Adolfo Mella is a Canadian former soccer player who played in the

USL A-League The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second Di ...

, Canadian Professional Soccer League, and the National Professional Soccer League.

Playing career

Mella played a match with the

Toronto Blizzard Toronto Blizzard may refer to: *Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984), the original soccer club, a franchise of the North American Soccer League *Toronto Blizzard (1986–1993), the later club and franchise of the Canadian Soccer League *Toronto Azzurri B ...

in 1991. Mella played with Richmond Hill Kick in 1992 in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

. He signed with

Toronto Supra SC Toronto is a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its inceptio ...

for the 1996 season. During the 1996 season he was selected for the CNSL All-Star team against Toronto Italia which featured

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

. In 1997, he helped Supra reach the playoffs where he scored two goals for Toronto in their 8-1 victory on goals on aggravate over

Toronto Croatia C.N.S.C. Toronto Croatia (Croatian National Sports Club Toronto Croatia) is a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that plays in the Supergroup Open Division in the Canadian Academy of Football. The team's colours are red, white and b ...

. In finals the club faced St. Catharines Wolves, where in the final match Mella scored a goal but Supra failed to bounce back from a 4-3 defeat. During the 1996 winter season he featured in the National Professional Soccer League with the

Toronto Shooting Stars Toronto Shooting Stars were an indoor soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario that competed in the defunct NPSL. The team began play in the 1996–1997 season, with home games taking place at Maple Leaf Gardens. However, the ownership of the fra ...

, where he holds the franchise's all-time goalscorer record with 37 goals. In 1997, he had a tenure with Montreal Impact during their 1997-1998 winter indoor season appearing in 26 matches and recording 21 goals. Mella signed with

Toronto Lynx Toronto Lynx was a Canadian soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1997, the team last played in the 2014 season of the Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Great Lakes D ...

of the

in 1998. He made his debut for the club on July 19, 1998 in a match against

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

. He scored his first for the organization on August 23, 1998 against his former club Montreal Impact in a 2-1 victory. In the 1998-1999 winter season he signed with

Milwaukee Wave The Milwaukee Wave are an American professional indoor soccer team based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that competes in the Major Arena Soccer League (MASL). Founded in 1984, they have been the oldest continuously operating professional indoor footbal ...

, and in 2000 he signed with expansion franchise

Toronto ThunderHawks Toronto ThunderHawks were an indoor soccer team based in Mississauga, Ontario that competed in the defunct NPSL. The team began play in the 2000–2001 season, with home games at the Hershey Centre. The team was owned by businessman Neil Jami ...

. The following year Mella signed with the

Brampton Hitmen Brampton is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a lower-tier municipality within the Peel Region. The city has a populati ...

in the Canadian Professional Soccer League. During his term with Brampton he won the

CPSL Championship The Canadian Soccer League championship final, or CSL Championship, is the post-season match of the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) and is the successor to the CNSL Championship. The winner is crowned champion as in other North American sports lea ...

after defeating

Vaughan Sun Devils The Glen Shields Sun Devils were a soccer team which played in the Canadian Soccer League, Canadian Professional Soccer League from 1998 to 2002. They played their home matches in Thornhill, Ontario. The franchise was one of the original teams o ...

in the playoff finals by a score of 1-0. In 2006, Mella returned to his former club the Toronto Supra Portuguese for the 2006 CSL season. He made his debut for the organization in a friendly match

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

. He helped Supra finish fourth in the International Division and secured a postseason berth. He featured in the quarterfinal match against the

Serbian White Eagles FC Serbian White Eagles Football Club (/''Fudbalski klub Srpski beli orlovi'') is a Canadian semi-professional Association football, soccer team. The team is a member of the Canadian Soccer League, a Non-FIFA international football, non-FIFA sanct ...

, but were eliminated from the competition by a score of 3-0. He had a stint with

for the 2007 CSL season. During his tenure with Toronto he won the Croatian World Club Championship, and concluded his career with the Brampton Lions in 2009.

International career

Mella played for the Canada national futsal team, where he made six appearances and recorded one goal. He made his debut for Canada on May 31, 2008 against

Ukraine national futsal team The Ukraine national futsal team represents Ukraine in international futsal competitions such as the FIFA Futsal World Cup and the European Championships and is controlled by the Football Federation of Ukraine. History In the 2008 FIFA Futsal W ...

. He was selected to represent the Canada in the

2008 Grand Prix de Futsal 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. Etymology English ''eight'', from Old English '', æhta'', Proto-Germanic ''*ahto'' is a direct continuation of Proto-Indo-European '' *oḱtṓ(w)-'', and as such cognate wi ...

Honours

;Brampton Hitmen *

: 1 ::

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mella, Adolfo Living people Canadian men's soccer players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Milwaukee Wave players Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players Brampton Stallions players SC Toronto players Soccer players from Montreal Toronto Lynx players Toronto Shooting Stars players Toronto ThunderHawks players National Professional Soccer League (1984–2001) players A-League (1995–2004) players Toronto Croatia players Canadian National Soccer League players Brampton City United FC players Men's association football midfielders Year of birth missing (living people)