godoy Cruz	26	(3)
2013–2014	→ Oțelul Galați (loan)	21	(3)
2015	FC St. Pauli	7	(0)
2015–2016	Árabe Unido	18	(3)
2016	→ Toronto FC (loan)	12	(1)
2017	Toronto FC	23	(0)
2018	Universidad de Chile	3	(0)
2018	Dinamo București	11	(0)
2019	Maccabi Petah Tikva	14	(5)
2019–2020	Árabe Unido	11	(1)
2020	Hapoel Tel Aviv	6	(0)
2020–2021	Maccabi Petah Tikva	17	(3)
2021-2024	Árabe Unido	50	(2)
International career‡
2006–2007	Panama U20	14	(3)
2008	Panama U23	5	(1)
2006–2022	Panama	122	(9)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14 July 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 January 2022

Club career

Cooper began his career in the youth ranks of Panama's Árabe Unido. In 2006, he debuted for the professional side, and went on to help the team to achieve various domestic titles in the Liga Panameña de Fútbol.

In July 2011, he signed with Argentine club Godoy Cruz. For the 2013-14 season, he was loaned out to Romanian club Otelul Galati.

In February 2015, Cooper joined 2. Bundesliga side FC St. Pauli,^[2] only to return to Árabe Unido in September 2015 after playing a mere 125 minutes for the German club.^[3]

Cooper was loaned to Major League Soccer side Toronto FC on 18 August 2016.^[4] He scored his first goal with Toronto FC on 30 November as Toronto FC beat Montreal Impact 7–5 on aggregate to advance to the 2016 MLS Cup Final.^[5]

After the 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs, Cooper signed full-time with Toronto FC.

On 14 December 2017, Cooper's contract option was declined by Toronto, and he subsequently left the club.^[6]

International career

Cooper was part of the Panama U-20 squad that participated in the 2007 U-20 World Cup held in Canada.^[7]

He made his debut with the full national team on 7 October 2006 against the national team of El Salvador. On 16 January 2011, he scored his first goal for Panama in a 2–0 victory over Nicaragua in a 2011 Copa Centroamericana match played at Estadio Rommel Fernández in Panama City.^[8]

In May 2018, he was named in Panama's preliminary 35 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.^[9] Cooper played in Panama's first two games against England and Belgium, but after receiving yellow cards in both games he was suspended for the final match against Tunisia.

Style of play

Cooper is known for his energy on the pitch, as well as his creativity and dribbling skills. A versatile midfielder, he is capable of playing in several midfield positions, although he usually favours a more offensive role.^[10]

Career statistics

As of 17 January 2022^[11]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Panama	2006	1	0
	2007	0	0
	2008	0	0
	2009	0	0
	2010	7	0
	2011	20	3
	2012	9	0
	2013	5	0
	2014	8	0
	2015	15	1
	2016	12	1
	2017	19	2
	2018	8	0
	2019	8	1
	2020	2	0
	2021	7	1
	2022	1	0
Total		122	9

Scores and results list Panama's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cooper goal.

List of international goals scored by Armando Cooper^[12]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	16 January 2011	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Nicaragua	1–0	2–0	2011 Copa Centroamericana
2	18 January 2011	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	El Salvador	2–0	2–0	2011 Copa Centroamericana
3	10 August 2011	Estadio Ramón Tahuichi Aguilera, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia	Bolivia	3–1	3–1	Friendly
4	13 November 2015	Independence Park, Kingston, Jamaica	Jamaica	1–0	2–0	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
5	8 January 2016	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Cuba	1–0	4–0	Copa América Centenario qualification
6	22 January 2017	Estadio Rommel Fernández, Panama City, Panama	Costa Rica	1–0	1–0	2017 Copa Centroamericana
7	14 November 2017	Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales	Wales	1–1	1–1	Friendly
8	18 June 2019	Allianz Field, Saint Paul, United States	Trinidad and Tobago	1–0	2–0	2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup
9	5 June 2021	Estadio Nacional, Panama City, Panama	Anguilla	1–0	13–0	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Toronto FC

• MLS Cup: 2017; runner-up 2016
• Eastern Conference Championship (Playoffs): 2016,^[13] 2017^[14]
• Supporters' Shield: 2017^[15]
• Canadian Championship: 2017
• Trillium Cup: 2017^[16]

See also

• List of footballers with 100 or more caps

References

1. "FIFA World Cup Russia 2018 List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 August 2018.
2. Harms, Carsten; Jacobs, Henrik (2 February 2015). "Cooper hat in Rumänien eine richtig gute Saison gespielt". abendblatt.de (in German). Hamburger Abendblatt. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
3. Armando Cooper jugará en el Árabe Unido - LPF (in Spanish)
4. "Toronto FC Acquire Armando Cooper on Loan". 18 August 2016.
5. "Toronto FC 5, Montreal Impact 2 - 2016 MLS Cup Playoffs Recap". MLSsoccer.com MatchCenter.
6. "Toronto FC Announce Roster Options Following 2017 Championship Season". Toronto FC. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
7. Armando Cooper – FIFA competition record (archived)
8. "Copa Centroamericana 2011". Archived from the original on 13 August 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2011.
9. "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - Final 23-man lists". goal.com. Goal. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
10. "Who TFC Were: Underappreciated Armando Cooper struggling to find a home". Walking the Red. 30 December 2019. Archived from the original on 13 October 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
11. "Armando Cooper". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 10 July 2018.
12. "Armando Cooper - International Appearances". RSSSF.
13. Laura Armstrong (30 November 2016). "Toronto FC bound for MLS Cup final". The Star. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
14. "Toronto FC 1, Columbus Crew SC 0". mlssocer.com. 29 November 2017.
15. "Kings of the League: Toronto FC win first Supporters' Shield". mlssoccer.com. 30 September 2017.
16. Arun Srinivasan (26 May 2017). "Toronto FC routs Columbus to capture Trillium Cup". The Score. Retrieved 31 October 2017.

External links

• Armando Cooper at National-Football-Teams.com
• Armando Cooper at Soccerway
• Armando Cooper at Major League Soccer
• possofutbol.com Profile
• Concacaf Profile