Alen Kozić

Alen Kozić (born 27 September 1976) is an American former soccer player. He played college soccer for the FIU Panthers before playing professionally for several years.

Alen Kozić
Personal information
Date of birth (1976-09-27) 27 September 1976
Place of birth Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Position(s) Winger
Youth career
1993 Temple Terrace Spirit
College career
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1995–1997 FIU Panthers 74 (24)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1998–2000 Miami Fusion 6 (0)
1998–1999 MLS Project 40 18 (3)
2000 NK Istra 1961
2002–2003 1. FC Union Solingen 13 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Youth career

Kozić is the son of former professional soccer player Refik Kozić.[1] 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.[2]

High School

Kozić attended Berkeley Preparatory School for three years, leading the school's soccer team to three state championships in a row[3] in 1993,[4] 1994 and 1995.[5][6] In his senior year, he was voted high school all American. Also, was voted the Tampa Bay Times player of the decade for the 90's for Hillsborough county.[7]

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.[8]

Also in 1994 he had trial at Primera División club Real Oviedo.[3]

College career

Kozić played for Florida International University's FIU Panthers[9][10] 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 Division I Men's Soccer All-American First Team.[11] As a junior he finished as a runner up for the Hermann Trophy, as the best college player 1997.[12] Kozić was inducted into the FIU Sports Hall of Fame.[13] In two years at FIU, Kozić tallied 24 goals and 26 assists in 74 games,[14] making him the eighth all time leader in goals and assists for FIU.[15]

Professional career

In December of 1997 through January of 1998, Alen Kozic had a trial with SV Wüstenrot Salzburg.[16]

In 1998 Kozic signed for Major League Soccer side Miami Fusion. [17]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.[18] He made his starting debut on 31 May 1998, against Dallas Burn.[19] Days later, he suffered an anterior cruciate ligament tear in training.[19] In 1999 he started in two matches for Miami Fusion: in May against Dallas Burn and in June against D.C. United.[20] He totalled 18 games played for the MLS Project 40 A-League team composed of the best young MLS players. [21]

From 2000 Kozic spent one year with Croatian club NK Istra 1961.[22]

In the 2002–03 season, Kozic played 13 games for German club 1. FC Union Solingen in the Oberliga Nordrhein.[23]

Kozic had an unsuccessful trial at Major League Soccer side D.C. United in April 2003.[24]

References
  1. "Refik Kozić od Istre do Cosmosa" [Refik Kozić from Istria to Cosmos]. Regional Express (in Croatian). 30 January 2013. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  2. Carey Freeman (28 July 1993). "Spirit rises above many obstacles to win U.S. title". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  3. Mike Readling (1 April 1995). "Berkeley's Kozic not satisfied". The Tampa Tribune. p. 10. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  4. Tim Looney (28 February 1993). "Berkeley wins first state title". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  5. Carey Freeman (19 February 1995). "A hat trick for Hillsborough // Without a doubt, Buccaneers win". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  6. Erik Erlendsson (9 December 1999). "Kozic's extraordinary talent always amazed". The Tampa Tribune. p. 8. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  7. Carey Freeman (24 March 1995). "Kozic, Peifer find ways to reach their goals". Tampa Bay Times. p. 8C. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  8. Carey Freeman (18 March 1994). "Kozic, Riess make Region III team". The Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  9. Gregg Doyel (30 November 1996). "Kozic stays on toes after injury". The Tampa Tribune. p. 28. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  10. Dave Brousseau (9 April 1999). "Torn by war - Fusion's Kozic grieves over conflict in homeland". South Florida Sun Sentinel. pp. 1C, 14C. Retrieved 18 June 2023.
  11. "@FIUMensSoccer Standouts Earn All-America Honors; Patino First-Team, Marie Third-Team". fiusports.com. 8 December 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  12. "Men's soccer award winners" (PDF). ncaa.org. NCAA. 2019. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  13. "2007 FIU Men's Soccer Guide by Ivan Irizarry - Issuu". issuu.com. 20 May 2008. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  14. "@FIUMensSoccer Travels to Marshall for Key C-USA Bout". fiusports.com. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  15. "Hosts Florida Atlantic on Wednesday". FIU Athletics. 28 October 2014. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  16. "Archiv Salzburger Nachrichten". www.sn.at. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  17. Kaufman, Michelle (2019). "Miami Fusion: Where are they now". Miami Herald.
  18. "Coach's experiment brings win". South Florida Sun Sentinel. 21 May 1998. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  19. "Fusion picks up Thomas". Sun Sentinel. 6 June 1998. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  20. "Peace at home, start please Kozic". Sun Sentinel. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
  21. "Alen Kozić soccer Statistics on StatsCrew.com". www.statscrew.com. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  22. "Refik Kozić od Istre do Cosmosa". Regionalexpress.hr. Retrieved 10 October 2023.
  23. Kottmann, Andreas (January 2004). "Fußball im Westen 2003" [Football in the West 2003] (PDF). Deutscher Sportclub für Fußballstatistiken (in German). p. 84. Retrieved 19 October 2023.
  24. "United's Etcheverry Is Off to Strong Start". The Washington Post. 19 April 2003. Retrieved 5 September 2023.
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