One moment changed everything for Mihailovic, and since joining Colorado in MLS, he's got eyes on trophies and the USMNT
MIAMI – Djordje Mihailovic had spent just two and a half months at AZ Alkmaar when a phone call in 2023 changed everything.
It was his father, Aleksandar. His mother, Zivka, had been diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer. At first, Mihailovic admitted he didn’t know how to react. He was numb from what he learned and tried to compartmentalize it.
“I tried my best to focus on playing,” Mihailovic told GOAL. “I just came to Europe finally, because it was a big goal of mine. I tried to kind of force it away for a little bit.”
Despite his best efforts, the raw emotion of knowing his mother was dealing with a life-threatening disease understandably affected him.
“When the summer came… that was in my head, every day, every training, every game, and it came to a point where I'm trying my best in training might not be enough,” he told GOAL at the MLS Media Day.
When Mihailovic went to play with the U.S. national team in the 2023 Gold Cup, his parents and family attended every match. It felt familiar. It felt like home. And most importantly, it was more fulfilling for him to be there for Zivka than anything happening on the pitch. That summer, Mihailovic was conflicted: Is this dream worth fighting for?
“That feeling, it kind of changed a lot, like coming back to the U.S. watching, or having my family watch me in person,” he said. “And I told myself, like, if I go into the new season and nothing really changes, because, well, their coach's decision, I'm not playing or whatever, this is something. I think it's time for me to just go.”
That summer changed everything for Mihailovic and ultimately paved the way for him to return to MLS as the leading catalyst for a resurgent Colorado Rapids side. Building on an impressive 2024 could be his ticket to even bigger things in 2025, including adding to his 11 caps with the U.S. national team. Mauricio Pochettino has expressed the desire to add more No. 10s to his squad, and Mihailovic had a record-breaking season for the Rapids in that role. He could be part of the solution for the Argentine.
Yet, his path to this resurgence wasn’t without challenges.
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Mihailovic’s frustrations at AZ went beyond personal struggles – trust, or a lack of it, played a major role. Before joining for $6 million, Mihailovic was one of MLS’s most coveted players, tallying 13 goals and 22 assists in 56 appearances under Wilfried Nancy at CF Montréal.
AZ outmaneuvered German and Belgian clubs for his signature, and as a self-proclaimed soccer history buff, Mihailovic saw Jozy Altidore’s success there as a sign he was making the right move.
“AZ have a history of developing young players, helping them reach levels they probably couldn’t imagine reaching,” Mihailovic said at the time. “I spoke with the sporting director and the coach, they have a similar philosophy to here. When I got there, I felt very comfortable. Speaking with the coach about where I fit in with the group, their plan – everything feels right.”
And for the first few months, it did. Mihailovic arrived midseason, with AZ sporting director Max Huiberts and then-coach Pascal Jansen (now NYCFC’s head coach) selling him on a plan: he’d start as a substitute for the remainder of the 2022-23 season before stepping into a bigger role in year two. The adjustment phase went smoothly – he settled into Dutch football, learned Jansen’s system, and built chemistry with his teammates.
Then came the summer break.
“I was supposed to become an important player, and this is what the coach told me,” Mihailovic said. “This is kind of why the sporting director, the scouts, they brought me in, because they believed in me. And I came into preseason late because I played in the Gold Cup, and I felt like it was used against me.”
Instead of the expanded role he expected, Mihailovic found himself in limbo – never sure if he’d start, how much he’d play, or what was expected of him. With his mother battling illness back home, the instability made it even harder to find joy in his time at AZ. And in his view, being American didn’t help.
“I knew I was an outsider from the beginning, being an American – and like, it's a normal thing that Europeans kind of just look at Americans completely different than each other. So I knew going in, I had to deal with that,” he said. “It’s unfortunate, but it’s the reality.”
Several U.S. internationals have voiced similar frustrations while playing in Europe. In his Paramount+ documentary, Christian Pulisic addressed the bias Americans face abroad.
“It pisses me off, in a way 'cause I've seen it in front of my eyes,” he said. “It happens for sure, and you can feel it. If it comes down to me or them and it's a 50-50 for the call from the coach [on] who's going to play or something like that, I think it exists.”
