Alem Duratovic '21 Recruiting Profile

My name is Alem Duratovic and I am 18 years old from Deerfield, Illinois. I started getting into soccer  at the age of 3. My Father and grandfather introduced me to the sport by signing me up to play little league soccer and since then I've fallen in love with the beautiful game. I've learned that I am somebody who does not give up and wants to improve and outwork people day by day. I'm a goal scorer and that's my job as a striker. I've also learned that I have what it takes to become a great player and goal scorer such as holing the ball up, making different runs to channels to breakdown the defense, my dribbling ability and 1v1 attacking and defending is something I've gotten better at through the years. I'm great in the air and most importantly I've gotten better with finishing and scoring goals which I love doing most. But most importantly, I've learned the biggest thing is to work hard on and off the ball mainly defensively.  My academic goal for college is to become a physical therapist by going through sports medicine. I want to become a physical therapist because I'm an athlete myself and watching therapists treat athletes and other patients on a healing process through their injuries, diseases, and other things on an everyday basis. I most definitely have gone through many obstacles in life such as Injuries and mental health. they were very difficult times to be going through but I knew I had to be patient and do what I was in control of and keep doing what's best for myself to get healthier and fitter and come back better than ever. Patience was something I always had, but for soccer it made it so much harder because its something I love doing everyday. Also being determined and having perseverance helped me get through these obstacles by not giving up and always finding an option that would benefit me physically and mentally. As a striker, Im capable of using  both feet and it benefits a lot. I am a good dribbler and very explosive on the ball. I also am great at 1v1 attacking and using my body to protect the ball from the opponent. I am very good in Ariel duels and winning many headers and challenges. I find myself creative with my passing because I've got great vision to pick out my teammates. When it comes to defending and getting back to win the ball I am always up for the challenge and working hard as possible to win the ball back and put in challenges to win the ball back.