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MLS Spotlight: Passing on Premier League, Nikolic becoming a star with Fire

Before Bastian Schweinsteiger came to MLS, the Hungary international spurned England and China to spark the struggling club's revival

WASHINGTON — Nemanja Nikolic is a goal-scorer, pure and simple. There's a reason nine of his MLS-leading 10 tallies only required one touch. He doesn't linger on the ball. He doesn't run at defenders. He doesn't drift into midfield.

Nikolic scores goals.

As a 6-year-old growing up in the modest Serbian town of Senta, Nikolic found himself driven by that moment of elation when ball meets net. He went on to strike 182 times over a decade-plus as a professional in Hungary and Poland.