Joseph Lapira (born August 13, 1986,

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

) is a retired soccer player. Born in the United States, Lapira is a one time international for the

Republic of Ireland national football team , FIFA Trigramme = IRL , Name = Republic of Ireland , Association = Football Association of Ireland (FAI) , Confederation = UEFA (Europe) , website fai.ie, Coach = Stephen Kenny (foot ...

. Besides the United States, he has played in Norway and India.

Early life

Lapira graduated from St. Louis Catholic High School in Lake Charles, Louisiana. After high school, he continued a family tradition and attended the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. He is of Maltese descent.Joseph Lapira - Another Player with Maltese Roots!
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Club career

In 2006, he was the winner of 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 ...

, awarded to the top collegiate player of the year, after scoring 22 goals for Notre Dame. During his college years, Lapira also played in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syste ...

with Louisiana Outlaws, Lafayette Swamp Cats and

Baton Rouge Capitals BRSC Capitals are an American soccer team based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, in the Mid South Division of ...

. In April 2007, it was reported that Lapira would be joining

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

side

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

for a trial at some point in summer 2007, although he eventually went on trial at Rangers instead. Lapira broke down with a calf injury minutes into his first training session with the Ibrox club. In January 2008, Lapira finally joined Aberdeen for a week-long trial after recovering from his calf injury. He played for the reserve side in a 1-1 draw with

Falkirk Falkirk ( gd, An Eaglais Bhreac, sco, Fawkirk) is a large town in the Central Lowlands of Scotland, historically within the county of Stirlingshire. It lies in the Forth Valley, northwest of Edinburgh and northeast of Glasgow. Falkirk had a ...

reserves but did not do enough to earn a contract with the Dons. Instead, Lapira was selected in the third round of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft by

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

, but never signed a contract with

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 ...

. On April 1, 2008, Lapira signed with Norwegian

Adeccoligaen The Norwegian First Division, also called 1. divisjon and OBOS-ligaen (named sponsor is property developer OBOS), is the second-highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Each year, the top finishing teams in the 1. divisjon are p ...

side

Nybergsund IL-Trysil Nybergsund IL-Trysil is a Norwegian football club located in Nybergsund in Trysil. It currently plays in the 3. divisjon, the fourth tier of the Norwegian football league system, having been relegated from 2. divisjon in 2018 File:2018 Even ...

, who played in the second tier after being promoted from the third tier in 2007.What Joe Lapira did next...
Herald.ie, July 3, 2008 Lapira scored a brace in his Nybergsund debut, a 3-0 victory. In March 2011, Lapira signed for

I-League 2nd Division I-League 2, previously known as I-League 2nd Division and officially known as or Hero I-League 2 (for sponsorship ties with Hero MotoCorp), is an Indian men's professional football league. It is the 3rd tier of Indian football, behind Indian ...

side

United Sikkim FC United Sikkim Football Club is an Indian professional football club based in Gangtok, Sikkim. Founded in 2011, the club usually competed in the Sikkim Premier Division League. United Sikkim is the only club from Sikkim to have played in the ...

. In the summer of 2011, Lapira returned to Norway after signing again with Nybergsund IL-Trysil.

Career statistics

International career

Lapira is a full international for the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. He qualifies for the Republic by virtue of his Irish mother, and came to the attention of former Irish boss

Steve Staunton Stephen Staunton (born 19 January 1969) is an Irish football manager, scout and former professional footballer. He played as a defender (association football), defender with two separate spells each with Premier League sides Aston Villa F.C., A ...

through Lapira's uncle, who worked at the FAI. He gained a cap for

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on May 23, 2007 against

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...

,Republic of Ireland 1-1 Ecuador
BBC Sport, May 24, 2007 becoming the first amateur player to play for Ireland since

Willie Browne William Browne (21 February 1936 – 14 October 2004) was an Irish soccer player during the 1960s. A Bohemian F.C. legend, he was the last amateur to have been capped for the full Republic of Ireland national team for 43 years until Joseph L ...

in 1964.

Awards and honours

*M.A.C. Hermann Trophy Winner (2006) *Soccer America National *Player of the Year (2006) *All-America First Team (2006) *All-BIG EAST First Team (2006) *BIG EAST Offensive *Player of the Year (2006) *All-BIG EAST Third Team (2005) *Participated in the 2019 Joe Lapira FIFA tournament, placing a respectable 21st out of 22 participants (2019)

References

External links

Joseph Lapira
University of Notre Dame

Sporting Life, May 24, 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Lapira, Joseph Living people 1986 births Republic of Ireland association footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers American soccer players American people of Irish descent American people of Maltese descent American expatriate soccer players Notre Dame Fighting Irish men's soccer players Men's association football forwards Louisiana Outlaws players Lafayette Swamp Cats players Baton Rouge Capitals players Soccer players from Louisiana Soccer players from New York (state) Sportspeople from Lake Charles, Louisiana USL League Two players United Sikkim FC players Toronto FC draft picks Hermann Trophy men's winners All-American men's college soccer players Irish people of Maltese descent Expatriate footballers in India

Early life

Club career

Career statistics

International career

Awards and honours

See also

References

External links