Martino "Tino" Lettieri (born 27 September 1957) is a former NASL and

MISL Major Indoor Soccer League has been the name of three different American professional indoor soccer leagues: *Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992), known in its final two seasons as the Major Soccer League *Major Indoor Soccer League (2001–2 ...

professional

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, who represented Canada twice at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

: 1976 and 1984 and at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

Club career

Lettieri began his pro career with the

Montreal Castors Montreal Castors was a Canadian Association football, soccer team, founded in 1975. The team played in the Canadian National Soccer League, National Soccer League, winning the championship in 1978 and 1979 before withdrawing from the league in 197 ...

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 1976. In 1977, he played with the

Minnesota Kicks The Minnesota Kicks was a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (1968–84), No ...

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 ...

and played there until 1981. He went on to play the

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, ...

in 1982 and 1983 and the

Minnesota Strikers The Minnesota Strikers were an American soccer team that competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) for the 1984 season and in the Major Indoor Soccer League from 1984 through 1988. The team was based in Minneapolis/ St. Paul metrop ...

in 1984. He was named NASL North American Player of the Year in 1983 and had the league's best Goals Against Average in both 1982 and 1983. Lettieri was a regular in the original

. He continued to play for the Strikers as the team joined the indoor league, playing the 1984–85 season through to 1987–88. Lettieri was voted Goalkeeper of the Year for the 1986–87 season. Lettieri led the Strikers to a runner-up finish in the MISL playoffs during the 1985-86 season, as the team fell 4-3 in the championship round to the San Diego Sockers. Two years later, the Strikers won the Eastern Division. Lettieri finished his outdoor career in 1987 with the Hamilton Steelers in

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 ...

. He was elected to the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame in 2001. Lettieri is often remembered for his keeping a stuffed parrot in the back of his net during games. The bird was named "Ozzie". In 1985 the league banned Ozzie from the nets.

International career

Lettieri made his full international debut for Canada on 17 September 1980 in a 3–0 victory over

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

. He earned 24 caps 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 ...

and was the first-choice goalkeeper from 1980 until 1986. In the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

, Lettieri played two of Canada's three matches, the latter of which, a 0–2 defeat to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city and municipalities of Mexico, municipality located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish Language, Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the Mexican state, state of Guanajuato. It lies between the ...

, was his final international appearance. In 2001, Lettieri was honored by the Canada Soccer Hall of Fame, and a year later was named a member of the Quebec Soccer Hall of Fame. He was named by Canada Soccer as one of the top 100 Canadian footballers of all time in 2012.

Personal life

Lettieri is married to Michelle Nanne, the daughter of

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

hockey player and general manager Lou Nanne. He now runs a successful food products business, Tino's Cafe Pizzeria, in Shorewood, Minnesota. His son, Vinni, played hockey for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (historically known as University of Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint ...

and signed with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in New York City. The Rangers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference (NHL), Eastern Conference. The team plays ...

in 2017.

Honours

Canada * CONCACAF Championship:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

References

External links

Tino's Pizzeria official website
* /

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 ...

NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lettieri, Tino 1957 births Living people 1986 FIFA World Cup players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian National Soccer League players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Canadian men's soccer players CONCACAF Championship–winning players Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Italian emigrants to Canada Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Minnesota Kicks players Minnesota Strikers (NASL) players Montreal Castors players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Naturalized citizens of Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Olympic soccer players for Canada Footballers from Bari People from Shorewood, Minnesota Soccer players from Hennepin County, Minnesota Soccer players from Montreal Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players People of Apulian descent 20th-century Canadian sportsmen