Predrag Radosavljević (Serbian: Предраг Радосављевић, commonly known in the United States as Preki (Преки); born June 24, 1963 in Belgrade, Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia), is a former Yugoslavian-American soccer player. He is currently the head coach of Chivas USA.

[edit] Early career

[edit] Everton

Preki was bought by Howard Kendall for a fee of £100,000 in the summer of 1992 following a trial. He made 53 appearances for the Blues, 28 of those as a substitute before moving to Portsmouth in July 1994.

[edit] MLS

Preki resumed outdoor play beginning with MLS's inaugural season in 1996 when he joined the Kansas City Wizards. He played every season for the Wizards, except for one season with the Miami Fusion in 2001. After the Fusion were contracted, the Wizards re-acquired Preki in the 2002 MLS Dispersal Draft, but only after every other team in the league had passed on selecting him. Preki is the only player to have won the MLS MVP Award and the MLS Scoring Champion Award twice, winning in 1997 and 2003, and is also the current all-time league leader in points scored (270 on 79 goals and 112 assists, plus another 25 points on 10 goals and 5 assists in the playoffs). He won the 2000 MLS Cup with the Wizards. Preki retired following the 2005 season, scoring a goal in the last minute of his final game with Kansas City. He was named to the MLS All-Time Best XI after the season, and was 42 years old when he played his final competitive game^[1].

[edit] National team

Though originally from Yugoslavia, Preki played for the American national team after acquiring U.S. citizenship in 1996. He made his debut for the U.S. on November 3, against Guatemala. Preki played a total of 28 games for the U.S., scoring four goals, one of them to beat Brazil at the 1998 Gold Cup. Two of those games, including one against his native Yugoslavia, came in the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

[edit] Coaching

After retiring as a player, Preki became an assistant coach with Chivas USA, and upon the appointment of Bob Bradley as the United States national team manager, Preki was promoted as head coach of Chivas USA for the 2007 Major League Soccer season and was named MLS Coach of the Year in his first season.^[2] Before taking the coaching job with Chivas, Preki started a soccer club in Kansas City, called the FC Rangers. He coached the teams of his son, Nikola and daughter, Natasa for three years. At 39 years old, Preki made his last appearance for the national team in a 2-0 loss away to Costa Rica in World Cup qualifying on September 5, 2001^[3].

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Preki profile at United States National Soccer Players

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