Between mid-August and late November that season, Mihailovic played just 207 minutes, making one start.
“People don't really think about the mind part of being an athlete, you know, they just expect you to go out and perform the best and be the best player,” Mihailovic said. “It's very hard to do that.”
Jansen gave him four starts in five matches late in the year, but the leash was short – he was subbed early in three. The breaking point came Dec. 17, when AZ hosted league-leading PSV.
“I didn't know I was going to start until 45 minutes before,” he said. “But when you see a pattern of decisions made, and then I ended up getting subbed out in 35 minutes in that game. We're losing, I think 3-0 after 20 minutes, and he subs me out – and I'm subbed out at home. Yeah, I kind of knew that was from that moment. That was icing on the cake for me.”
That was Mihailovic’s final appearance for AZ. The following month, he and the club agreed to part ways, with the Colorado Rapids securing his return to MLS for a $3M transfer fee.
AdvertisementDjordje MihailovicFamily over everything
Mihailovic had other opportunities to stay in Europe, but with his mother’s health top of mind, MLS was his priority. He wanted to be in the U.S., monitoring her progress and helping in any way he could. The North American top flight was his focus, even though he did get frustrated by hearing some of the assessments of his move.
“I felt like coming back to MLS was the right decision,” he said. “And unfortunately, it seems like everybody you know in the media kind of looks down on [that] and has an opinion on other people's career choices. Like, ‘What are we doing? Here is my choice.’ “
Yet, the moment Mihailovic landed in Denver to hear a pitch from the Rapids about joining them, he was sold. He got off his flight from Amsterdam and was immediately captivated by the scenic front range of the Rocky Mountains.
“In Holland, there’s no sun, it’s always cloudy,” he said. “I land [in Denver] and there’s sunshine and no clouds. It was a breath of fresh air… From the very first second, I was extremely excited and I knew it was a challenge and a challenge I wanted.”
The Rapids haven’t always been an easy sell. The year before, they won just five games – tying the franchise low. The team was reported to have the lowest payroll in MLS by a margin and its supporter groups staged multiple protests questioning the ambition of ownership. Mihailovic chose to look at the club’s actions that offseason, bringing Zack Steffen back to MLS and recruiting several former stars – like Cole Bassett – from Europe, and reflect on its history as a 2010 MLS Cup winner.
“This club isn’t satisfied with just qualifying for the playoffs, given the conversation between me, the coach [Chris Armas] and president [Pádraig Smith],” Mihailovic emphasized. “I felt that ambition of the club, wanting to be at the top of the West, wanting to challenge for MLS Cup.”
Mihailovic was also impressed, in particular, with the background of then-new head coach Armas in deciding to make his move. Armas is a former USMNT international who had the rare opportunity of coaching as an assistant at both Manchester United and Leeds United, as well as two head coaching MLS roles in the Red Bulls and Toronto FC. Mihailovic also remembers watching Armas as a kid in the early days of the Chicago Fire.
“He knows how to make every single person in the room feel like the most important person, and that's incredible,” Mihailovic said. “Especially for the players who might not be getting the minutes that they want.”
And more important than his sporting fit, was his return home. It wasn’t the Chicago suburbs where he grew up, but he was able to make sure that he was a presence in his family’s life and make sure he was there for his mother through her treatments.
“It’s been tough, but she’s good,” he said. “She’s had to change her types of treatments but she feels good.”
Due to the nature of his mother's treatments, it would have been impossible for her to see games in Europe. In Colorado, Mihailovic’s parents are regulars at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Mihailovic and wife Isla also became parents last May, another defining moment. Armas tries to emphasize to the sometimes intense Mihailovic the importance of being there for family.
“I’ll see his wife and I’ll say ‘Make sure he’s changing diapers and doing midnight feedings,’ ” Armas said with a laugh.
All of these factors would lead to a resurgent 2024 for Mihailovic, one the midfielder hopes will mean bigger things this year – on both the club and potentially international level.
ImagnFiery mentality, historic season
Watching a Rapids game, Mihailovic is hard to miss. There’s a fierce intensity with each touch and menacing stares at opponents and referees when things go awry. MLS occasionally draws criticism for lulls of the season where the quality on the pitch dips due to the league’s lack of relegation being a threat and that more than half the league has a chance of playing in the postseason when the regular season wraps up. But taking off moments or plays isn’t a part of Mihailovic’s DNA.
