Nick Dasovic

Nick Robert Dasovic (born December 5, 1968) is a retired professional Canadian soccer player of Croatian descent who played as a midfielder.

Nick Dasovic
Dasovic in 2009
Personal information
Full name Nick Robert Dasovic
Date of birth (1968-12-05) December 5, 1968
Place of birth Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 Vancouver Whitecaps U-23 (manager)
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 Dinamo Zagreb 0 (0)
1991–1992 North York Rockets
1992–1993 Croatia Zagreb 0 (0)
1993–1994 Montreal Impact 36 (4)
1995 Vancouver 86ers 2 (0)
1995–1996 Stade Briochin 21 (1)
1996 Vancouver 86ers 10 (1)
1996 Trelleborgs FF 7 (0)
1996–2002 St Johnstone 137 (1)
2002–2005 Vancouver Whitecaps 81 (2)
National team
1992–2004 Canada 63 (2)
Teams managed
2002–2005 Vancouver Whitecaps (assistant)
2006 Whitecaps FC Reserves
2003–2007 Canada U-20 (assistant)
2008–2010 TFC Academy
2008 Canada (assistant)
2008–2010 Toronto FC (assistant)
2008 Canada U-23
2010 Toronto FC (interim)
2011–2013 Canada U-20
2013–2014 San Jose Earthquakes (assistant)
2018 Simon Fraser University (assistant)
2019– Vancouver Whitecaps U-23
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

A 6'1, 180 lbs central defensive midfielder, Dasovic began his career in the Yugoslav First League and later the Croatian First League playing for Croatian club NK Dinamo Zagreb, renamed Croatia Zagreb during the 1990s. The team also featured important players like Mario Stanić and Goran Vlaović.

He began playing in Canada professionally with the North York Rockets, of the former Canadian Soccer League, for whom he played the 1991 and 1992 seasons. Dasovic played the 1993 and 1994 seasons in the American Professional Soccer League with the Montreal Impact.

Dasovic played for Stade Briochin in the French Ligue 3 in 1995 and for Swedish Allsvenskan side Trelleborgs FF in 1996.[1]

St. Johnstone

In November 1996, Dasovic signed for Scottish club St Johnstone. His first season in Perth saw the Saints win promotion from the First Division to the Premier League. Dasovic has been quoted as saying his fondest memory of his pro career was being named man-of-the-match in the 1998 Scottish League Cup Final in which he scored, a 2–1 defeat against Rangers. Saints went on to finish third behind Rangers and Celtic in the Scottish Premier League that season, qualifying for the 1999–2000 UEFA Cup. Dasovic's only league goal was also memorable; it was the only goal in a 1–0 win away at Celtic in September 1998.[2]

He finished his playing career as player/manager of the Vancouver Whitecaps.

International career

Dasovic made his senior debut for Canada in an April 1992 friendly match against China and went on to earn 63 caps, scoring twice.[3] He represented Canada in 14 World Cup qualifiers[4] and played at the 2001 FIFA Confederations Cup.

His final international game was a January 2004 friendly match against Barbados.

International goals
Scores and results list Canada's goal tally first.
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1July 11, 1993Estadio Azteca, Mexico City, Mexico Costa Rica1–01–11993 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2October 13, 1996Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Cuba2–02–01998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Coaching career

Known for his vocal antics on the touchline, Dasovic led Canada's under-23 side through Olympic qualification in 2008, drawing Mexico 1–1 in the group stage and helping to eliminate the heavily favored Mexican team in the process. After a highly promising 5–0 win over Guatemala, on a night when Mexico had to better that result against Haiti but could only win 5–1, Canada fell to the United States 3–0 in the semifinal, losing out on a spot in Beijing at the summer Olympics. Canada recovered to defeat Guatemala in the third-place playoff, a rematch of their first-round game, winning on penalties (5–3) after a scoreless draw through 120 minutes.

On May 6, 2008, Dasovic joined MLS club Toronto FC as TFC Academy head coach and second assistant to the first team. He became first assistant when manager John Carver left the club in 2009 and was replaced by his understudy Chris Cummins as interim coach. In September 2010, he became interim head coach of Toronto FC after the firing of Preki, a position he held until January 2011 when Aron Winter became the head coach. On December 2, 2011 Dasovic was named head coach of Canada U-20 national team.[5]

Dasovic was hired as an assistant coach by the San Jose Earthquakes on June 18, 2013.[6] Dasovic was relieved of coaching duties at San Jose along with head coach Mark Watson on October 15, 2014.[7]

Dasovic received his UEFA Pro Licence from the Scottish Football Association in 2012.[8]

Dasovic coached the U-15 team at Mountain United FC in 2017. In July 2018, Dasovic was hired as an assistant manager for Simon Fraser University Men's Soccer team.[9]

On January 18, 2019, Dasovic joined the technical staff of Vancouver Whitecaps and was named head coach of the newly formed U-23 development squad.[10]

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame

Dasovic was inducted into the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2011.

Broadcasting

In 2015 Dasovic joined the MLS on TSN crew and is used selected weeks as a studio or game analyst.

References
  1. Nick Dasovic at playerhistry.com
  2. "Celtic frustrated as Dasovic gives Saints success". Independent. September 24, 1998. Retrieved November 11, 2014.
  3. Appearances for Canada National Team - RSSSF
  4. Record at FIFA Tournaments - FIFA
  5. - Canada Soccer Association
  6. "Earthquakes name Nick Dasovic assistant coach". San Jose Earthquakes. Retrieved June 18, 2013.
  7. "Dominic Kinnear ends run with Houston Dynamo, will take over for San Jose Earthquakes". MLSSoccer.com. Retrieved October 15, 2014.
  8. "Who we are". Dasovic-Neil Coaching. May 17, 2015. Retrieved October 23, 2017.
  9. Canada Soccer Hall of Famer Nick Dasovic joins men’s soccer staff, athletics.sfu.ca, July 4, 2018
  10. Whitecaps FC add Nick Dasovic to technical staff as U-23 development squad head coach, whitecapsfc.com, January 18, 2019
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