KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Milos Stojcev didn’t know much about Major League Soccer when his agent mentioned a team in the United States was looking for players with his skill set.
Sure, he knew about David Beckham in Los Angeles. He knew about Thierry Henry and Rafa Márquez in New York. He knew that in a general sense, MLS was a league on an upward trajectory.
And while Stojcev didn’t know exactly what he was getting into then, the 24-year-old Serbian midfielder is starting to get a pretty good idea now after spending the last few months acclimating with Sporting Kansas City.
“The league is faster, stronger and more direct than what I am used to,” he said, with assistant coach Zoran Savic translating. “The country is beautiful. And, as far my teammates are concerned, I’ve been accepted like I had already been here.”
For now anyway, Stojcev isn’t yet able to carry on an interview in English, routing his answers through Savic, who was also born in Serbia.
But he is capable of communicating on the field well enough and pairs a cultured left foot with the knack for delivering the final ball. That skill is why Stojcev finds himself in Kansas City, more than 5,000 miles from Serbia where he had played his whole career until arriving stateside this spring.
“I am excited to be here in a new environment,” Stojcev said. “Everyone has accepted me. I appreciate all the help I’ve got from the players and coaches. My job is just to come out everyday and prove myself.”
So far he has done just that, snagging a starting role after arriving in Kansas City on trial during the preseason.
[inline_node:332508]“[He’s a] very smart soccer player,” manager Peter Vermes said. “He’s a creative type. He’s very adept at giving the final pass, and that’s the thing that he has that is a different quality than some of the other guys we have in the midfield.”
That’s not even mentioning Stojcev’s powerful left boot, which nearly beat Chivas USA goalkeeper Zach Thornton from 25-yards out in Sporting’s season-opener and his first MLS appearance.
“There was positive energy and nervousness,” he said of his debut, “but just like any other game I looked forward to it. I was just happy that we won on the road.”
He’s just as happy to have found a place in Kansas City after bouncing around Serbia with five different teams after leaving the famed academy of Red Star Belgrade. Luckily, Kansas City’s coaching staff was looking for a creative midfielder and had contacts in Stojcev’s part of the globe.
“We have pretty good connections overseas,” Vermes said, “especially in Central Europe through Zoran and I. We find these guys through some people that we know. We have a pretty good lay of the land there.”
And as time goes on, Stojcev is getting a better lay of the land in Kansas City and MLS.
He said he knows he will need to continue to build his physique and fitness to keep up with the pace of the game but feels confident that his technical abilities would fit into the team and league.
Next up is his grasp of English which, although raw, he said was coming along.
“Everyday I learn,” Stojcev said, laughing.
