His One Good Turn Often Leads to a Goal : Zoran Karic Has Been Putting a Different Spin on the Sockers’ Attack

See Zoran Karic spin.

In the Major Indoor Soccer League this season, several defenders have been in this unenviable position.

“He has a great knack for being able to dribble the ball in traffic and work himself around people,” said Ron Newman, the Sockers’ coach. “You can tell, when he gets the ball in traffic, his eyes light up.”

Karic moves the ball one way, then stops it. He dribbles in a tight circle. Defenders stick their legs in to take it away but cannot. It’s keep-away, and Karic delights in this.

“Teams get nervous when he gets the ball,” Newman said. “The way he can move that ball around, he can turn them inside out.”

It’s funny sometimes, because Karic can turn himself inside out. On at least a couple of occasions, he has dribbled so much that he has spun himself to the ground. He has tried to take a shot and missed the ball completely.

Soccer’s version of a whiff. A worn-out defender takes control of the ball and heads the other way. Karic sits on the floor and laughs at himself. He has foiled himself again.

“When I get the ball, I want to look for a way to help us score a goal,” Karic said. “If I can’t find anybody to pass to, I try to create something. I have to try and get around that defender to get a shot off.”

Through seven games this season, Karic is the Sockers’ leading goal-scorer with five. With Branko Segota out because of an injury since the season opener, Karic has become to focal point of the Sockers’ attack.

You could see it coming. As a rookie last season, Karic scored 21 goals in just 27 games. His shot can be deadly.

“He has all of the talent to become a very superb player,” Newman said. “And when he’s controlling that ball, he can be quite a sight to see.”

See Zoran Karic’s head spin.

Karic is 27 years old, the same as Segota, but he’s still a newcomer to the indoor game. In Yugoslavia, the same country that produced the MISL’s top two all-time leading scorers--Segota and Steve Zungul--Karic played only outdoors.

One morning during Sockers’ practice, Zungul, the Big Z, was sitting with Karic, the New Z. Zungul talked in Yugoslavian, and Karic listened.

Zungul’s arms were waving. Karic was taking it all in.

“He’s giving him special Yugo instructions,” said Segota, who was standing close by. “We can’t translate because we don’t want to give our secrets away.”

But it’s no secret where Karic needs to improve. All of the fancy dribbling is nice, but a lot of times, it’s too much. Point guards in basketball dribble, too. But they can’t forget that the idea is to score or help teammates score.

Karic’s dribbling has gotten him into trouble.

“He needs to learn that in certain situations, it’s best to just one-touch the ball to a teammate and then work himself free without the ball,” Segota said. “Once he does that, he’ll be almost impossible to stop.”

Karic realizes this but says it’s sometimes hard to control his love for maneuvering with the ball. When he was growing up, he played keep-away all the time. He was taught to dribble. But the indoor game works best when the ball is moving from player to player.

“They’re trying to teach me to play more for the team,” said Karic, who has no assists this season. “They want me to dribble only when I need to dribble. Otherwise, they’re teaching me to pass off or shoot right when I get the opening. It’s a lot to learn, but I’m getting better all the time.”

See Zoran Karic spin out.

If indoor soccer isn’t supposed to be a contact sport, don’t tell Karic.

Defenders don’t like to be embarrassed the way Karic can embarrass them. After seeing a dipsy-doodle move or two, defenders strike back.

“They’ve been kicking me all year,” Karic said. “Against Kansas City one game, it was kick, kick, kick. I don’t know why they kick me, but they do.”

Kevin Crow, the MISL’s defender of the year last season with the Sockers, knows why. And he has been trying to help.

“The thing you’ll notice about Zoran is that when he’s dribbling the ball around and moving his feet, his body is always stationary,” Crow said. “It’s easy to hit a stationary target, and defenders have no other recourse. He’s got to learn to get the ball, make his move and then got out of the way.”

Karic has already missed one game this season with a bruised toe. After each game, he sits in the locker room with ice on his knees and his lower legs.

“He’s gotten off to a fast start, but it remains to be seen how he can deal with the pounding he’s going to take,” Crow said. “There’s a lot of kicking that goes on. I hope he can handle it.”

These days, Karic does a lot of complaining about it to the referees. He’s only a second-year player, so most of his pleas are ignored.

“I yell to them, what about the kicking?” Karic said.

Sometimes, he sounds too loud, and off Karic goes to the penalty box.

“I yell in Yugoslavian, so I don’t think they can understand me,” he said. “But some of these referees speak Yugoslavian, too. That’s unfair.”

He smiled. Foiled again.

See Zoran Karic spin a tale of adventure .

He grew up watching Zungul play forward for the Yugoslavian national team, and Karic remembers when the Big Z was the best, a national hero.

Karic, too, wanted Zungul’s kind of success, so he took up soccer at a young age. He worked his way up the ranks and in 1985 signed a 4-year contract with one of the top professional teams in the country. But by 1987, he had become disenchanted with the coach and wanted out.

He found a club team in West Germany, but it wouldn’t provide the papers he needed to leave Yugoslavia.

Newman had heard about Karic while he was on a recruiting trip to Yugoslavia that summer. When several Sockers went down with injuries, Newman called. It turned out to be excellent timing--Karic was still searching for a place to play.

He joined the Sockers a year ago, in November. But it wasn’t easy.

Because the Sockers could only afford to pay the MISL minimum, Karic was unable to bring his wife, Vera, and two young children with him. He played out the season and didn’t see them again until after the MISL championship series in June.

“I was never really happy last year,” Karic said. “Now that they are here with me, I’m happy again.”

The Sockers were happiest with Karic after Game 3 of the championship series against the Cleveland Force. Karic scored an overtime goal to give the Sockers a 3-2 victory and a 3-0 series lead. Two days later, the Sockers wrapped up their sixth championship in 7 years.

“That goal is my highlight as a Socker,” Karic said. “I’ll never forget that one. But this is a new year. I just hope I can make many more highlights this season.”