Turning points in life are endless. Moments when, looking back, things changed or started to, sometimes without anyone noticing.
While recounting how he became Orlando City’s general manager, Niki Budalic revealed many — chance encounters, decisions, physical pain — that shaped his path to becoming a top soccer executive.
The most obvious came six months into work at a brokerage firm, his first job immediately after retiring from playing soccer professionally. His manager at the time wanted to talk.
“He was like, ‘Yea, ya know, you don’t — and he knew me from soccer, we played together — and he said he could tell I didn’t have the same passion for this job as I did for soccer.