Carl Gentile is a former U.S.

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

. He played one season in the National Professional Soccer League and two in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

, all three with the St. Louis Stars. He also earned six

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

with the U.S. national team in 1968.

Youth

Gentile grew up in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

where he graduated from

Christian Brothers College High School Christian Brothers College High School (CBC High School) is a Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, Lasallian Catholic Church, Catholic University-preparatory school, college preparatory school for young men in Town and Country, M ...

in 1962. He is a member of the CBC Alumni Hall of Fame. Gentile went on to play for

St. Louis University Saint Louis University (SLU) is a private Jesuit research university in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Founded in 1818 by Louis William Valentine DuBourg, it is the oldest university west of the Mississippi River and one of the oldest ...

, gaining

first team All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

recognition in 1965. That year St. Louis also won the

NCAA championship The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates College athletics in the United States, student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, and Simon Fraser University, 1 in Canada. ...

. In 2009, Gentile was named to the

St. Louis University Men's Soccer Half-Century Team The St. Louis University Men's Soccer Half-Century Team was a list of favorite players chosen by fan balloting and announced by St. Louis University Department of Athletics on September 30, 2009 in celebration of the first 50 years of soccer at SL ...

Professional

In 1967, Gentile signed with the St. Louis Stars of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL). When the NPSL merged with the

United Soccer Association The United Soccer Association (USA) was a professional association football, soccer league featuring teams based in the United States and Canada. The league survived only one season before merging with the National Professional Soccer League ( ...

in 1968 to form the

(NASL), the Stars moved to the NASL. Gentile played the 1968 NASL season, then left the team. He returned for the 1971 NASL season.

Olympic and national teams

In 1964, Gentile joined the U.S. Olympic team as it attempted, but ultimately failed, to qualify for the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

. The U.S. lost its first match of qualifying on March 16 when Surinam defeated the U.S. 1-0. Gentile scored three goals two days later in a 4–2 win over Panama. He scored again two days later in a 2–1 loss to Mexico which put the U.S. out of contention for the tournament. Gentile earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

with the U.S. national team on September 15, 1968. A month later he earned his second cap, this time as a defender in a 6–3 victory over

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. He then played three

1970 FIFA World Cup The 1970 FIFA World Cup was the 9th edition of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's senior national teams. Held from 31 May to ...

qualification matches, all three wins, the first over

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

and the next two over

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

Other sports

Gentile played professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

in the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

farm system and attempted to become a professional

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

kicker, trying out for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

in 1970. He remained on the Oiler taxi squad for one season.

Coaching

Gentile now coaches with the St. Louis Soccer Club, now known as Saint Louis Scott Gallagher. He was inducted into the St. Louis Soccer Hall of Fame on October 20, 1995.

References

External links

NASL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gentile, Carl Living people 1947 births American men's soccer players National Professional Soccer League (1967) players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Soccer players from St. Louis St. Louis Stars (soccer) players Saint Louis Billikens men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players American people of Italian descent Baseball players from Missouri Men's association football forwards 20th-century American sportsmen