Brian Schmetzer - Preki - Seattle Sounders
Courtesy of Seattle Sounders

Seattle Sounders appoint former MLS Coach of the Year Preki assistant coach

If you follow American soccer closely on Twitter, there's been an ongoing question the past few years: Where's Preki?

The meme emerged from the National Soccer Hall of Fame member resigning as Sacramento Republic head coach in the middle of the 2015 USL season, after he led the first-year team to the USL league title the year before. At the time, he was expected to take up a post in England, where he played for Everton and Portsmouth from 1992-95, but that move never materialized.

On Friday, the latest Preki sighting took place, as he was announced as an assistant coach on Brian Schmetzer's Seattle Sounders staff for the 2018 season.

The former US international managed another USL team, Saint Louis FC, in 2017. He began his coaching career as an assistant to Bob Bradley at Chivas USA in 2006, then took over that team after Bradley moved to the US national team the next year. In 2007, he was named MLS Coach of the Year for his work with Chivas, and after leaving that team in 2009, managed Toronto FC for most of the 2010 season.

As a player, the Yugoslavia-born Preki was a midfielder who played in his birth country, in Sweden, England and the US. Known for his exploits both in indoor and outdoor soccer, he played all but one season in his MLS career with Kansas City, winning an MLS Cup in 2000 and becoming the only player to date to win two MLS MVP awards. He played indoor soccer with Schmetzer in Tacoma and St. Louis.