Paul DiBernardo is a retired Argentine-American soccer

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

who coaches youth soccer. He played professionally in the

American Indoor Soccer Association American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and earned one

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with the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team h ...

Youth

DiBernardo, a native of Argentina, emigrated to the United States in 1972 with his family. He grew up in Illinois and attended Riverside High School in

North Riverside, Illinois North Riverside is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 7,426. Geography North Riverside is located at (41.846222, -87.829585). According to the 2021 census gazetteer files, North R ...

. He graduated in 1981, after which he attended

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

. While growing up, he also played for Sparta Soccer Club in Chicago. After high school, played as a

on the Hoosiers soccer team from 1981 to 1984. His older brother Angelo had been a star at Indiana in the late 1970s. During Paul's four seasons with the Hoosiers, they went to the

championship game In sport, a championship is a Competition#Sports, competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match sy ...

three years running, taking the title in 1982 and 1983 and losing to Clemson in 1984. DiBernardo contributed 40 goals and 36 assists during his four years and was named the 1984 ''SoccerAmerica'' college

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

. In 1997, the Indiana Soccer Hall of Fame inducted DiBernardo.

Professional

In January 1985, DiBernardo signed with the Louisville Thunder of the

(AISA) for the remainder of the 1984-1985 season.''Meeting Could Decide NASL'S Future'' The Record (New Jersey) - Sunday, January 13, 1985 In June 1985, 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 metropol ...

selected DiBernardo in the first round (eighth overall) of the Major Indoor Soccer League draft. The Strikers released him during the pre-season. He then signed with the

Chicago Shoccers The Chicago Vultures were an indoor soccer club based in Chicago, Illinois that competed in the American Indoor Soccer Association. After their first season, the club was renamed the Chicago Shoccers. Coaches Luis Dabo 1985–1986 Aleks Mih ...

of the AISA. He spent one season with the Shoccers then moved to the

Fort Wayne Flames The Fort Wayne Flames were an indoor soccer club based in Fort Wayne, Indiana, that competed in the American Indoor Soccer Association, playing home games at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum from 1986–1989. History The team was foun ...

in 1986. DiBernardo appeared in 95 games for the Flames from 1986 to 1989. During the 1987-1988 AISA season, he scored 18 goals for the Fort Wayne Flames, putting him 10th on the league's points list.

Fort Wayne Flames

Regular season

*Games Played - 83 *Goals - 50* *Assists - 27 *Points - 77* *Shots on Goal - 305* *Blocked Shots - 55 *Fouls - 143 *Penalty Minutes - 33* (* = career franchise leader)

Playoffs

*Games Played - 12* *Goals - 7 *Assists - 8* *Points - 15 *Shots on Goal - 45 *Blocked Shots - 2 *Fouls - 20 *Penalty Minutes - 4 (* = career franchise leader)

National team

DiBernardo earned one

with the U.S. national team when he came on for Jacques LaDouceur in a February 8, 1985 tie with Switzerland.

Coach

He is a staff coach for the Naperville Soccer Club of Naperville, Illinois.

References

External links

Sparta Chicago Site – its in Czech

IU Soccer History

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dibernardo, Paul Living people American soccer players American Indoor Soccer Association players Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine emigrants to the United States Chicago Shoccers players Chicago Sparta players Association football midfielders Fort Wayne Flames players Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players Louisville Thunder players Sportspeople from Cook County, Illinois United States men's international soccer players Year of birth missing (living people) Soccer players from Illinois National Soccer League (Chicago) players NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament Most Outstanding Player winners