Kansas City Wizards General Manager Curt Johnson announced Tuesday that the team has signed Serbian defender Vuk Rasovic as a Discovery Player. Rasovic previously played with Krylya Sovetov of the Russian Premier League and had acquired his own player pass and therefore was out of contract. He will arrive in Kansas City on Tuesday evening and join the team on Wednesday, April 28th.
"We spent our preseason in Portugal with Vuk and he impressed us. He is an experienced, wily and technically clean defender," said Head Coach Bob Gansler. "We feel with where he has been and the experiences he has gathered both in Yugoslavia and Russia, he is going to serve us well. He can play anywhere across the back line and maybe even in defensive midfield, but we brought him in to be another option in our back four. We haven't seen him in a month so I'm sure he is anxious to get on the field and we are anxious to get him integrated with our team."
Rasovic, 31, joins the Wizards after an impressive playing career in Europe in which he has taken part in the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup and the UEFA Cup Winner's Cup. He has spent the past two years with Krylya Sovetov of the Russian Premier League following a four-year stint with Partizan Belgrade in Serbia (formerly Yugoslavia). Prior to that, he played professionally in the Bulgarian Premier League in 1997 with Slavia Sofia and has also appeared ten times for his country.
The Serbian International trained with the Wizards in Portugal in March of this year during their preseason trip and was impressive on the Wizards back line. He will count as a Senior International on the Wizards roster and has already received his P-1 Visa paperwork. He is scheduled to receive a physical on Wednesday, April 28th and will be available for the Wizards this Saturday for their match against the Colorado Rapids.
To make room on the roster for the Senior International, the Wizards have waived midfielder/forward Stephen Armstrong. Armstrong has appeared in 49 matches for the Wizards, including 24 starts, while scoring five goals and adding six assists since joining the team prior to the 2002 season in a trade with D.C. United. He had yet to appear for the Wizards in 2004 while recovering from a sports hernia surgery that took place during the offseason.
VUK RASOVIC (VOOK RAS-o-vich)
Position: Defender
Number: 2
Height: 6-0
Weight: 170
Born: January 3, 1973
Place of Birth: Dortmund, Germany
Hometown: Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro
Previous Clubs: Krylya Sovetov - Russia (2002-2003), Partizan Belgrade - Yugoslavia
(1998-2001), Slavia Sofia - Bulgaria (1997-1998)
Acquired: Signed as a Discovery Player, 4/27/2004
