Nick Krat

Nick Krat

Personal information
Date of birth	February 24, 1943 (1943-02-24) (age 68)
Place of birth	Ukraine
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
1962-1965	Michigan State Spartans
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1962-1966	Ukrainian Lions
1967	Chicago Spurs	11	(0)
1967-1968	St. Louis Stars	26	(0)
1969-1974	Ukrainian Lions
1972	Chicago Schwaben
National team
1968-1972	United States	14	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Nick Krat (Ukrainian: Микола (Нік) Краг) is a retired Ukrainian-American soccer defender who played professionally in the National Soccer League of Chicago and the North American Soccer League. He earned fourteen caps with the United States men's national soccer team between 1968 and 1972.

Youth

Krat, a native of Ukraine, attended college at Michigan State University where he played on the men’s soccer team. In 1965, he was named the Defensive MVP of the NCAA post-season tournament as the Spartans went to the championship game, only to lose to Saint Louis University. That season, Krat was also named a First Team All American.^[1][2]

Professional

In 1962, Krat began his career with the Ukrainian Lions of the National Soccer League of Chicago. He would play every season for the Lions until 1974 except for two. In 1967, he began the season as a center back with the Chicago Spurs of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) before moving to the St. Louis Stars. In 1968, the NPSL merged with the United Soccer Association to form the North American Soccer League. After the merger, Krat spent one more season, 1968, with the Stars, this time in the NASL. He won the 1972 and 1974 NSLC championships the Lions.

National team

Krat earned fourteen caps with the national team between 1968 and 1972. His first game came on September 15, 1968 in a tie with Israel. At the time, the U.S. was preparing for the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifying games. Krat started all six of those matches as the U.S. went 3-3, failing to make the tournament.^[3] The national team had no games in 1970 and 1971. When it resumed play in 1972, Krat started the first three games.^[4]

References

1. ^ 1965 All Americans
2. ^ MSU Spartans Media Guide
3. ^ USA - Details of International Matches 1885-1969
4. ^ USA - Details of International Matches 1970-1979

External links

• NASL stats
• FIFA player profile
• Ukrainian Football Diaspora @ Sport.ua

Persondata
Name	Krat, Nick
Alternative names
Short description	Soccer player
Date of birth	February 24, 1943
Place of birth	Ukraine
Date of death
Place of death