The upcoming MLS Draft was already stocked with talent, but that talent pool will be a little deeper after Major League Soccer was able to sign one of its top targets.
University of Illinois-Chicago midfielder Baggio Husidic has signed a Generation adidas contract and will be available in the 2009 MLS Draft on Jan. 15, sources told Soccer by Ives on Friday night.
A 6-foot-1 Bosnian-born playmaker, Husidic has impressed pro scouts with his combination of size, speed and passing ability from central midfield and projects to be a mid-first round pick as the top attacking midfielder in the draft.
There had been rumors of Husidic planning a move back to Europe, but his agent, Patrick McCabe, stated a week ago that Husidic wanted to play in MLS. Now that he has signed, Husidic will be battling with UCLA midfielder Michael Stephens for the distinction of being the first attacking midfielder chosen in the draft.
Husidic joins a strong Generation adidas class that already includes Maryland defenders Omar Gonzalez, Rodney Wallace and midfielder Jeremy Hall, Akron striker Steve Zakuani, Cal goalkeeper Stefan Frei and Indiana defender Kevin Alston. Generation adidas targets Peri Marosevic and Michael Stephens had yet to sign as of late last week.
And for those of you wondering, Husidic is an American citizen, but is also eligible to play for Bosnia.
What do you think of Husidic signing with MLS? Where do you see Husidic being drafted? Which team would you like to see him go to?
Share your thoughts below.
Bosnian Americans are some of the hardest working, legal, immigrants to this country. Our population rarely participates in crime, we pay our taxes, and are very patriotic to the U.S. Why would you guys call us traitors and so forth?
So what if Subotic chose to play for another country? He chose Serbia anyways, not Bosnia.
yup you lost Ibisevic, and you will lose baggio also 🙂 who will go back to europe and pretty much do what Ibisevic is doing… destroying the bundes 🙂
you can call him refugee generation player similar of Vedad Ibisevic (top scorer in bundes who played for U.of STL) Hasan Salihamidzic, also in some way Zlatan Ibrahimovic
lol anyone seen the Bosnian American Ibisevic in Germany? He scored i believe 18 goals in 16 games?? then neven subotic was rated like the best defender in germany. this adis husidic guy could be just like them. we need to get more bosnians here so we can get recognized as a soccer country once they move back to europe and make fools out of the other europeans haha
Many thanks ADBecks! His teammates helped put him in good position to score, but he has a very nice finishing touch-something the US MNT needs in confined spaces inside box. I think I saw him play against Milwaukee-Wisc. and Western Michigan a few years ago. Looking fwd to see good things come from him.
Interestingly enough, your cousin wore #8 for UIC. When I couldn’t get Kaiser’s # 6 in HS and college, my second choice was #8 because as a MF I loved watching “Bogi” Bogicevic set up Pele in Cosmo matches and modeled my game after him. Any connection?
Just go on YouTube and look up UIC Soccer and you’ll see some of the work baggio has done but then again its the fault of people taping and making these highlight video tapes for the schools that dont show much of the work that baggio and i and rest of the UIC squad do. Coach Trask is the first person to ignore this media BS and is one reason our team doesnt have many highlight tapes out there on the internet like UCLA and INDIANA..which i should say are good teams but we are slowly building a name for the UIC and baggio is at the combine this later this week and he is excited to sign with anyone to somewhat make a name for himself and put his name out there even more… and thanks for serving this great country and understanding where some of us come from…
Julio – reference “Wasn’t this punk Subotic Bosnian as well??? If so the heck with these traitors that use our Country and our resources (Fields, GYMS, Benefits of living in this Country) only to play for another team that does not contribute anything to their development.”
I will tell you why….it’s the reason I am in the Army defending those who immigrate to our great country to look for oppty and have a freedom of choice unlike many others who are not as fortunate as we are. It’s also why people like you can talk the hateful way you do w/o being reprimanded.
Regardless of ethnicity, race or religion or choice of football team – Good luck Subotic.
God Bless America and Proud to Serve!
ADBecks – Where can I see a video of your cousin, Husidic?
