Preki

Predrag Radosavljevic (Serbian: ??????? ???????????? ?????), known simply as Preki (born June 24, 1963 in Belgrade), is a Serbian-American soccer player, one of the best players in the history of Major League Soccer.

Related Topics:
Serbian - June 24 - 1963 - Belgrade - Serbian - American - Soccer - Major League Soccer

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Preki's career with league football clubs began in 1983 with Red Star Belgrade, with whom he played for two years, winning one championship. Preki moved to the United States in 1985 to play indoor soccer, which he would play for nine years, until 1992, in the original MISL where he was named an all-star each of his seven seasons, and again from 1994 to 1995 in the CISL. Between those two periods, Preki played in England, first for Everton of the FA Premier League, with whom he played 46 games over two seasons (1992-94), and then one season with Portsmouth of the First Division.

Related Topics:
Red Star Belgrade - United States - Indoor soccer - Original MISL - CISL - Everton - FA Premier League - Portsmouth - First Division

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Preki resumed outdoor play beginning with MLS's inaugural season in 1996 when he joined the Kansas City Wizards, for whom he has played for all but one season in his entire career. That one season was 2001 with the Miami Fusion, one of the most attractive offensive teams in the league's history – 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 twice, winning in 1997 and 2003, and is also the current all-time league leader in points scored (as of the end of 2004, 264 on 77 goals and 110 assists, plus another 25 points on ten goals and five assists in the playoffs). With the Wizards, he won the 2000 MLS Cup, and led the league in scoring both times he was named MVP.

Related Topics:
Kansas City Wizards - Miami Fusion - 2002 MLS Dispersal Draft - MLS MVP Award - MLS Cup - Led the league in scoring

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Though originally from Yugoslavia, Preki has played for the American national team since acquiring U.S. citizenship in 1996. He made his debut for the U.S. on November 3rd, 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 {{Wc|1998}}. Preki gained some popularity with a catch phrase from SportsCenter anchor Dan Patrick: "You can't stop Preki, you can only hope to contain him!"

Related Topics:
American national team - November 3 - Guatemala - Brazil - 1998 Gold Cup - Yugoslavia - Catch phrase - SportsCenter - Dan Patrick

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