View source for Jovan Kirovski

{{Short description|American soccer player (born 1976)}}
{{Lead too short|date=June 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2023}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name           = Jovan Kirovski
| image          = Jovan Kirovski.png
| caption        = Kirovski with LA Galaxy at the MLS SuperDraft in 2017
| fullname       = Jovan Kirovski<ref name="Hugman">{{Hugman|11114|access-date=November 17, 2019}}</ref>
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1976|3|18|mf=y}}<ref name="Hugman"/>
| birth_place    = [[Escondido, California]], United States
| height         = {{height|ft=6|in=1}}<ref>{{cite book |title=Playfair Football Annual 2003–2004 |editor1-last=Rollin |editor1-first=Glenda |editor2-last=Rollin |editor2-first=Jack |date=2003 |publisher=Headline |isbn=978-0-7553-1313-6 |page=24}}</ref>
| position       = [[Forward (association football)|Forward]]
| youthyears1    = 1991 |youthclubs1 = [[Nomads Soccer Club|San Diego Nomads]]
| youthyears2    = 1992 |youthclubs2 = [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]
| years1         = 1993–1996 |clubs1  = [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]] |caps1  = 0  |goals1  = 0
| years2         = 1996–2000 |clubs2  = [[Borussia Dortmund]]                        |caps2  = 20 |goals2  = 1
| years3         = 1998–1999 |clubs3  = → [[SC Fortuna Köln|Fortuna Köln]] (loan)    |caps3  = 23 |goals3  = 2
| years4         = 2000–2001 |clubs4  = [[Sporting Clube de Portugal|Sporting CP]]   |caps4  = 5  |goals4  = 0
| years5         = 2001–2002 |clubs5  = [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]]       |caps5  = 36 |goals5  = 5
| years6         = 2002–2004 |clubs6  = [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]]     |caps6  = 23 |goals6  = 2
| years7         = 2004–2005 |clubs7  = [[Los Angeles Galaxy]]                       |caps7  = 48 |goals7  = 12
| years8         = 2005–2008 |clubs8  = [[Colorado Rapids]]                          |caps8  = 61 |goals8  = 12
| years9         = 2008      |clubs9  = [[San Jose Earthquakes]]                     |caps9  = 9  |goals9  = 0
| years10        = 2009–2011 |clubs10 = [[Los Angeles Galaxy]]                       |caps10 = 56 |goals10 = 6
| totalcaps      = 281 |totalgoals = 40
| nationalyears1 = 1996      |nationalteam1 = [[United States men's national under-23 soccer team|United States U23]] |nationalcaps1 = 3  |nationalgoals1 = 1
| nationalyears2 = 1994–2004 |nationalteam2 = [[United States men's national soccer team|United States]]              |nationalcaps2 = 62 |nationalgoals2 = 9
| manageryears1  = 2012 |managerclubs1 = [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] (assistant)
| manageryears2  = 2013 |managerclubs2 = [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] (Technical Director)
| manageryears3  = 2024 |managerclubs3 = [[AC Milan]] (Director of Sports Development)
| medaltemplates = 
{{Medal|Country|{{USA}}}}
{{Medal|3rd|[[CONCACAF Gold Cup]]|[[1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup|1996]]}}
{{MedalSport|Men's [[Association football|Soccer]]}}
}}
'''Jovan Kirovski''' ({{langx|mk|Јован Кировски}}; born March 18, 1976) is an American former [[association football|soccer]] player who is the former technical director for the [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] in [[Major League Soccer]]. Kirovski is the first American to win the [[UEFA Champions League]] (with [[Borussia Dortmund]] although he did not play in the final) and the first to score in a Champions League match. He has won an [[MLS Cup]] championship as a player, assistant coach, and technical director.