Would you please be so kind to post a link for those of us overseas who are not exposed to the college game back home. Many thanks.
maybe julio’s comment was a little bit offensive . but lets be real about it : subotic could have shown a little bit more gratitude choosing to play for the us ; he is nt even serbian for christ sake plus theres a large bosnian population in this country . subotic could have been a role model for them
Adis “baggio” Husidic is my cousin and the kid is an amazing player. Ive grown up with the kid and his brother Alen who is another good defender and none of you can make any comments about why he didnt go to Europe or anything. He has done things for the UIC team and the Soccers Club that have made him stand out and get him to where he’s at right now. UHHHH he didnt want to go back to europe to play big deal. Let him get a taste of what US soccer is like and once he does im sure he would be signing with any team in Europe possible to get out of the MLS boring style of play… have a nice day
In other news. Jozy has Shin Spilts and is out injured.
Julio,
Why are you blaming Subotic, what about his highness Rogen who said Subotic sucked and cut him from the u20 team.
I haven’t seen him play, but assume he is a quality player. If this kid gets away from the senior MNT like Rossi and Subotic, shame on us-we deserve to be a second rate team. The fact that he even considered the MLS is a good start. Show him the money.
Husidic? But, will he play Saturday games? j/k
Ives,
Surprised you haven’t mentioned the interesting angle that stephens and husidic played for the same club team in Chicago…not terribly important, but fairly interesting
>>Bosnian_American, eh? Hey Sunil, keep Rongen AWAY from this kid. 😉 <<
Hilarious!
Thats a lot of “Chicago Sockers” club players going high,Stephens,Baggio, Marosevic…..
Sounds like we are in for a solid draft and hopefully a solid core of additions to the league.
Bosnian_American, eh? Hey Sunil, keep Rongen AWAY from this kid. 😉
my question was for ives, not isaac.
Anybody see that all of ManU’s transfer activity will consist of signing two Serbians, ages 17 and 21? Looks like Subotic chose a national team with some real talent.
You forgot Preki, Toni..
Seriously guys. The first question you guys ask when you hear about some new player is :” Is he eligible to play for the U.S.?”, and then if he IS you guys say “BB why didnt you scout this guy!?” or If he WAS eligible and chose another country you guys say” Nice job BB/USSF you’ve let another one slip by!” Grow up people.
Hey, Julio, kind of like those traitors Thomas Dooley, Earnie Stewart, David Regis and so on?
Why is any of this relevant? The guy is getting a job, beginning his professional career, not choosing his national affiliation! We don’t even know if he’s national team caliber.
Julio, what right do you have to judge anyone? Keep your offensive opinions to yourself
Julio, if he’s opted to play in MLS, there’s a very good chance that he would accept a call-up to the USMNT if he is good enough and eligible for citizenship.
Subotic had already left the US by the time he was Husidic’s age. You also have to consider that the USA has a much better chance of playing in the World Cup than Bosnia.
Wasn’t this punk Subotic Bosnian as well??? If so the heck with these traitors that use our Country and our resources (Fields, GYMS, Benefits of living in this Country) only to play for another team that does not contribute anything to their development. Subotic playing for Serbia…oohh pluzzee. Wait till they have another War you will see @ss running to the US and pleading to let him play with the US again.
Sounds like a good fit for RSL.
Does a foreign born player like Husidic that played college in the US count as an international r domestic player?
this might be a stupid question, but for the next mock draft, would it be possible to mention if a player is not eligible (or likely) for the US national team player pool? i know it’s not directly related to the draft (aside from potentially counting as an international), but some of these guys like Husidic seem to have ties to other areas of the world.
i know it’s unlikely that many of these guys will ever suit up for a national team, but i’m curious if any of these guys have potential for that situation, like a Soumare.
He is going to be drafted by THE CREW.
Sheanon Williams? He’s going GA no?
Lahoud is a senior and not Generation adidas. He is yet to sign a contract.
So how is this year’s Generation Adidas group shaping up? I don’t know much about them in years past, but it seems like they are getting almost every player they have targeted so far.
This is a very good signing. Hopefully he stays in Chicago and will play with the Fire. This is a good example of how Adidas Generation, the local MLS club and a local school (UIC) should work.
could he potentially play for U S and A?
What’s the status on Zusi? I would think the guy who scored the winning goal in the Semi-Final and the Final would catch some attention.
Dream draft? I find this class to be the weakest class since 2002. Seriously there isnt a standout in the lot, and where are all the U-20, U-17 US nationals?
Bosnian born? How long before whiny US soccer fans start speculating that he wants to play for Bosnia instead of the US?
2 questions Ives:
1. When will the full GA list be released by MLS?
2. When will you be posting your Mock Draft 3.0? (We all await in anticipation.hahaha!!)
Sounds good, too bad Opara couldn’t sign to make it a dream draft.