Jovan Kirovski (; 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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who is the former technical director for the

Los Angeles Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

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 ...

. Kirovski is the first American to win the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

(with

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

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

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

championship as a player, assistant coach, and technical director.

Club career

Born in

Escondido, California Escondido (Spanish language, Spanish for "Hidden") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County (San Diego area), North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San ...

, Kirovski, is the son of Macedonian immigrants. In the 1990's at age of 14 Kirovski visited

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

for a trial with Croatian club

Hajduk Split Hrvatski Nogometni klub Hajduk Split, commonly referred to as Hajduk Split (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Split, that competes in the Croatian First League, the top tier in Croatian football. Since 1979, the club's home ...

, but due to the uncertain political situation at that time his parents decided to return back to the United States. In 1991-92 season as a sophomore he led San Pasqual High Golden Eagles to the San Diego County title. He was also a member of the San Diego Nomads from 1991. While on a tour in 1992 with the U.S. Western Region Olympic Development Squad in United Kingdom, Kirovski impressed

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

youth coach Steve Kelly. Kelly arranged for Kirovski to be a guest player for Glasgow Rangers in the upcoming

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

, an international football youth tournament held annually in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

. Kirovski excelled in the tournament, scoring seven goals in seven games, including the match-winner in the semifinals, and helping the team win the tournament. He joined

'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

in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. Kirovski spent the next four seasons in Germany. He played in Dortmund's

1996–97 UEFA Champions League The 1996–97 UEFA Champions League was the 42nd season of UEFA's premier European club football tournament, the fifth since its rebranding as the UEFA Champions League, and the last that involved only clubs that were champions of their domestic ...

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 (, 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 at least the Re ...

. In 2000, Kirovski signed with Portuguese club

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

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

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was the top division of the Football League in England from 1888 until the end of the 1991–92 season, when its teams broke away to form the Premier League. From 1992 to 2004, the name First Division was g ...

club Crystal Palace. 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. The team compete in the ...

, 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. After spending the 2008 season with the

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

, 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 currently serves as the head coach and sporting director of the San Jose Earthquakes. He is a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame and the NJCAA Lacrosse Hall of Fame. ...

'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, 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 former professional Association football, footballer. A versatile Forward (association football), forward, dos Santos played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfi ...

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 former professional footballer who played as a winger. Club career Alessandrini spent six years of his youth career at Marseille. In 2005, he moved to Gueugnon making his debut in the third- ...

, as well as the addition of Mexican international Jonathan dos Santos in the same year. Kiroski led the team's pursuit of Swedish soccer legend

Zlatan Ibrahimović Zlatan Ibrahimović (born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. Ibrahimović is known for his acrobatic strikes and Volley (association footba ...

, who joined the club officially in March 2018. Kirovski's rich global network from his time as a player helped to complete the deal.

International career

Kirovski made his debut for the United States national team 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 West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

, 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, CONMEBO ...

. 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. In June 2024, Kirovski joined

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

as Director of Sports Development to be in charge of Milan’s Academy, including Milan Futuro, the Rossoneri’s second team.

Honors

Borussia Dortmund *

: 1996–97 * Intercontinental Cup:

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

Sporting *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

Los Angeles Galaxy *

: 2005, 2011 * Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup: 2005 * Western Conference: 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirovski, Jovan 1976 births Living people American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany American expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's 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 Soccer players from San Diego County, California Soccer players from San Diego American people of Macedonian descent Olympic soccer players for 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 Men's association football forwards American men's soccer players UEFA Champions League–winning players 20th-century American sportsmen