Martino "Tino" Lettieri (born 27 September 1957) is a former NASL and

MISL The Misls (derived from an Arabic word wikt:مثل#Etymology_3, مِثْل meaning 'equal') were the twelve sovereign states of the Sikh Confederacy, which rose during the 18th century in the Punjab region in the northern part of the Indian ...

professional

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 ...

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

, who represented Canada twice at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

: 1976 and 1984 and at the

1986 FIFA World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia ha ...

Club career

He was born as an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

but was raised in Canada. Lettieri began his pro career with the

Montreal Castors Montreal Castors was a Canadian Association football, soccer team, founded in 1975. The team played in the Canadian National Soccer League, National Soccer League, winning the championship in 1978 and 1979 before withdrawing from the league in 197 ...

in the

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its d ...

in 1976. In 1977, he played with the

Minnesota Kicks The Minnesota Kicks were a professional soccer team that played at Metropolitan Stadium in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota, from 1976 to 1981. The team was a member of the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL). Initiall ...

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 ...

and played there until 1981. He went on to play the

Vancouver Whitecaps 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 March ...

in 1982 and 1983 and 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 metropoli ...

in 1984. He was named NASL North American Player of the Year in 1983 and had the league's best Goals Against Average in both 1982 and 1983. Lettieri was a regular in the original

. He continued to play for the Strikers as the team joined the indoor league, playing the 1984–85 season through to 1987–88. Lettieri was voted Goalkeeper of the Year for the 1986–87 season. Lettieri finished his outdoor career in 1987 with the Hamilton Steelers in

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 ...

. He was elected to the

Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Ha ...

in 2001. Lettieri is often remembered for his keeping a stuffed parrot in the back of his net during games. The bird was named "Ozzie". In 1985 the league banned Ozzie from the nets.

International career

Lettieri made his full international debut for Canada on 17 September 1980 in a 3–0 victory over

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. He earned 24 caps for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

and was the first-choice goalkeeper from 1980 until 1986. In the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-tea ...

, Lettieri played two of Canada's three matches, the latter of which, a 0–2 defeat to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

Irapuato Irapuato is a Mexican city (and municipality) located at the foot of the Arandas Hill (in Spanish: ''Cerro de Arandas''), in the central region of the state of Guanajuato. It lies between the Silao River and the Guanajuato River, a tributary of t ...

, was his final international appearance.

Personal life

Lettieri married the daughter of

Minnesota North Stars The Minnesota North Stars were a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) for 26 seasons, from 1967 to 1993. The North Stars played their home games at the Met Center in Bloomington, Minnesota, and the team's colors for ...

hockey player and general manager

Lou Nanne Louis Vincent Anthony Nanne (born June 2, 1941) is a Canadian-born American former National Hockey League defenceman and general manager. He played in the National Hockey League with the Minnesota North Stars between 1968 and 1978 and then served ...

. He now runs a successful food products business, Tino's Cafe Pizzeria, in

Shorewood, Minnesota Shorewood is a city nestled in the woods along on the shores of Lake Minnetonka in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 7,307 at the 2010 census. The city was incorporated in 1956. Its area was originally part of the fo ...

. His son,

Vinni Øyvind Sauvik (born 3 February 1976), better known by his stage name Vinni, is a Norwegian musician and hip hop artist. Biography Born in Arendal, Norway, Sauvik moved with his parents to Tanzania when he was three years old, as they worked w ...

, played hockey for the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

and signed with the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

in 2017.

References

External links

Tino's Pizzeria official website
* /

Canada Soccer Hall of Fame The Canada Soccer Hall of Fame honours people and institutions for their contributions to Canadian soccer. It was founded in 1997 by the Ontario Soccer Association and was originally located in Vaughan, Ontario. As of 2019, the Canada Soccer Hal ...

NASL/MISL stats
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lettieri, Tino 1957 births Living people 1986 FIFA World Cup players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Canadian National Soccer League players Canada Soccer Hall of Fame inductees Canadian Soccer League (1987–1992) players Canadian soccer players CONCACAF Championship-winning players Expatriate soccer players in the United States Association football goalkeepers Footballers at the 1976 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 1984 Summer Olympics Hamilton Steelers (1981–1992) players Italian emigrants to Canada Major Indoor Soccer League (1978–1992) players Minnesota Kicks players Minnesota Strikers (NASL) players Montreal Castors players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) indoor players Naturalized citizens of Canada North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Olympic soccer players of Canada Footballers from Bari People from Shorewood, Minnesota Soccer players from Montreal Vancouver Whitecaps (1974–1984) players Minnesota Strikers (MISL) players People of Apulian descent