On the day Toronto FC Director of Soccer Mo Johnston announced the departure of interim head coach Chris Cummins, he made it clear that he wanted to sign a coach with experience in Major League Soccer.
<p style="font-size:10px; margin:0 auto;">TorontoFC.ca's Luke Wileman sits down with Preki for his first Canadian interview since becoming Reds' bench boss.</p> |
Johnston search lasted just three weeks, and on Thursday morning, he introduced Preki (Predrag Radosavljevic) as the club's fourth head coach. The 46-year-old arrives in Toronto after a 22 year playing career in Europe and North America, followed by four years in coaching, three as head coach of Chivas USA.
It was only a week ago that Preki parted company with Chivas by "mutual consent" after his team lost to Los Angeles Galaxy in the Playoffs. In the official Chivas USA press release announcing his departure, Vice President of Soccer Operations Stephen Hamilton praised Preki's "dedication and expertise" for leading the team into the playoffs in each of his three season in charge.
Toronto FC will be hoping that run continues as the club looks to bounce back from a devastating end to the 2009 season and make the playoffs next year for the first time in the club's history.
Preki was named as head coach of Chivas USA in January 2007, replacing Bob Bradley, after serving as assistant to Bradley in 2006. He experienced success in his first season in charge, winning the Western Conference and missing out on the Supporters Shield by just two points. Preki was named the MLS Coach of the Year in 2007 and went on to become the longest-serving head coach in team history.
Preki's playing career was long and varied and he made his name as a creative midfielder, winger and goal scorer. Preki started with his hometown Red Star Belgrade in the old Yugoslav First League before moving to the United States to sign for Tacoma Stars in the Major Indoor Soccer League. The Stars head coach Bob McNabb had spotted Preki playing during a tournament in Belgrade and offered him the opportunity to continue his career in a different country. Preki spent seven years playing indoors with Tacoma and St. Louis Storm, before landing a move to the big-time.
<p style="font-size:10px; margin:0 auto;">TFC makes it official with Preki.</p> |
In the summer of 1992, shortly after his 29th birthday, Preki headed to England after securing a trial with Everton. He impressed the Everton manager Howard Kendall enough to earn a move to the English top flight for the inaugural season of the English Premier League.
At Goodison Park, Preki played alongside Toronto FC Director of Soccer Mo Johnston and current Columbus Crew head coach Robert Warzycha. Johnston described him as "the kind of player you knew could win games for you," and Warzycha agreed with those sentiments. "He always demanded the ball," he said. "He scored a lot of goals and was the player every coach wanted to have."
Preki made 53 appearances for Everton (28 as a substitute) before moving to Portsmouth in July 1994 where he scored five goals in 40 appearances for the South Coast club.
Preki's next move was back to the United States. He joined Major League Soccer for the league's opening season in 1996 and he has been connected to MLS ever since as both a player and coach.
Preki played for nine seasons with Kansas City split by a season with the now defunct Miami Fusion in 2001. Quite simply, he lit up the league, and was named an MLS All-Star for eight years in a row. He still remains the only player to have won both the MLS MVP Award and the MLS Scoring Champions Award twice (given for most points for goals and assists before the introduction of the Golden Boot).
His MVP seasons came in 1997 and 2003. In 1997, Preki finished with 12 goals and 17 assists from a total of 27 games and in 2003 he had 12 goals and 17 assists from 30 appearances. On both occasions his team fell in the Playoffs, but in 2000 he was part of the Wizards team that won the Supporters Shield and went on to lift the MLS Cup with a 1-0 victory over Chicago Fire.
Preki retired from playing in 2005 at the age of 42. He finished his career with a regular season record of 79 goals and 112 assists in 242 appearances, plus 10 goals and 5 assists on 26 appearances in the Playoffs. He was named to the MLS Best XI on four occasions.
Originally from Yugoslavia, Preki became a U.S. citizen in 1996 and went on to represent the United States 28 times between 1996 and 2001 including playing twice at the 1998 World Cup in France. He scored four goals for his National Team, one of them in a win over Brazil at the 1998 Gold Cup.
