Kirovski Signs With Galaxy
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The Galaxy on Friday signed forward Jovan Kirovski, a U.S. national team member who joins the club after spending two years with Birmingham City of the English Premier League. Kirovski will be slotted into a spot created by the retirement of Mauricio Cienfuegos at the end of last season.
“I’ve been thinking about coming back to play in the U.S. for a long time,” said Kirovski, 27, an Escondido native, in a statement released by the team.
“Being from Southern California, this is a great opportunity for me to come home and have all of my family and friends around me. With my style of play, I look forward to being another offensive weapon, to create and score some goals and, hopefully, I can do that. The most important thing is to win games and go on and win the [Major League Soccer] Cup.”
Kirovski, listed at 6 feet 1 and 175 pounds, began his professional career as a 15-year-old in Manchester United’s youth program in 1992.
He also has played in Europe for Borussia Dortmund in the German Bundesliga and Sporting Lisbon in the Spanish Liga.
He has been a U.S. national team member since 1994 and has nine goals in 59 international appearances.
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The Chicago Fire received formal approval from the Village of Bridgeview, Ill., to build a soccer-exclusive stadium that would seat between 20,000 and 25,000 fans and house the team’s offices and serve as the team’s training site. An additional training field will be built next to the stadium, as part of a 60-acre site.
The Fire will play the next two seasons at Soldier Field, then move into the new facility in the spring of 2006. The team played at North Central College during the 2002 season and for most of 2003 while Soldier Field underwent extensive renovations.
The construction of the Fire’s new facility marks the third soccer-only stadium built for an MLS team, joining the Galaxy and Columbus Crew.
Drinking Crackdown
In an attempt to curb hooliganism during the European Championship later this year, police in Portugal will use breath-testing equipment for the first time on “fans who show signs of being intoxicated,” a police spokesman said.
Police in Belgium and the Netherlands said alcohol contributed to fan violence at Euro 2000.
More than 1,000 fans, many of them English, were arrested during the tournament. UEFA, European soccer’s ruling body, said the English team would face expulsion if its supporters caused trouble again.
British police authorities said the government would give the Euro 2004 as much as $9.1 million to help obtain orders banning hooligans from traveling to the European Championship.
England’s first match is June 13 against France in Lisbon.
