Roberto Lonardo is a Uruguayan former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a defender and

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 ...

Career

Lonardo came to the United States in 1965 after playing with

Racing Club de Montevideo Racing Club de Montevideo is a professional football club from Montevideo in Uruguay. It currently participates in the Uruguayan Primera División since winning the Torneo Competencia in 2022. Racing CM is known as "La Escuelita" (The Little Sc ...

. In 1967, he played in 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 ( ...

with

Dallas Tornado The Dallas Tornado was a soccer team based in Dallas, Texas that played in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1967 to 1981. Of the twelve teams that comprised the U.S. in 1967, the Tornado franchise played the longest–15 seasons. T ...

. In 1969, he played 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 ...

with

Kansas City Spurs The Kansas City Spurs were an American professional soccer team who played in the North American Soccer League, based in Kansas City, Missouri. They played their home games at Kansas City Municipal Stadium, former home of the Kansas City Chief ...

. In his debut season with Kansas he assisted in securing the division title. During the NASL offseason in 1969 he played in the Greater Los Angeles Soccer League with

San Pedro Yugoslavs The San Pedro Yugoslavs was a soccer team based in San Pedro, Los Angeles that played in Greater Los Angeles Soccer League. History The club, which represented the community Yugoslav of San Pedro, the district of Los Angeles, had joined the G ...

. In 1970, he returned to play with San Pedro Yugoslavs. In 1971, he signed with league rivals Rochester Lancers after the folding of Kansas. In his debut season with Rochester he was selected for the Third NASL All-Star team. He played with Rochester for four seasons, and played with the indoor team in 1971.

Managerial career

In 1978, he was the assistant coach for the Buffalo Blazers 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 ...

. In June 1978, he succeeded Sam Buscarino as a

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

for Buffalo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonardo, Roberto 1943 births Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguayan football managers Dallas Tornado players Kansas City Spurs players Rochester Lancers (1967–1980) players United Soccer Association players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Men's association football defenders Men's association football midfielders Canadian National Soccer League players Canadian National Soccer League coaches Living people 20th-century Uruguayan sportsmen