Posted on Thu, Aug. 14, 2008 10:15 PM
Wizards midfielder Kerry Zavagnin says this will be his final season
Zavagnin, who just last Saturday set an all-time Wizards record for minutes played, dropped the bombshell that this, his 11th season in Major League Soccer, would be his final season as a professional soccer player.
With his 90 minutes played in the Wizards’ 3-2 home victory over Chivas USA, Zavagnin surpassed former teammate Nick Garcia with 20,159 minutes in the club’s uniform. Earlier in the season, he set the club mark for most games played, which currently is at 232 and counting.
“I’m very proud of that accomplishment,” said Zavagnin, who has served as the Wizards’ holding midfielder since the 2000 season. “When I came to Kansas City, there were three things I wanted to accomplish.
“One was to play on a team on a regular basis. Two was to play on a winning team. And three was to win a championship. I’m proud to have accomplished all those goals.”
Actually, Zavagnin, 34, accomplished those goals in his first season here, when the Wizards captured their first, and thus far only, MLS Cup championship. He has continued being a steady presence in the midfield for the Wizards since, including when they won the U.S. Open Cup and made a second MLS Cup final in 2004 and last year, when he scored a career-high three goals.
“The first thing you have to do (to achieve such a record) is stay relatively healthy,” Zavagnin said. “And I’ve been around coaches who believed in me and saw me as part of the solution.
“I’m very fortunate in that way.”
Zavagnin said he made the decision that this would be his final season at the end of last season, and he hasn’t faltered on that.
“I feel like I’ve come as close as I could to the fullest potential in me,” he said. “I’m glad I could accomplish so much. I’m going to miss the competitiveness, but I’m not going to miss the aches and pains.
“You reach a point where you know you can no longer do some things as good as you used to. I never played the game because I love the game. I played because I wanted to be good at it.”
This hasn’t been the best of seasons for Zavagnin. After beginning the season in his usual defensive midfield slot, he was benched for several games in favor of second-year player Kurt Morsink. But his experience and organizational abilities on the pitch were missed, and he was back in the starting 11 for his ninth start of the season last weekend against Chivas.
“I always take the same approach and try to improve on a daily basis,” he said. “But that lit a fire under me to try even harder in training to get back out there.”
He said he’s now ready to help the Wizards finish strong and make the MLS playoffs for the second straight season, as well as polish off in style his own career, which nearly came to a sudden end after his second year with the MetroStars, way back in 1998.
He knew back then the direction he wanted his post-playing career to go, and that hasn’t changed.
“I spent a year in the A-League prior to coming here,” he said. “I told myself I’d give it a year here, and if it didn’t work out, I’d go into coaching.
“I started taking coaching courses when I came here. I took my ‘B’ courses, and then got my ‘A’ license.
“I look forward to the day when I can join the coaching ranks.”
Even here in Kansas City?
“Absolutely,” Zavagnin said. “Kansas City has given so much to me. There’s a special place in my heart here.
“Not next week, next month or next year, but someday I would love to be the coach in Kansas City.”
Tickets for the Wizards’ match Sept. 13 against the Los Angeles Galaxy, featuring superstar David Beckham, go on sale at 10 this morning. Lower-level tickets are $30 in advance. Those same tickets will be $35 at the gate on game day. Club-level tickets are $50. To buy tickets, call the Wizards at 913-387-3400 or go to www.kcwizards.com.
To reach Bob Luder, sports reporter for The Star, call 816-234-4877 or send e-mail to bluder@kcstar.com.
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