his 100th MLS goal. That catapulted the 33-year-old Razov into the record books, becoming only the third player in league history to crack the century barrier. He joined Real Salt Lake's Jason Kreis (108) and D.C. United's Jaime Moreno (105).
Razov has forged a reputation as one of the most consistent goal-scorers in MLS history, thanks to his desire, talented left foot and a knack for scoring goals. Not surprisingly, he has hit double digits six times and if he continues his pace, Razov will finish the 2007 season with 10 or more goals for the seventh time in his career.
"Ante is a player that sets the bar very high for himself and very high for the team," U.S. interim national coach Bob Bradley once said.
"I've known Ante a long time. I think he's a dangerous striker. ... His movement is good. When he gets chances running in on goal, his ability to beat the keeper and finish still is as good as anyone in the league."
Razov would have reached 100 goals a while ago, but injuries sometimes have gotten the best of him (a bone spur in 2004 and hernia surgery in 2005) and he spent part of the 2001 season with Racing de Ferrol of the Spanish Second Division.
One way to appreciate Razov's accomplishments and finishing abilities is to look at the stats. And he has racked up some incredible numbers over the past decade of so.
Here's just a sampling:
• He is the all-time leading goal-scorer for not one, but two clubs. He struck 76 times for the Fire and his 16 goals after his century strike place him atop the Chivas heap at the start of the team's third season.
• He has recorded more multi-goal games -- 21 -- than any other player and is tied for second with Jeff Cunningham for the most game-winning goals (28), behind Kreis.
• Entering this season, he had scored 0.46 goals per game, tying him with Diego Serna for the eighth-best strike rate in league history. He was ranked No. 3 among U.S. players.
• While many players are "homers," performing better at home than away from it, he has thrived on the road, connecting for a league all-time best 49 road goals. He also has 10 multi-goal games, 13 game-winners and two hat-tricks on the road.
• And he has placed more shots on goal (381) than any player and is No. 3 in being offside (259 times).
One of those multiple goal games came with the MetroStars when Razov faced the Columbus Crew after the club sent him east after a public feud with coach Greg Andrulis. Razov struck twice within a 147-second span to lift the MetroStars to a 3-2 victory at Giants Stadium in June 2005.
"It's like homerun hitting in baseball. You get a couple and all of sudden, you're hitting the ball better," Razov said, explaining his magic that night. "Your touch is better. You move around a lot lighter."
Like it or not, the myth is that Razov can only score goals and play well for Bradley. Well, it is difficult to dispute the numbers.
Razov has scored 78 goals in 159 MLS matches under Bradley for three teams -- the Chicago Fire, MetroStars and Chivas. But Razov did manage to net 14 goals for Fire coach Dave Sarachan in 2003 (before reported clashes with his coach forced a trade to the Columbus Crew in 2004). Razov has found the back of the net 22 times in 58 games for five coaches who aren't Bradley -- including Sarachan, Lothar Osiander (Los Angeles Galaxy), Octavio Zambrano (Galaxy), Mo Johnston (MetroStars) and Preki (Chivas). After Saturday night's encounter, he now has two goals in three matches for Preki.
It's not surprising that Razov thrives under Bradley because the latter saved him from the scrap heap after the 1997 season -- he was used all but six times and scored once over two seasons -- as he tried to find some playing time the Los Angeles Galaxy, which cut the 6-foot-1, 175-pound striker not once, but twice.
Bradley saw Razov's potential and signed him for the Fire. The left-footed Razov struck for 10 goals during the Fire's 1998 MLS Cup championship season as an expansion team. He connected for 18, helping Chicago reach the final again in 2000, only to fall to the Kansas City Wizards.
"We are very honest with each other," Razov once said. "We see soccer very similar and that is a key in any relationship. When we talk soccer, we see it in pretty much the same way, so that makes it easier for both of us. He was a springboard for my career in Chicago. He put me out there when nobody else would and allowed me to develop."
When it comes to talking, Razov has been as straight as one of his hard shots, which has gotten him into trouble with his coaches.
"The game, I think, is supposed to be played a certain way and approached a certain way and I've been part of the best team in the history of this league and I've seen something good," Razov said. "When I see something that I thought was wrong, I speak up. I'll speak my mind, I'll be brutally honest. I don't know if that's something they wanted to hear."
If there has been a disappointment in Razov's career, it's that he never played in a World Cup. He has worn the Red, White and Blue 24 times (his first cap was while he was still in college at the age of 21 in 1995), but never filled the net consistently enough for former U.S. coach Bruce Arena to include Razov in his final 23 players.
Razov has scored six international goals. That includes a pair of key scores in the 2002 World Cup qualifying run - a 1-1 draw in Guatemala on July 16, 2000 (when Carlos Ruiz introduced himself to U.S. soccer fans with his physical player and a late, dramatic goal) and a 2-0 win against Trinidad & Tobago on June 20, 2001.
Once asked about his low production at the international level, Razov replied that if goalscoring was easy, everyone would be doing it.
He's absolutely correct.
But from the way Razov has scored during his MLS career -- and the way he did it Saturday, flicking a little pass as part of the buildup, pulling away from his defender then rising up completely unmarked at the back post to head powerfully down into the goal -- he certainly has made it look easy from his end.
Michael Lewis who has covered MLS since its inception, writes about soccer for the New York Daily News and is editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He can be reached at SoccerWriter516@aol.com. Views and opinions expressed in this column are the author's, and not necessarily those of Major League Soccer or MLSnet.com.
