Silvano "Sam" Lenarduzzi (born December 19, 1949) is a former

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

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. He was a two-time national champion with British Columbia Selects (1966) and Vancouver Columbus FC (1969). He represented Canada in three cycles of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. He was part of the inaugural class honoured by the

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2024, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

in 2000. Born in

Udine Udine ( ; ; ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northeastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli-Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Carnic Alps. It is the capital of the Province of Udine, Regional decentralization entity ...

, Italy, but raised in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

, Lenarduzzi made his international debut in 1967 as member of the

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

team in Winnipeg. He went on to play in the Pan American Games again in Cali, Colombia in

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

. In 1977 Lenarduzzi was named into the tournament all star team during the pre-World Cup competition in Mexico. From 1967 to 1980, he made 43 combined international appearances ("A" and "B") for Canada, at the time a national record. Lenarduzzi was just 16 years old when he made his Pacific Coast League debut with Columbus FC during the 1965–66 season. The following season, he won the Ed Bayley Trophy as BC Soccer's most outstanding player in his first year in senior soccer. He was still a teenager when he won his first of three-straight

Pacific Coast League The Pacific Coast League (PCL) is a Minor League Baseball league that operates in the Western United States. Along with the International League, it is one of two leagues playing at the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A level, which is one grade bel ...

championships in 1968–69. He also helped British Columbia win the inaugural Canada Games Soccer Tournament in 1969. A full back who was converted to sweeper later in his career, Lenarduzzi joined

Vancouver Whitecaps Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March 18, ...

when that club was formed in 1974 and played a major role in defence until he transferred to

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 1979. In July and August 1974, he trained with

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

in Germany. He has coached at the Vancouver Whitecaps running camps. He has even been given the nickname 'The Legend' by some of his fellow coaches. in 2011, he received the BC Community Achievement Award.

Personal life

There were four Lenarduzzi brothers that played soccer in Vancouver: Vanni, Sam, Bob and Dan. Sam played alongside Vanni and Bob with Columbus FC and then later played alongside Bob with Whitecaps FC. Sam and Bob also played together for

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 ...

References

External links

* /

Canada Soccer Hall of FameCanada Soccer Records & Results

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lenarduzzi, Sam 1949 births Living people Footballers from Udine People of Friulian descent Canada men's international soccer players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian men's soccer players Pan American Games soccer players for Canada Footballers at the 1967 Pan American Games Footballers at the 1971 Pan American Games Men's association football defenders Italian emigrants to Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Naturalized citizens of Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Soccer players from Vancouver Toronto Blizzard (1971–1984) players ICSF Columbus FC players Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players 20th-century Canadian sportsmen