Dema Kovalenko
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| Dima Kovalenko | ||
 |
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dmytro Kovalenko | |
| Date of birth | August 28, 1977 (age 29) | |
| Place of birth | Kiev, Ukraine | |
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | |
| Playing position | Midfielder | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Red Bull New York | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1996-98 | Indiana University 57 (45) | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1999-2002 2001-02 2003-05 2006 2006- |
Chicago Fire → FC St. Pauli (loan) DC United FC Metalurh Zaporizhzhya Red Bull New York |
90 (22) 5 (0) 77 (12) 2 (0) 12 (0) |
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1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Dmytro (Dima) Kovalenko (Ukrainian: Діма Коваленко; born August 28, 1977 in Kiev, Ukraine) is a Ukrainian soccer player, who currently plays as a midfielder for Red Bull New York of Major League Soccer.
Kovalenko emigrated to the United States in 1992. He 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.
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 from DC.
[edit] See also
| Red Bull New York - Current Squad |
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1 Cepero | 2 Wynne | 3 Freeman | 4 Mendes | 6 Stammler | 7 Magee | 8 Ubiparipovic | 9 Wolyniec | 10 Reyna | 11 Van den Bergh | 12 Camp | 14 Vide | 15 Kovalenko | 16 Dunivant | 17 Altidore | 18 Conway | 19 Richards | 22 Regan | 23 Waterreus | 25 Caccavale | 26 Graham | 27 Ikangu | 28 Laventure | 29 Patterson | 31 MacDonald | 32 Schopp | 60 Parke | — Mathis | Coach: Arena |
