Alen Kozić (born 27 September 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player. He played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for the

FIU Panthers The FIU Panthers are the athletic teams representing Florida International University, an American public university located in Miami, Florida. The Panthers currently compete in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I athlet ...

before playing professionally for several years.

Youth career

Kozić is the son of former professional soccer player

Refik Kozić Refik Kozić (; born 25 December 1951) is a Yugoslav retired professional footballer who played for FK Partizan, and in the NASL between 1980 and 1984 for the Tampa Bay Rowdies. His son Alen Kozić is also a former professional player. Career ...

. In 1993, playing for Temple Terrace Spirit, he scored the winning goal in the final of the U17 US Youth Soccer National Championships in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

High School

Kozić attended Berkeley Preparatory School for three years, leading the school's soccer team to three state championships in a row in 1993, 1994 and 1995. In his senior year, he was voted high school all American. Also, was voted the

Tampa Bay Times The ''Tampa Bay Times'', called the ''St. Petersburg Times'' until 2011, is an American newspaper published in St. Petersburg, Florida, United States. It is published by the Times Publishing Company, which is owned by The Poynter Institute ...

player of the decade for the 90's for Hillsborough county. In March 1994, Kozić was called into the U17 Southeast USA regional team to compete in a tournament in France where they faced up against youth setups from Ajax of Holland, Standard Leige of Belgium, and Monaco and Paris St. Germain of France. Also in 1994 he had trial at Primera División club

Real Oviedo Real Oviedo ( Asturian: Real Uviéu) is a Spanish professional football club based in Oviedo, Asturias. Founded on 26 March 1926, the club plays in the Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system. The club plays at ...

College career

Kozić played for

Florida International University Florida International University (FIU) is a public research university with its main campus in Westchester, Florida, United States. Founded in 1965 by the Florida Legislature, the school opened to students in 1972. FIU is the third-largest univ ...

from 1995 to 1997. In 1996, as a sophomore, he led FIU to the College Cup losing in the final to St Johns. In his sophomore and junior years, he achieved a place in the

NCAA The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

Division I Men's Soccer All-American First Team. As a junior he finished as a runner up for the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

, as the best college player 1997. Kozić was inducted into the FIU Sports Hall of Fame. In two years at FIU, Kozić tallied 24 goals and 26 assists in 74 games, making him the eighth all-time leader in goals and assists for FIU.

Professional career

In December 1997 through January 1998, Alen Kozic had a trial with SV Wüstenrot Salzburg. In 1998 Kozic signed for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

Miami Fusion Miami Fusion F.C. was an American professional soccer club based in the Miami metropolitan area. The club competed in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team played from 1998 to 2001. Announced in 1997 as one ...

. He made his debut for the club in a friendly for Miami Fusion against the Honduras national team and scored the opening goal in a 4–2 win. He made his starting debut on 31 May 1998, against

Dallas Burn Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

. Days later, he suffered an

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

tear in training. In 1999 he started in two matches for Miami Fusion: in May against Dallas Burn and in June against

D.C. United D.C. United is an American professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

. He totalled 18 games played for the

MLS Project 40 Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanctioned by the United S ...

A-League A-League Men, also known as the Isuzu UTE A-League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional soccer league in Australia and New Zealand and the highest level of the Australian soccer league system. Established in 2004 as the A-League by the ...

team composed of the best young MLS players. From 2000 Kozic spent one year with Croatian club

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 (), commonly referred to as Istra 1961, is a Croatian professional football club based in Pula, that competes in the Croatian First League. It is a common opinion amongst many people that ''Istra 1961'' was founded i ...

. In the 2002–03 season, Kozic played 13 games for German club

1. FC Union Solingen 1. FC Union Solingen was a Football in Germany, German association football club from Solingen, North Rhine-Westphalia. History The club was founded in 1990 in the aftermath of the bankruptcy of ''SG Union Solingen'' by former members of that c ...

in the

Oberliga Nordrhein The Oberliga Nordrhein was the highest Football League in the region of Nordrhein which is part of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia from 1978 to 2008. In its last season, it was one of nine Oberligas in German football, the 4th tier of the Ge ...

. Kozic had an unsuccessful trial at

side D.C. United in April 2003.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kozic, Alen 1976 births Living people People from Temple Terrace, Florida Sportspeople from Hillsborough County, Florida American men's soccer players Footballers from Belgrade Soccer players from Tampa, Florida Men's association football midfielders All-American college men's soccer players A-League (1995–2004) players Major League Soccer players FIU Panthers men's soccer players Miami Fusion players MLS Pro-40 players NK Istra 1961 players 1. FC Union Solingen players University of South Florida alumni American expatriate men's soccer players Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Germany American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia