Technical Director Peter Vermes Named Kansas City Wizards Interim Head Coach
August 4, 2009 - Major League Soccer (MLS)
Sporting Kansas City News Release
(August 4, 2009) - Kansas City Wizards President Robb Heineman announced Tuesday that Technical Director Peter Vermes will serve as the team's Interim Head Coach through the end of the 2009 season. Vermes was a founding member of Major League Soccer and a standout on the United States National Team. After retiring, Vermes became the Technical Director of Blue Valley Soccer Club before serving as the Head Coach of the United States Under-20 Men's National Team in 2006. He became the Wizards Technical Director on November 15, 2006 and will maintain that role while assuming Interim Head Coaching duties.
"We thank Curt Onalfo for his service over the last two-plus seasons, but the shareholder group decided it was time to move in a different direction" OnGoal CEO and Wizards President Robb Heineman said. "We are happy to announce Peter Vermes as Interim Head Coach for the remainder of the 2009 season."
Vermes retired from MLS after playing in 184 games League games (183 starts), amassing 16,384 minutes, 11 goals and 17 assists for the then New York/New Jersey MetroStars, Colorado Rapids and Kansas City Wizards over seven seasons. He scored two goals and recorded three assists in 2000, helping lead the Wizards to their first MLS Cup championship. Vermes was a finalist for the National Soccer Hall of Fame in each of the last two rounds of voting, finishing in the top 10 both years.
"The ownership group wanted to make a change, and I will take over as Interim Head Coach," Wizards Technical Director/Interim Head Coach Peter Vermes said. "We will run a process around the new head coach after the season."
Vermes first joined the Wizards on February 3, 2000 via trade from the Colorado Rapids and enjoyed his greatest team and personal success in MLS. He anchored a defense that allowed just 29 goals in 32 regular season games, posting a Major League Soccer record 17 shutouts, including eight straight at home. The team amassed an amazing streak of 681 straight minutes. Vermes played every minute in 2000 and helped Kansas City capture the Supporters Shield for best record in the regular season and the MLS Cup crown. He was named BIC 2000 Defender of the Year, to the MLS Best XI team and was a member of the MLS All-Star squad that season. He played for the Wizards for two more years before retiring after the 2002 campaign.
Vermes played in 67 games for the United States National Team, scoring 11 goals and registering three assists. In 1998, he was named the Chevrolet U.S. Male Soccer Athlete of the Year. His leadership and mentality then helped lead a young squad to an improbable qualification in the 1990 World Cup in Italy, the first trip for the United States in 40 years. Vermes also played for the United States at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, Korea, where he was named U.S. Olympic Player of the Year for the Summer Games. Vermes later became the first American ever to play in Hungary's (Raba Eto) and Holland's (F.C. Volendam) First Division. He also played for Figueras of the Spanish Second Division. In addition to English, Vermes speaks Spanish and Hungarian.
Veteran coach Zoran Savic will be added to the staff as an assistant coach under Vermes. Savic has previously served as a Head Coach of the Kansas City Comets and an assistant for Chivas USA of Major League Soccer.
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