Franco Lalli (born March 11, 1985) is a Canadian former

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 ...

player who most recently played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

North York Astros The North York Astros were a Canadian soccer team that was founded in 1990. The team initially played in the National Soccer League. The team played their home games at Esther Shiner Stadium in North York, a district of the city of Toronto, Ca ...

in the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

Club career

Lalli commenced his soccer career at the youth level with various teams, including the

Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The team plays home g ...

, Woodbridge Town Football Club, Brampton Lions, Ontario Provincial team and the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

. He then pursued opportunities abroad in Italy, where he played for several clubs, namely U.S.D. Lucera Calcio,

Foggia Calcio Calcio Foggia 1920, commonly referred to as Foggia, is an Italian football club based in Foggia, Apulia. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in the top level Serie A in 1995. It plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian ...

S.S. Cavese 1919 Cavese 1919, commonly known as just Cavese, is an Italian football club based in Cava de' Tirreni, Campania, that currently plays in . The first city club was founded in 1919 as Unione Sportiva Cavese. It was refounded as Pro Cavese in 1974. In ...

, US Avellino and

. In 2005, he signed with Lombard-Pápa TFC in the

Hungarian National Championship II Hungarian may refer to: * Hungary, a country in Central Europe * Kingdom of Hungary, state of Hungary, existing between 1000 and 1946 * Hungarians/Magyars, ethnic groups in Hungary * Hungarian algorithm, a polynomial time algorithm for solving the ...

, but was released in 2006. On April 17, 2008, the

announced Lalli's signing for the 2008 season. He scored his first goal for the Astros on August 9 against the Brampton Lions. Throughout the season, Lalli contributed significantly to the team's success, helping set an all-time record for most points and wins in a season, and securing a playoff berth. In the quarterfinal match, Lalli scored the Astros' only goal, forcing

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

, but the

Serbian White Eagles 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 ...

ultimately scoring the winning goal to advance to the semifinals.

International career

Lalli appeared for Canada in the

2005 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship was the 15th edition of the FIFA World Youth Championship. It took place in the Netherlands between 10 June and 2 July 2005. Venues Qualification The following 24 teams qualified for the 2005 FIFA Worl ...

, although he did not play in the tournament. In total, he recorded four appearances with the Canadian national U-20 team.

Style of play

A versatile player, Lalli is known for being an all-rounder, and can play as a

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 ...

or as an

offensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

on both the

left Left may refer to: Music * ''Left'' (Hope of the States album), 2006 * ''Left'' (Monkey House album), 2016 * ''Left'' (Helmet album), 2023 * "Left", a song by Nickelback from the album ''Curb'', 1996 Direction * Left (direction), the relativ ...

or as

right Rights are law, legal, social, or ethics, ethical principles of freedom or Entitlement (fair division), entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal sy ...

flanks.

Personal life

Lalli lives in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and is fan of

Roberto Baggio Roberto Baggio (; born 18 February 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a second striker, or as an attacking midfielder, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. He is the former pr ...

.https://www.facebook.com/people/Franco-Lalli/505375990

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lalli, Franco 1985 births Men's association football midfielders Brampton City United FC players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Canadian men's soccer players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Living people Pápai FC footballers North York Astros players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's soccer players Soccer players from Toronto 21st-century Canadian sportsmen