==Club career==
Born in [[Escondido, California]], Kirovski, is the son of [[Macedonians (ethnic group)|Macedonian]] immigrants.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Foot In The Door |url=http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1007378/index.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304065426/http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1007378/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 4, 2009 |publisher=SI Vault |date=November 13, 1995 |first=Dan |last=Herbst |access-date=March 4, 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |first=Elliott |last=Almond |title=Kirovski is making up for lost time with Quakes |url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:AWNB:SJMB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=1211486E508E3C48&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB57AB53DF815 |publisher=San Jose Mercury (NewsBank) |date=May 31, 2008 |access-date=September 30, 2010 }}</ref> In the 1990's at age of 14 Kirovski visited [[Yugoslavia]] for a trial with Croatian club [[HNK_Hajduk_Split|Hajduk Split]], but due to the uncertain political situation at that time his parents decided to return back to the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A FOOT IN THE DOOR AIMING FOR THE FIRST TEAM, JOVAN KIROVSKI OF THE U.S. IS A MANCHESTER UNITED RESERVE |url=https://vault.si.com/vault/1995/11/13/a-foot-in-the-door-aiming-for-the-first-team-jovan-kirovski-of-the-us-is-a-manchester-united-reserve}}</ref> In 1991-92 season as a sophomore he led [[San_Pasqual_High_School_(Escondido,_California)|San Pasqual High Golden Eagles]] to the San Diego County title. <ref>{{Cite web |title=San Pasqual Tie for Title |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-10-sp-3334-story.html}}</ref> He was also a member of the [[Nomads Soccer Club|San Diego Nomads]] from 1991.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nomads Alumni Hall of Fame |url=https://www.nomadssoccer.org/alumninomads }}</ref> 

While on a tour in 1992 with the U.S. Western Region Olympic Development Squad in United Kingdom, Kirovski impressed [[Manchester United]] youth coach Steve Kelly. Kelly arranged for Kirovski to be a guest player for [[Glasgow Rangers]] in the upcoming [[SuperCupNI|Milk Cup]], an international football youth tournament held annually in [[Northern Ireland]]. 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 [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]'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 [[Borussia Dortmund]] in the German [[Bundesliga]]. Kirovski spent the next four seasons in Germany. He played in Dortmund's [[1996–97 UEFA Champions League]] campaign, becoming the first American to win the competition.<ref>{{cite news |date=July 4, 2017 |title=The United States' biggest European success stories |url=https://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/news/0256-0e9a02ec9c8c-c4e0522b044b-1000--usa-stars-in-european-football-chelsea-s-pulisic-claims-/ |publisher=[[UEFA]] |access-date=May 26, 2018}}</ref> He earned significant playing time during the 1998–99 season, when Borussia loaned him out to second division club [[SC Fortuna Köln|Fortuna Köln]].

In 2000, Kirovski signed with Portuguese club [[Sporting Clube de Portugal|Sporting CP]]. After a season there, he went back to England, signing with [[Football League First Division]] club [[Crystal Palace F.C.|Crystal Palace]]. In 2002, Kirovski signed with [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham City]], but after one and a half seasons, he signed with the [[Los Angeles Galaxy]].

