Andrea Daniele Lombardo (born May 23, 1987) is an Italian- Canadian former

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.

Youth career

Lombardo began his youth career playing for Woodbridge Strikers and North York Hearts. He then went on trials with Coventry City,

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

, and

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

being offered places in Manchester City and Modena’s Academy at the age of 15. He joined Manchester City and trained with them for four months until his work permit was denied. Through a connection from a friend of his father, he was offered a two-day trial with Atalanta. After scoring two goals in a scrimmage, he was offered a contract and joined the club's academy.

Club career

Lombardo began his professional career with Atalanta in 2004. In 2005 and 2006, he was loaned to Perugia and to

Rieti Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...

. He joined Toronto FC in their inaugural season of

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

in 2007. He scored his first goal in an exhibition match against English Premier League club Aston Villa F.C. He played two seasons with the club before being released.

University career

After departing TFC, Lombardo went on to play 4 games for the York University soccer men's team. However, he was found to be violation of Ontario University Athletics rules because he did not maintain amateur status, having played professionally within the past year. All 4 games were overturned. He re-joined the Lions for the 2009/2010 CIS season. He became an assistant coach with York in 2017.

Semi-pro career

On 28 April 2010 he signed a one-year contract for

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) 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 (C ...

club SC Toronto/Portugal FC which was later extended for the 2012 season. He made his debut for the club on May 8, 2010, in a match against

TFC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 young players. The senior academy team is ...

. The following week he would score his first goal for the club on May 16, 2010, against

Brantford Galaxy Brantford Galaxy Soccer Club was a semi-professional Canadian soccer club based in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, with their home venue located in Hamilton, Ontario at the Heritage Field Turf. The club competes in the Canadian Soccer League, a lea ...

. He helped Portugal FC finish fifth in the overall standings and as a result qualified for a postseason berth. He featured in the quarterfinal match against Milltown FC, and scored a goal which resulted in a 2–2 draw. In the semi-finals Lombardo recorded his second playoff goal in a 5–3 loss to Brantford Galaxy. In the 2011 season he helped SC Toronto capture the Regular Season Championship, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals after their opponents the York Region Shooters won the penalty shootout by a score of 4–2. After playing with SC Toronto, he decided to retire. He later came out of retirement to play for Vaughan Azzurri in the newly formed League1 Ontario, making his debut against

. He took up an assistant coaching role with the same team as well as the youth teams in 2018.

International career

Lombardo started playing for the Canadian youth national team at the age of 14. Lombardo has played for the Canadian under-20 national side. He was part of the squad 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 ...

and the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the score ...

References

External links

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archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lombardo, Andrea 1987 births Living people Atalanta B.C. players Canadian soccer players Canadian expatriate soccer players Citizens of Italy through descent Association football forwards Canadian people of Italian descent Italian footballers Italian people of Canadian descent Sportspeople from North York Soccer players from Toronto A.C. Perugia Calcio players Toronto FC players SC Toronto players Serie B players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Major League Soccer players League1 Ontario players Canada men's youth international soccer players Canada men's under-23 international soccer players Vaughan Azzurri players