MLS veteran Dema Kovalenko is retiring Soccer Insider He has a bad reputation with many MLS fans, especially in his later years, but the guy was probably one of the hardest working players ever in MLS. It says a lot about him that his teams always made the playoffs. No matter how you feel about the guy, he joins the ever growing list of MLS veterans ending their careers before the 2011 season.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2011/02/dema_kovalenko_says_hes_retiri.html#more No truth to the rumor Brandon Pollard will join him for some friendly games of golf.
As a player he struck me as a guy that if he played for your club you'd love him but otherwise you couldn't stand him.
Yup. And when you look at Dema Kovalenko's career.........the teams he played for were by and large successful. Make a list of the players that have won an NCAA title, a US Open Cup, an MLS Cup, a Supporter's Shield, an Eastern Conference Championship, and a Western Conference Championship. I wonder how many years out of Dema's 12 in MLS, he failed to make the playoffs. You can believe that was a coincidence, or not. Every team needs a tough guy. Every good team, anyway.
agreed. (and every team benefits for a guy who will run over and jump on the first rail of the stands, or on the sign boards, to celebrate a great goal, or even just a fine assist.) and fwiw, Goff notes that Kovalenko "was on a playoff team in each of his 12 seasons" in MLS. really an interesting career. a shame about that hand ball that got him sent off when DC won MLS Cup in 2004.
Hated him because he never played for any of the teams when I was around to watch, lol Enjoy your retirement. Our league lost one of it's pitt bulls that's for sure.
When he was at NY, as part of the ticket offices push for season ticket holders, I got a call from him (most awesome thing ever for a high schooler) and I was persuaded to buy a season ticket. Thanks to him, this is my 4th year on board! Always admired his toughness on the field too. Congrats on a great career!
It has been forgotten now but early in Dema's career he was not a thug type player when he played with the Fire. He was a decent, energetic midfielder with no small amount of skill. While he was tough player with the Fire his thug persona did not develop until later in his career.
And on the bright side, Lloyd's of London has just lowered the insurance rates for accidental injury to MLS players...
Anyone got a video from 1999 when the decent energetic midfielder from the Chicago Fire stomped on the back of Brandon Pollard's calf, making his legs bones visibly protrude through the front and ending a promising young players career?
Well Conor Casey notched 10 goals the last 3 seasons and it seemed like every other BigSoccer poster was calling him a reckless goon after MLS Cup.
Depends on the year; certainly that isn't how he played for RSL, so perhaps there is a large element of how he was coached that goes into his style of play. I wouldn't call him an elegant player with RSL, but certainly not a thug. Other years, though - 2003, for example, he was whistled for 67 fouls in 26 games. That's a remarkably high fouls per game number - thugtastic, you might say.