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]], he rejoined the Galaxy in a November 2008 trade. Kirovski enjoyed a successful stint with the Galaxy, winning an [[MLS Cup]] 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]]'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.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2013/01/10/jovan-kirovski-named-technical-director|title=Jovan Kirovski named Technical Director |website=LA Galaxy |date=January 10, 2013 }}</ref> As Technical Director, Kirovski was instrumental in the creation of the club's USL affiliate [[LA Galaxy II]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2014/01/29/la-galaxy-insider-speaks-technical-director-jovan-kirovski-la-galaxy-ii-creation|title=LA Galaxy Insider speaks with Technical Director Jovan Kirovski on LA Galaxy II creation &#124; LA Galaxy}}</ref> 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]] in August 2015.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-galaxy-dos-santos-20150804-story.html|title=In Galaxy's pursuit of Giovani dos Santos, persistence paid off|first=Kevin|last=Baxter|date=August 3, 2015|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> He also aided the Galaxy in their signing of [[Jelle Van Damme]] a year later.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/la-sp-galaxy-european-players-20160203-story.html|title=Galaxy gets creative to acquire three European players|first=Kevin|last=Baxter|date=February 2, 2016|work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> Kirovski served as the lead in the Galaxy's signing of 2017 team Most Valuable Player [[Romain Alessandrini]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2017/01/31/galaxy-gm-peter-vagenas-delighted-alessandrini-signing-we-absolutely-got-our-number |title=Galaxy GM Peter Vagenas delighted with Alessandrini signing: "We absolutely got our number one target" |website=LA Galaxy |date=January 31, 2017 }}</ref> 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]], who joined the club officially in March 2018. Kirovski's rich global network from his time as a player helped to complete the deal.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.lagalaxy.com/post/2018/03/23/how-la-galaxy-signed-zlatan-ibrahimovi |title=How the LA Galaxy signed Zlatan Ibrahimović |website=LA Galaxy |date=March 23, 2018 }}</ref>

==International career==
Kirovski made his debut for the [[United States men's national soccer team|United States national team]] at the age of 18 on October 19, 1994, against [[Saudi Arabia national football team|Saudi Arabia]], and played at the [[Football at the 1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Olympics]] and the 1999 and 2003 editions of the [[FIFA Confederations Cup]]. 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.''

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ List of international goals scored by Jovan Kirovski
|-
!scope="col"|No.
!scope="col"|Date
!scope="col"|Venue
!scope="col"|Opponent
!scope="col"|Score
!scope="col"|Result
!scope="col"|Competition
|-
|align="center"|1
|November 22, 1994
|[[Independence Park (Jamaica)|National Stadium]], [[Kingston, Jamaica]]
|{{fb|Jamaica}}
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center"|3–0
|align="center"|[[Friendly (association football)|Friendly]]
|-
|align="center"|2
|December 11, 1994
|[[Titan Stadium (Cal State Fullerton)|Titan Stadium]], [[Fullerton, California|Fullerton]], United States
|{{fb|Honduras}}
|align="center"|1–1
|align="center"|1–1
|align="center"|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|3
|January 21, 1996
|[[Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum]], Los Angeles, United States
|{{fb|Guatemala}}
|align="center"|3–0
|align="center"|3–0
|align="center"|[[1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup]]
|-
|align="center"|4
|June 17, 1997
|[[Alltel Stadium]], [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], United States
|{{fb|Israel}}
|align="center"|2–0
|align="center"|2–1
|align="center"|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|5
|February 6, 1999
|[[Alltel Stadium]], [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville]], United States
|{{fb|Germany}}
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center"|3–0
|align="center"|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|6
|July 24, 1999
|[[Estadio Jalisco]], [[Guadalajara]], [[Jalisco]], Mexico
|{{fb|New Zealand}}
|align="center"|2–0
|align="center"|2–1
|align="center"|[[1999 FIFA Confederations Cup]]
|-
|align="center"|7
|February 12, 2000
|[[Orange Bowl]], [[Miami]], United States
|{{fb|Haiti}}
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center"|3–0
|align="center"|[[2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup]]
|-
|align="center"|8
|March 29, 2003
|[[Seattle Seahawks Stadium]], [[Seattle]], United States
|{{fb|Venezuela}}
|align="center"|1–0
|align="center"|2–0
|align="center"|Friendly
|-
|align="center"|9
|June 8, 2003
|[[City Stadium (Richmond)|University of Richmond Stadium]], [[Richmond, Virginia|Richmond]], United States
|{{fb|New Zealand}}
|align="center"|2–1
|align="center"|2–1
|align="center"|Friendly
|}

