Fire name Serbia's Paunovic as new coach
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Serbian Veljko Paunovic, who guided his homeland's squad to the FIFA U-20 World Cup title last June, was named Tuesday as the new coach of Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire.
The 38-year-old retired striker scored 76 goals in 358 matches for Partizan Belgrade, Germany's Hannover, Russia's Rubin Kazan and a host of La Liga sides over 11 Spanish seasons, including several stints with Atletico Madrid, before retiring after playing in 2011 for the MLS Philadelphia Union. He takes over a Chicago club that finished last in the 20-team league, winning only eight of 34 matches with six drawn.
"I see the Chicago Fire as a hurt lion ready to unleash all its power," Paunovic said. "I am very excited. I love this kind of challenge, where you have to build a champion by giving your best in every moment."
Paunovic, 38, spent the past four years with the Serbian teen squad, which upset Brazil 2-1 in the final at New Zealand to become the first Serb football squad to win a title since the breakup of Yugoslavia.
"We conducted a thorough search process and, over its course, Pauno consistently graded highest across all of our desired characteristics," said Fire general manager Nelson Rodriguez. "He is a champion, teacher of the game and man of great principle and integrity."