Jovan Kirovski ( mk, Јован Кировски; born March 18, 1976) is an American former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who is the Technical Director for the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

. Kirovski is the first American to win the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

(although he did not play in the final) and the first to score in a Champions League match. He has won an

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conference ...

championship as a player, assistant coach, and Technical Director. He was instrumental in the Galaxy's signing of

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (, ; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for club AC Milan and the Sweden national team. Ibrahimović is renowned for his acrobatic strikes and volleys, powerful long-range sho ...

Club career

Born in

Escondido, California Escondido is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San Diego County. It has a population of 151,038 as of the 2020 census. Et ...

, Kirovski, is the son of Macedonian immigrants. He was a member of the

Nomads Soccer Club Nomads Soccer Club (formerly San Diego Nomads) is an American soccer club based in San Diego, California. From 1986 to 1990, the club fielded a professional senior team, but has since operated as an amateur and youth club. History The Nomads we ...

from 1991. He joined Manchester United's youth team in 1992, becoming the first American-born player to sign with the club. He led the reserve team in scoring in 1996, but was not able to break into the first team because of work permit regulations. After that season, he signed with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

. Kirovski spent the next four seasons in Germany. He played in Dortmund's 1996–97 UEFA Champions League campaign, becoming the first American to win the competition. He earned significant playing time during the 1998–99 season, when Borussia loaned him out to second division club

Fortuna Köln Fortuna ( la, Fortūna, equivalent to the Greek goddess Tyche) is the goddess of fortune and the personification of luck in Roman religion who, largely thanks to the Late Antique author Boethius, remained popular through the Middle Ages until a ...

. In 2000, Kirovski signed with Portuguese club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

After a season there, he went back to England, signing with

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

club

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. In 2002, Kirovski signed with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

, but after one and a half seasons, he signed with the

. In his first season in MLS, Kirovski scored eight goals. In 2005, the Galaxy traded him to the Colorado Rapids for a first round pick in the

2007 MLS SuperDraft The 2007 MLS SuperDraft was held in Indianapolis, Indiana on January 12, 2007. It was the eighth annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. The first selection belonged to expansion team Toronto FC. The SuperDraft was followed by the 2007 MLS Supp ...

. After spending the 2008 season with the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

, he rejoined the Galaxy in a November 2008 trade. Kirovski enjoyed a successful stint with the Galaxy, winning an

in 2011 with the club. On January 23, 2012, Kirovski retired from soccer but remained on the coaching staff for the LA Galaxy as an assistant coach. A member of

Bruce Arena Bruce Arena (born September 21, 1951) is an American soccer coach who is the head coach and sporting director of the New England Revolution. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. Arena has had ...

's coaching staff, Kirovski helped the team repeat as MLS Cup champions in 2012. Kirovski was appointed by the LA Galaxy as the club's Technical Director on January 10, 2013. As Technical Director, Kirovski was instrumental in the creation of the club's USL affiliate

LA Galaxy II LA Galaxy II is an American professional soccer team based in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson, California, United States founded in 2014. It is the reserve team of the LA Galaxy. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, the third tier of the United Sta ...

, which was established in January 2014. Kirovski served as the point man in the Galaxy's pursuit and eventual signing of Mexican forward

Giovani dos Santos Giovani dos Santos Ramírez ( ; born 11 May 1989) is a Mexican professional footballer. A versatile forward, dos Santos can play as an attacking midfielder, winger, and secondary striker. He is an Olympic gold medalist. Dos Santos began his ...

in August 2015. He also aided the Galaxy in their signing of

Jelle Van Damme Jelle François Maria Van Damme (; born 10 October 1983) is a Belgian retired professional footballer who played as a centre-back, left-back or left midfielder. He played for clubs in Belgium, England, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Stat ...

a year later. Kirovski served as the lead in the Galaxy's signing of 2017 team Most Valuable Player

Romain Alessandrini Romain Alessandrini (born 3 April 1989) is a French footballer who plays as a winger for Chinese Super League club Shenzhen. Club career Alessandrini spent six years of his youth career at Marseille. In 2005, he moved to Gueugnon making his de ...

, as well as the addition of Mexican international

Jonathan dos Santos Jonathan dos Santos Ramírez (; ; born 26 April 1990) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Liga MX club América. Early life Born in Monterrey, Mexico, Jonathan was competing along with his brother Gi ...

in the same year. The Galaxy's Technical Director led the team's pursuit of Swedish soccer legend

, who joined the club officially in March 2018. Kirovski stated that it was his rich global network that helped make the deal complete.

International career

Kirovski made his debut for the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

at the age of 18 on October 19, 1994, against

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the A ...

, and played at the

1996 Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

and the 1999 and 2003 editions of the

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

. Kirovski earned 62 caps in total with the US.

International goals

:''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Kirovski goal.''

Coaching career

Kirovski joined

as assistant coach immediately upon his retirement in January 2012. In January 2013, the Galaxy appointed him as the club's technical director.

Honors

Borussia Dortmund *

: 1996–97 * Intercontinental Cup:

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

Los Angeles Galaxy *

: 2005, 2011 *

Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in men's Soccer in the United States, soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing nati ...

: 2005 * Western Conference: 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirovski, Jovan 1976 births Living people American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom Expatriate footballers in England American expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate footballers in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal Manchester United F.C. players Borussia Dortmund players SC Fortuna Köln players Sporting CP footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players LA Galaxy players Colorado Rapids players San Jose Earthquakes players Premier League players Bundesliga players 2. Bundesliga players Primeira Liga players English Football League players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Sportspeople from Escondido, California Soccer players from San Diego American people of Macedonian descent Olympic soccer players of the United States Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics United States men's international soccer players 1995 Copa América players 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players United States men's under-23 international soccer players LA Galaxy non-playing staff Association football forwards American soccer players UEFA Champions League winning players