==Coaching career==
Kirovski joined [[Los Angeles Galaxy]] as assistant coach immediately upon his retirement in January 2012.<ref>{{cite web |title=LA Galaxy name Jovan Kirovski assistant coach |url=http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2012/01/la-galaxy-name-jovan-kirovski-assistant-coach |work=LAGalaxy.com |publisher=Major League Soccer |date=January 23, 2012 |access-date=March 4, 2012 |archive-date=December 30, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131230234500/http://www.lagalaxy.com/news/2012/01/la-galaxy-name-jovan-kirovski-assistant-coach |url-status=dead }}</ref> In January 2013, the Galaxy appointed him as the club's technical director.<ref name="auto1"/> In June 2024, Kirovski joined [[AC Milan]] as Director of Sports Development<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ibrahimovic confirms appointment of ex-LA Galaxy director Kirovski at Milan |url=https://football-italia.net/official-kirovski-appointed-milan-ibrahimovic/ |website=football-italia.net |date=July 4, 2024}}</ref> to be in charge of Milan’s Academy, including [[Milan Futuro]], the Rossoneri’s second team.

==Honors==
'''Borussia Dortmund'''
*[[UEFA Champions League]]: [[1997 UEFA Champions League Final|1996–97]]
*[[Intercontinental Cup (1960–2004)|Intercontinental Cup]]: [[1997 Intercontinental Cup|1997]]

'''Sporting'''
*[[Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira]]: [[2000 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira|2000]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fpf.pt/Portals/0/Documentos/Noticias/Competi%C3%A7%C3%B5es/PressKit_Superta%C3%A7a2013_site.pdf|title=Histórico da Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira|trans-title=Supercup Cândido de Oliveira all-time record|publisher=[[Portuguese Football Federation]]|language=pt|page=12|date=11 August 2012|access-date=16 April 2024}}</ref>

'''Los Angeles Galaxy'''
*[[MLS Cup]]: 2005, 2011
*[[Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup]]: 2005
*[[Western Conference (MLS)|Western Conference]]: 2005, 2009, 2010, 2011

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Navboxes
|title=United States squads
|bg=white
|fg=#002868
|bordercolor=#BF0A30
|list1=
{{United States squad 1995 Copa América}}
{{United States squad 1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{United States men's football squad 1996 Summer Olympics}}
{{United States squad 1999 FIFA Confederations Cup}}
{{United States squad 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup}}
{{United States squad 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup}}
}}
{{Los Angeles Galaxy squad}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kirovski, Jovan}}
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:American expatriate sportspeople in England]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England]]
[[Category:American expatriate men's soccer players in Germany]]
[[Category:American expatriate sportspeople in Portugal]]
[[Category:Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal]]
[[Category:Manchester United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Borussia Dortmund players]]
[[Category:SC Fortuna Köln players]]
[[Category:Sporting CP footballers]]
[[Category:Crystal Palace F.C. players]]
[[Category:Birmingham City F.C. players]]
[[Category:LA Galaxy players]]
[[Category:Colorado Rapids players]]
[[Category:San Jose Earthquakes players]]
[[Category:Premier League players]]
[[Category:Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:2. Bundesliga players]]
[[Category:Primeira Liga players]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Major League Soccer players]]
[[Category:Major League Soccer All-Stars]]
[[Category:Soccer players from San Diego County, California]]
[[Category:Soccer players from San Diego]]
[[Category:American people of Macedonian descent]]
[[Category:Olympic soccer players for the United States]]
[[Category:Footballers at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:United States men's international soccer players]]
[[Category:1995 Copa América players]]
[[Category:1996 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]]
[[Category:1999 FIFA Confederations Cup players]]
[[Category:2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup players]]
[[Category:2003 FIFA Confederations Cup players]]
[[Category:United States men's under-23 international soccer players]]
[[Category:LA Galaxy non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Men's association football forwards]]
[[Category:American men's soccer players]]
[[Category:UEFA Champions League–winning players]]
[[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]