Leonardo Di Lorenzo (born May 20, 1981 in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

) is a retired

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

. He announced his retirement from football at the age of 39 on 20 January 2021.

Career

South America

Di Lorenzo started playing soccer in the professional ranks in 2000, with

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Lawrence of Rome, Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on t ...

, where he was part of the team that reached the National A Division closing tournament, and helped the club achieve its first international success by winning the

Mercosur Cup The Copa Mercosur (, pt, Copa Mercosul , "Mercosur Cup") was a football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate TV m ...

. Later on he had spells with

Atlético Rafaela Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico * Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy * Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic ...

and

Argentinos Juniors Asociación Atlética Argentinos Juniors is an Argentine sports club based in La Paternal, Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its football team, which currently plays in the Argentine Primera División, and was recognized as one of the ...

Canada

Di Lorenzo was spotted by the Montreal Impact head coach

Nick De Santis Nicolas De Santis (born November 11, 1967) is a former professional soccer player. Club career After beginning his pro career in 1987 with the Montreal Supra of the Canadian Soccer League, he signed for the Montreal Impact in 1993 where he he ...

during a scouting trip in Argentina in January 2006, and signed a two-year contract with the

USL First Division The USL First Division (usually referred to as USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States and Canada from 2005 to 2010. During its existence, it formed the second tier of soccer in the United States soccer league system b ...

club. In his first season with the Impact he played in 19 games and spent 1,427 minutes on the field in regular-season action, making him the busiest Impact player among those into their first USL First Division season, and scored two goals and collected six assists for 10 points making him the second highest total among Impact players after

Mauricio Salles Mauricio Salles de Alencar (born 1 March 1978) is a Brazilian professional footballer. On 20 January 2010, he was ranked 25th in the USL First Division Top 25 of the Decade, which announced a list of the best and most influential players of th ...

. Helped the Impact claim the regular-season title as well as the

Voyageurs Cup The Voyageurs Cup (french: Coupe des Voyageurs) is the domestic trophy for professional soccer in Canada, awarded to the best men's and women's clubs in the country. The Cup was conceived and commissioned by fans of the Canada men's nationa ...

, and he won the Impact's Newcomer of the Year award. In his second season Di Lorenzo was one of the 13 players in the league who played all 28 regular-season games. He ended the season with three goals and four assists for 10 points, and earned a spot in the 2007 USL First Division Second All-league Team for a second straight season. He was also named five times to the USL First Division Team of the Week. At the team's annual awards banquet he was awarded the Giuseppe-Saputo Trophy as the Impact's MVP. Impact's head coach, De Santis said of him "Leonardo came to training camp in perfect shape and it gave him the chance to be constant all season long. He was a key player during 28 games. After only two seasons, he is already part of the team's nucleus". During the 2008 USL season Di Lorenzo played in 24 matches for the Impact, and recorded three goals as well two assists. In the

2008 Canadian Championship The 2008 Canadian Championship (officially the Nutrilite Canadian Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the first edition of the Canadian Championship – Canada's domestic cup competition. The soccer tournament took place in the cities of Mon ...

he appeared in all four matches for the Impact. He helped the Impact qualify for the first time for the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

by winning the Canadian Championship. He was also selected to the USL First Division Second All-Star Team for a third consecutive season. During the 2009 USL season Di Lorenzo contributed by helping the Impact clinch a playoff spot under new head coach

Marc Dos Santos Marc Dos Santos (born May 26, 1977) is a Canadian soccer coach who is an assistant coach for Los Angeles FC in Major League Soccer. He was previously the head coach of Montreal Impact (1992–2011), Montreal Impact in D2 Pro League and the Vanc ...

. He helped the Impact reach the finals where Montreal would face the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

, this marking the first time in USL history where the final match would consist of two Canadian clubs. In the final he helped the Impact win the series 6-3 on aggregate. The victory gave the Impact their third USL Championship and also the victory marked his first USL Championship. Di Lorenzo signed a new two-year contract with Montreal on 30 January 2010.DI LORENZO IS BACK, HEMMING JOINS THE IMPACT
/ref> On July 18, 2010, marked his 100-game appearance for the organization, he managed to score his 10th career goal in the same match against

Crystal Palace Baltimore Crystal Palace Baltimore was an American professional soccer team based in Baltimore, Maryland, US. Founded in 2006, the club was originally named Crystal Palace USA and was affiliated with English side Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace. The cl ...

. Throughout the season he led his team in assists, and managed to become one of the five Montreal players to record 2,000 minutes.

Honours

Montreal Impact

Championship (1):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

Career stats

References

External links

*
Argentine Primera statistics
at Futbol XXI * {{DEFAULTSORT:Di Lorenzo, Leonardo 1981 births Living people Argentine footballers Argentine expatriate footballers Footballers from Buenos Aires Ottawa Fury (2005–2013) players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Argentinos Juniors footballers Atlético de Rafaela footballers Deportes Concepción (Chile) footballers Club Atlético Acassuso footballers Club Atlético Temperley footballers Primera B de Chile players Argentine Primera División players Expatriate footballers in Chile Expatriate soccer players in Canada Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Canada Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Chile Association football midfielders Montreal Impact (1992–2011) players North American Soccer League players USL First Division players USL League Two players USSF Division 2 Professional League players