Dema Kovalenko

Dema Kovalenko

Kovalenko with the LA Galaxy in August 2010
Personal information
Full name	Dmytro Kovalenko
Date of birth	28 August 1977 (1977-08-28) (age 34)
Place of birth	Kiev, Ukraine
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Playing position	Midfielder
Youth career
1996–1998	Indiana Hoosiers
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1999–2002	Chicago Fire	108	(26)
2001–2002	→ FC St. Pauli (loan)	5	(0)
2003–2005	D.C. United	82	(12)
2006	Metalurh Zaporizhzhya	2	(0)
2006–2008	New York Red Bulls	35	(2)
2008	Real Salt Lake	22	(1)
2009–2010	Los Angeles Galaxy	23	(1)
Total		277	(42)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 27 September 2010. † Appearances (Goals).

Dmytro "Dema" Kovalenko (Ukrainian: Дмитро (Діма) Коваленко) (born 28 August 1977 in Kiev) is a retired Ukrainian footballer.

After moving to the United States in 1992 he spent the majority of his playing career there, most notably for Chicago Fire and D.C. United, winning the MLS Cup with DC in 2004. After being released by Los Angeles Galaxy after the end of the 2010 season, he retired from the game in February 2011.

Career

Early life and amateur

Kovalenko emigrated to the United States in 1992. He graduated from Greece Arcadia High School in Rochester, New York in 1996, and played three years of college soccer at Indiana University from 1996 to 1998, where he helped the Hoosiers win a national championship in 1998, and was named an NCAA first team All-American in the same year.

Professional

Upon joining the league, Kovalenko was originally allocated to the Dallas Burn, but the league complied with his demands to play for the Chicago Fire, engineering a trade to the team in exchange for draft picks. Kovalenko appeared infrequently in his rookie year, playing only 291 minutes in 11 games, but managed to score three goals for the team. Kovalenko made an impact another way, breaking the leg, and effectively ending the career, of Burn defender Brandon Pollard with a dangerous tackle.

Kovalenko would come into his own as a player in the 2000 season, scoring 10 goals and 5 assists in 31 games for the Fire, as he helped the team to a U.S. Open Cup victory. The next year, he was moved from a forward position to attacking midfield, but continued to catalyze the Fire offense, scoring 8 goals and 7 assists in 25 games. In 2001, Kovalenko had trouble scoring, registering only 1 goal with his 8 assists, but was still a dangerous offensive player for the team.

After the 2001 MLS season, Kovalenko played on loan for FC St. Pauli of the German Bundesliga. Following the 2002 season he was traded, largely because of salary cap problems, to D.C. United in exchange for youngster Justin Mapp. Kovalenko immediately established himself with United, scoring 6 goals in 24 games in his first season with the team. Also, in what seemed like something of a recurring trend, Kovalenko was again involved in a Dallas Burn injury, when another late tackle broke Burn midfielder Ronnie O'Brien's leg, causing him to miss most of the regular season. Kovalenko was fined $1,000 and suspended one game for his actions. Kovalenko continued to be a valuable player in central midfield for D.C. United in 2004, registering 2 goals and 10 assists for the team in 25 games. He was ejected from the championship game for a handball, but DC United held on to win. In 2005, despite losing the early part of the season to a broken foot, he tallied 4 goals and 4 assists. He left DC United in January, 2006, after being unable to agree on salary terms, and returned to Ukraine. He signed a one year contract with FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya.

In August 2006, Kovalenko returned to MLS, after his rights were acquired by New York Red Bulls from DC. The fiery Ukrainian's play in the beginning of the 2007 season had New York challenging in the Eastern Conference, however he was sidelined with injury and the team began to struggle. Kovalenko was able to return during the latter part of the season, helping the club clinch a playoff berth. He concluded the season appearing in 19 league matches, registering two goals and one assist. He was traded to Real Salt Lake in February 2008.

On 14 January 2009, Salt Lake traded Kovalenko to Los Angeles Galaxy in exchange for a draft pick and an undisclosed sum of allocation money.^[1]

On 3 December 2010, LA Galaxy announced Kovalenko's contract would not be renewed for the 2011 MLS season.^[2] Kovalenko elected to participate in the 2010 MLS Re-Entry Draft and became a Major League Soccer free agent when he was not selected by any club.

Having been unable to secure a spot on a professional roster for the upcoming season, Kovalenko confirmed his retirement in an interview on February 14, 2011.^[3]

Honors

D.C. United

• Major League Soccer Eastern Conference Championship (1): 2004
• Major League Soccer MLS Cup (1): 2004

Los Angeles Galaxy

• Major League Soccer Supporter's Shield (1): 2010
• Major League Soccer Western Conference Championship (1): 2009

References

1. ^ "Galaxy Add Kovalenko, Magee", "MLS Daily", 2009-01-15. Retrieved on 2009-01-15.
2. ^ "Two Galaxy players made available for MLS Re-entry Draft", 2010-12-03. Retrieved on 2010-12-05.
3. ^ http://voices.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2011/02/dema_kovalenko_says_hes_retiri.html#more

External links

• MLS player profile

Persondata
Name	Kovalenko, Dema
Alternative names
Short description	footballer
Date of birth	28 August 1977
Place of birth	Kiev, Ukraine
Date of death
Place of death