CINCINNATI — As FC Cincinnati continues to work towards the team’s first MLS Cup, one of the team’s newest prospects is working toward his ultimate dream of playing in the highest soccer league in the U.S. And he just so happened to be a Dayton Flyer. 

What You Need To Know

• Kenji Mboma Dem was drafted by FC Cincinnati in the second round of the MLS SuperDraft


• The forward and Paris native spent his final year of college playing for the Dayton Flyers


• Mboma Dem said he chose UD specifically because of the proximity to two powerhouse Major League teams 


• That strategy worked, as FCC saw potential in him by drafting him and signing him to the team's second squad

Playing professional soccer takes hours of grueling training in the heat. But for Kenji Mboma Dem, it’s always been a part of him.

“I've been playing for as long as I can remember," Mboma Dem said. "Fun fact, my first word was goal. So it's always been in me, I guess.”

Mboma Dem says he's been playing soccer for as long as he can remember. (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

The forward has always known he’d play professional soccer just like his dad, Cameroon soccer great Patrick Mboma.

“Growing up in a household where my other siblings would play soccer and my father played it made it obvious kind of I'd be drawn to it," he said.

And he took a strategic path to get here — his senior year transferring to the University of Dayton where he scored a personal and team-high nine goals in the season.

Mboma Dem scored a team-high nine goals in the 2023 season (Photo Courtesy of University of Dayton Athletics )

“Mainly, the soccer part of it, the playing style over there and, the exposure to MLS teams and, professional level," Mboma Dem said of his decision to be a Flyer.

And that strategy worked. He got a lot of attention from one team leading up to the MLS Draft.

“Cincinnati," he said. "Cincinnati. I was hoping for Cincinnati.”

Mboma Dem trains with the FC Cincinnati second team (Spectrum News 1/Katie Kapusta)

And in the second round, he finally heard his name.

“Big relief, especially when you started telling family, it could be Cincinnati, could be Cincinnati," he said. "So everyone is just waiting. OK. Not This team or this team. And then when Cincinnati turn comes, maybe them. Turns out it's them.”

Despite battling injuries his first few months with FC Cincinnati’s second team, he’s already scored three goals in just four games. But the main goal remains the same: make the first squad.

Mboma Dem fist pumps after scoring a goal for FC Cincinnati's second squad (Photo Courtesy of FC Cincinnati)

“I've got to keep working, stay patient," he said. "I've been able to train quite a few times with the first team, did pre-season, I know they, they're watching the games, watching training. So this is where I just got to perform. I know I can do it. so hopefully it'll come pretty soon.”

And beyond that, thriving at the professional level.

“I always felt like it was attainable," he said. "I never doubted it. I think for me, the main thing in this dream was not just making it to a professional level, but accomplishing it and achieving at that level. So for me, I'm at a step where it's almost obvious I would get here, but I want to go way further.”