Preki
Assistant Coach
Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic joined Sounders FC’s coaching staff prior to the 2018 season following three seasons as a Head Coach in the United Soccer League. The former MLS Coach of the Year has an extensive resume of 38 years of professional soccer, including 24 as a player and seven as a Head Coach. He returned to the Pacific Northwest after featuring for the Tacoma Stars from 1985-1990.
Preki’s coaching career began as an assistant under Bob Bradley at Chivas USA in 2006, before serving as Head Coach from 2007-2009, accumulating a 47-39-28 record and three postseason appearances, in addition to earning 2007 MLS Coach of the Year. After a year as Head Coach of Toronto FC in 2010, Preki took a three-year break from the sideline before returning in 2013 to coach in the USL for Sacramento Republic FC (2014-2015) and Saint Louis FC (2017), accumulating a 42-29-14 record and winning the USL championship in 2014 for Sacramento in its inaugural season.
Born in Yugoslavia, Preki played as a youth in Belgrade before signing with the Tacoma Stars of the Major Indoor Soccer League in 1985, where he featured for five seasons – earning multiple All-Star honors and the 1989 MISL MVP – playing alongside Brian Schmetzer. After a short stint in Sweden and two years with the St. Louis Storm of the MISL, he made the move to Everton of the English Premier League, where he played from 1992-1994. He split the next two seasons between Portsmouth in England and the San Jose Grizzlies of the Continental Indoor Soccer League, earning 1995 CISL MVP honors.
He then joined Major League Soccer in its inaugural season in 1996 with the Kansas City Wizards, where he played until 2005 (save for the 2001 season with the Miami Fusion). In his 10 seasons in MLS, Preki tallied 79 goals and 112 assists in 242 appearances, winning 1997 and 2003 MLS MVP and Golden Boot honors, in addition to capturing the 2000 MLS Cup with Kansas City. Preki remains the only person in league history to win both MLS MVP and Coach of the Year.
Preki earned 28 caps and scored four goals for the U.S. Men’s National Team after earning his citizenship in 1996, including two appearances in the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France. Preki holds a UEFA Pro coaching license.
