Dmytro "Dema" Kovalenko ( uk, Дмитро (Діма) Коваленко; born 28 August 1977) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He spent the majority of his playing career in the United States after moving there in 1992, most notably for Chicago Fire and

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Suppo ...

. His DC team won the

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 ...

in 2004. He retired from the game in February 2011 after being released by Los Angeles Galaxy at the end of the 2010 season. He now coaches for Oakbrook soccer club in Illinois

Career

Early life and amateur

Born in

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, Kovalenko emigrated to the United States in 1992. He graduated from Greece Arcadia High School in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

in 1996, and played three years of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

from 1996 to 1998, where he helped the Hoosiers win a national championship in 1998, and was named an NCAA first team All-American in the same year. Was long known in college for his powerful headers, which often left opponents stunned and unable to react to deflections from the goalkeeper or posts. Kovalenko often attributed this to his well developed neck muscles that he said were created from doing hundreds of sets of Ukrainian neck-snaps daily prior to his soccer training.

Professional

Upon joining the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, Kovalenko was originally allocated to the Dallas Burn, but the league complied with his demands to play for the Chicago Fire, engineering a trade to the team in exchange for draft picks. Kovalenko appeared infrequently in his rookie year, playing only 291 minutes in 11 games, but managed to score three goals for the team. Kovalenko made an impact another way, breaking the leg, and effectively ending the career, of Dallas Burn defender

Brandon Pollard Brandon Pollard (born October 9, 1973, in Richmond, Virginia) is a retired American soccer player who played as a defender. He is probably best known for having his career ended by a vicious tackle from Dema Kovalenko. Pollard was a standout pl ...

with a dangerous tackle. Kovalenko would come into his own as a player in the 2000 season, scoring ten goals and five assists in 31 games for the Fire, as he helped the team to a

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 ...

victory. The next year, he was moved from a forward position to attacking midfield, but continued to catalyze the Fire offense, scoring eight goals and seven assists in 25 games. In 2001, Kovalenko had trouble scoring, registering only one goal with his eight assists, but was still a dangerous offensive player for the team. After the 2001 MLS season, Kovalenko played on loan for

FC St. Pauli Fußball-Club St Pauli von 1910 e.V., commonly known as simply FC St Pauli (), is a German professional football club based in the St. Pauli district of Hamburg, that competes in the 2. Bundesliga. The football department is part of a larger sp ...

of 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 ...

. Following the 2002 season he was traded, largely because of salary cap problems, to

in exchange for youngster

Justin Mapp Justin Mapp (born October 18, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a midfielder. Mapp has been described as being versatile and known for possessing "speed and creative abilities from out wide, but also his ability to drift i ...

. Kovalenko immediately established himself with United, scoring six goals in 24 games in his first season with the team. Also, in what seemed like something of a recurring trend, Kovalenko was again involved in a Dallas Burn injury, when another late tackle broke Burn midfielder Ronnie O'Brien's leg, causing him to miss most of the regular season. Kovalenko was fined $1,000 and suspended one game for his actions. Kovalenko continued to be a valuable player in central midfield for D.C. United in 2004, registering two goals and ten assists for the team in 25 games. He was ejected from the championship game for a handball, but DC United held on to win. In 2005, despite losing the early part of the season to a broken foot, he tallied four goals and four assists. He left DC United in January 2006, after being unable to agree on salary terms, and returned to Ukraine. He signed a one-year contract with

FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia MFC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Запорі́жжя ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Zaporizhzhia. Reestablished in 2017, it is a "phoenix club" of the original Soviet ...

. In August 2006, Kovalenko returned to MLS, after his rights were acquired by

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

from DC. The fiery Ukrainian's play in the beginning of the 2007 season had New York challenging in the Eastern Conference, however he was sidelined with injury and the team began to struggle. Kovalenko was able to return during the latter part of the season, helping the club clinch a playoff berth. He concluded the season appearing in 19 league matches, registering two goals and one assist. He was traded to

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

in February 2008. On 14 January 2009, Salt Lake traded Kovalenko to Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for a draft pick and an undisclosed sum of allocation money. On 3 December 2010, LA Galaxy announced Kovalenko's contract would not be renewed for the 2011 MLS season. Kovalenko elected to participate in the

2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft The two-stage 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft took place on December 8, 2010 and December 15, 2010. The Stage 1 Draft of the Re-Entry Process took place on Wednesday, December 8, at 2 p.m. ET via teleconference. The Stage 2 Draft took place on Wednesday, D ...

and became a

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 ...

free agent when he was not selected by any club. Having been unable to secure a spot on a professional roster for the upcoming season, Kovalenko confirmed his retirement in an interview on 14 February 2011.

Honors

Chicago Fire *

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

D.C. United *

Eastern Conference Championship:

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Los Angeles Galaxy *

Western Conference Championship:

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

* MLS Supporter's Shield:

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kovalenko, Dema Living people 1977 births Footballers from Kyiv Ukrainian emigrants to the United States Association football midfielders American soccer players FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhia players Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players Chicago Fire FC players MLS Pro-40 players FC St. Pauli players D.C. United players New York Red Bulls players Real Salt Lake players LA Galaxy players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars A-League (1995–2004) players Ukrainian Premier League players All-American men's college soccer players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Ukraine