Boris Bandov (born November 23, 1953) is a Bosnian American retired soccer player who currently coaches youth soccer. Bandov spent ten seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: * North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league * North American Soccer League (2011–2017), a former Division II league {{disambig ...

, two in the Major Indoor Soccer League and one in the

United Soccer League United Soccer League (USL), formerly known as United Soccer Leagues, is a soccer league in the United States and Canada. It organizes several men's and women's leagues, both professional and amateur. Men's leagues currently organized are the ...

. While born in Bosnia-Hercegovina, he became a U.S. citizen in 1976. He earned thirty-three

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Ja ...

, scoring two goals, with the U.S. national team between 1976 and 1983.

Youth

Bandov was born in

Livno Livno ( sr-cyrl, Ливно, ) is a city and the administrative center of Canton 10 of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the river Bistrica in the southeastern edge of the Livno Fie ...

, PR Bosnia and Herzegovina,

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

. He attended Silver Creek High School in San Jose, California, where he played on the school's boys soccer team. In 1972, he led the team to California's Central Coast Section high school championship game, which the team lost to

Archbishop Mitty High School Archbishop Mitty High School (commonly known as Mitty) is a private, Roman Catholic high school located in San Jose, California, United States. The school is named for the late John Joseph Mitty, the fourth Archbishop of San Francisco. It was the ...

. After graduating from high school, he briefly attended

San Jose State San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a public university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the oldest public university on the West Coast and the founding campus of the California State University (CSU) sy ...

, playing on the school's football team as a kicker. His longest was a 52-yard field goal in a game against

Cal Cal or CAL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Cal'' (novel), a 1983 novel by Bernard MacLaverty * "Cal" (short story), a science fiction short story by Isaac Asimov * ''Cal'' (1984 film), an Irish drama starring John Lynch and Helen Mir ...

Professional

Bandov began his professional U.S. soccer career 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 franchis ...

of the

on May 5, 1974. He played two seasons with the Earthquakes as a forward/midfield winger before moving to the Seattle Sounders after the 1975 season. He spent most of 1976 on the Sounders reserve team, only making the first team after midfield winger Jimmy Robertson suffered a broken leg from a brutal tackle from Julio Navarro in a July 24, 1976 game against the

Philadelphia Atoms The Philadelphia Atoms were an American soccer team based out of Philadelphia that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL). They played from 1973 to 1976, at Veterans Stadium (1973–75) and Franklin Field (1976). The club's colors w ...

. Bandov played 5 games with the Sounders at the start of the 1977 season before moving to the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tier ...

for the remainder of the season. Though he saw limited playing time in just under two seasons in Tampa Bay, he was a reserve in the Rowdies' 3–1 loss to the Cosmos in

Soccer Bowl '78 Soccer Bowl '78 was the North American Soccer League's championship final for the 1978 season. It was the fourth NASL championship under the Soccer Bowl name. The match was played at Giants Stadium in the New York City suburb of East Rutherford ...

. In 1979 Bandov moved to the

New York Cosmos New York Cosmos may refer to * New York Cosmos (1970–1985), a team in the North American Soccer League (then the top-tier soccer league in the United States and Canada) * New York Cosmos (2010), a team playing since 2020 in the National Independe ...

. He played with them through the end of the 1982 season, including the two NASL championship teams of

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Syst ...

and

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C., Un ...

as well as the 1981 NASL championship loss to the

Chicago Sting The Chicago Sting (1974–1988) was an American professional soccer team representing Chicago. The Sting played in the North American Soccer League from 1975 to 1984 and in the Major Indoor Soccer League in the 1982–83 season and again from ...

. In 1983, the U.S. Soccer Federation, in coordination with the NASL, entered the U.S. national team, known as Team America, into the NASL as a league franchise. The team drew on U.S. citizens playing in the NASL, Major Indoor Soccer League and American Soccer League. In April 1983, Team America announced it had signed Bandov from the Cosmos on a game-by-game basis. He played 21 games with the team during its single season in existence. When Team America finished the 1983 season with a 10-20 record, the worst in the NASL, USSF withdrew the team from the league. Bandov returned to the Cosmos, but was released on November 16, 1983, when Bandov refused to agree to a 20% pay cut. In 1984, Bandov moved to the

Fort Lauderdale Sun Fort Lauderdale Sun was a U.S. soccer team which played two seasons in the United Soccer League. In 1984, the team was known as the Fort Lauderdale Sun. Before the 1985 season they changed their name to the South Florida Sun. Origins The United ...

of the

. He continued to play for the Suns in 1985. He retired in 1986 and lives in

Dobbs Ferry Dobbs Ferry is a village in Westchester County, New York, United States. The population was 10,875 according to the 2010 United States Census. In 2019, its population rose to an estimated 11,027. The village of Dobbs Ferry is located in, and is a ...

with his wife, a former

Miss Oregon The Miss Oregon competition is a regional scholarship competition and beauty pageant that selects the representative for the US state of Oregon in the Miss America pageant. The annual event includes contestants from across the state and awards s ...

. He coaches for the FC Westchester U-17 boys and at various soccer camps and clinics.

National team

When Bandov became a U.S. citizen, he was almost immediately called into the

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exam ...

for its first game of the year, a September 24

1978 FIFA World Cup The 1978 FIFA World Cup was the 11th edition of the FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial international football world championship tournament among the men's senior national teams. It was held in Argentina between 1 and 25 June. The Cup was won by ...

qualifying game with

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

. Bandov began his national team career with a bang, scoring the tying goal. He went on to start every national team game in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. In 1980, his appearances began to taper off, but he still played the only U.S. games in 1982 and 1983. The 1983 game, a 2-0 win over

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

was his last with the team. Despite playing a total of 33 games with the team, he scored only once again after his first game, in a meaningless 3-1 win over

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

in October 1979.

Coach

In 1988, he was hired as an assistant soccer coach with

Manhattan College Manhattan College is a private, Catholic, liberal arts university in the Bronx, New York City. Originally established in 1853 by the Brothers of the Christian Schools (De La Salle Christian Brothers) as an academy for day students, it was ...

.''SPORTS IN SHORT'' The Record (New Jersey) - Wednesday, August 31, 1988

Honors

Soccer Bowl '80 Soccer Bowl '80 was the championship final of the 1980 NASL season. The New York Cosmos took on the Fort Lauderdale Strikers. The match was played on September 21, 1980 at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC. The Cosmos won, 3–0, to claim their fo ...

* Soccer Bowl '82 *

''(runner up)'' * Soccer Bowl '81 ''(runner up)'' *

USL The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, p ...

: 1984 *

USL Cup The USL Championship Final is the post-season championship match of the USL Championship, the second tier of professional men's soccer in the United States. The winner is crowned champion in the same manner as in other North American sports lea ...

: 1985 *

Cosmopolitan Soccer League The Cosmopolitan Soccer League is a regional soccer league consisting of semi-pro and amateur teams based in and around New York City. Established in 1923, it is one of the oldest soccer leagues in the United States and has contributed greatly ...

: 1986

References

External links

*
NASL/MISL stats
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bandov, Boris 1953 births Living people Sportspeople from Livno American soccer coaches American soccer players College men's soccer coaches in the United States Fort Lauderdale Sun players Kansas City Comets (original MISL) players Manhattan College people North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players New York Cosmos players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players San Jose Earthquakes (1974–1988) players Seattle Sounders (1974–1983) players Tampa Bay Rowdies (1975–1993) players Team America (NASL) players United Soccer League (1984–85) players United States men's international soccer players Yugoslav emigrants to the United States Association football midfielders Soccer players from San Jose, California