John Carenza (January 3, 1950 – March 17, 2023) was an American

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 who was a member of the U.S. Olympic soccer team. He also spent five seasons in the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

College

Carenza graduated from St. Mary's High School in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

in 1968. He is a member of the school's Hall of Fame. After high school, he attended

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) is a public university in Edwardsville, Illinois. SIUE was established in 1957 as an extension of Southern Illinois University Carbondale.Butler 1976, p. 18 It is the younger of the two major inst ...

(SIUE) where he played 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) ** Sm ...

on the

SIUE Cougars The SIU Edwardsville Cougars are the intercollegiate athletic teams of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE), located in Edwardsville, Illinois, United States. The Cougars' athletic program is a member of the Ohio Valley Conference (O ...

men's soccer team from 1968 to 1971. SIUE had established its soccer program in 1967, but Carenza carried the team to national prominence. He still holds the career record for goals with 71 and is second on the career assists list with 29. Carenza earned second team All-American recognition in 1971. He was also a two time runner-up for the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and the ...

. Carenza is a member of Who's Who Among Colleges & Universities and was a charter member of the

Sigma Pi Sigma Pi () is a collegiate fraternity with 233 chapters at American universities. As of 2021, the fraternity had more than 5,000 undergraduate members and over 110,000 alumni. Sigma Pi headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee. The fraternity ...

fraternity chapter at SIUE.

1972 Olympic Team

His collegiate success led to his selection to the U.S. Olympic soccer team as it began the qualification process for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

. He quickly made an impact on the team when he scored the U.S. goal in a 1–1 tie with El Salvador on July 18, 1971. He scored again in a 3–1 dismantling of Barbados in August. On January 23, 1972, he scored another significant goal when the U.S. tied Mexico in Mexico. He scored twice more, the last goal coming in the last qualification game, a 2–1 victory over Jamaica which clinched the first U.S. appearance at the Olympics in 1956. The actual games themselves were an anti-climax as the U.S. went 0-2-1. Despite Carenza's success with the Olympic team, he was never selected for the full national team.

NASL

In 1973, the St. Louis Stars of the

(NASL) selected Carenza in the first round of the College Draft. While he had made his reputation as a high-scoring forward, the Stars also used him in defense. He spent four seasons with the Stars, playing in 52 games and scoring 5 goals.

Personal life and death

His father,

Joe Carenza, Sr. Joseph S. Carenza Sr. (died 1981) was a U.S. soccer midfielder who played for numerous St. Louis teams in the 1940s and 1950s. He went on to coach the Washington University Bears men's soccer team from 1959 to 1964. He is a member of the Nation ...

, was a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

. John Carenza died on March 17, 2023, at the age of 73.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carenza, John 1950 births 2023 deaths American men's soccer players Soccer players from St. Louis Men's association football forwards Men's association football central defenders North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players St. Louis Stars (soccer) players Footballers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Olympic soccer players for the United States SIU Edwardsville Cougars men's soccer players