Son of Serbian and Macedonian immigrants, both from the former Yugoslavia, there’s a fighter emotion even in just words, with Mihailovic saying, “If you look at that part of the world, people from that part of the world, they're very emotional people.”
He likened his intensity to tennis superstar Novak Djokovic, mentioning how often people criticize the 24-time Grand Slam champion for being emotional, but also noting that Djokovic needs that to win. When quizzed on whether he sees any similarities in another Serbian superstar Nikola Jokic, the Denver Nuggets’ MVP center, Mihailovic sees the connection.
“I can tell that he uses his emotions to the best of his ability,” Mihailovic said. “There's also moments where you know he's gonna get thrown out of the game for hitting someone. It might not be helpful, but 99 percent of the time he's able to use his emotions [to help his team], and now he's the best player in the league for some time.”
That mentality not only applies to games but in training.
“He's not here to just make friends and play some games,” Armas said of Mihailovic. “He’s tough on guys… He's not a guy that's going to wait to send a nice f*cking text message to the guy and say, ‘Hey, it's got to be better.' In training, he's going to say it right there.”
All of that came together in 2024 in a strong way for the Rapids, as Mihailovic put together an 11-goal, 14-assist season – breaking the club’s previous record of 24 goal contributions in a campaign. Prior to a slew of injuries for the team, the club at one point sat third in the Western Conference before slipping to seventh in the final few weeks of the season.
ImagnLooking ahead to 2025
The key for Mihailovic this season will be how he turns that intensity into becoming a leader on a still relatively young Rapids team. As competitive as the West was last season, it appears to be even more challenging this season.
U.S. internationals Jesus Ferriera and Paul Arriola have joined the Seattle Sounders in two blockbuster moves. The Houston Dynamo added Jack McGlynn to a team that already features a potential MVP candidate in Ezequiel Ponce. Both Los Angeles teams, including the defending champions in the Galaxy and LAFC, have been quiet so far, but no one expects that to last. Then there’s a brand new team in San Diego, which features Hirving Lozano – arguably the best Mexican player to join the league in his prime since Carlos Vela.
“It just doesn't get easier in MLS with the ways teams are building rosters and ownerships are having some fun adding to rosters in the Western Conference,” Armas said.
The Rapids haven’t made any major additions this offseason, but Mihailovic believes he and his teammate can’t get fixated on what other teams are doing.
“We can't look at what other teams are doing, what other types of signings that these teams are making, trades whatever,” he said. “There's no real kind of set thing that can get you to a trophy.”
Armas mentioned some of the lack of major signings is by design, the team is counting on some of its young academy players and draft picks to take the next step this year. It’s a formula the club has seen success with in the past. Former No. 3 pick Moises Bombito was arguably the best defender in MLS last season before his transfer to OGC Nice and the club has similar hopes in some of the players it drafted. During this period, Mihailovic will be among those counted on to help bring the young players to speed.
Mihailovic is ready to embrace that role, with Armas also underscoring the urgency of the situation.
“It can't just always be him," Mihailovic said. "You know, last year, we ended the season five games losing. There's only so much a coach can say in that situation. The majority of the talk has to come from us players.”
If Mihailovic can help the Rapids take another step, it could bode well for his chances to represent the U.S. with the national team. He was called up to Mauricio Pochettino’s January camp, but had to pull out due to an ankle injury that he suffered at the end of last season. Mihailovic was disappointed he couldn’t play, but he appreciated the new Argentine’s commitment to giving players chances – especially those who are playing in MLS. He pointed to his own teammate Steffen as an example.
“Zack was injured a couple days into his first camp with him, and he's brought back to the next camp. So you can see that the consistency is there with him,” Mihailovic said.
Mihailovic is hoping he’ll get some consideration for the upcoming March Nations League camp, but he knows his play and the Rapids' success will be a big part of determining if he gets a chance.
“The expectation is to lift as many trophies as you can,” he said. “It's important as the team starts the season, every single player believes that we can achieve it. Not the type of names that we're signing or whatever. Every single person has to believe, that we can achieve those things, making deep runs in every single competition we're in.”