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Bob Lenarduzzi (born 1 May 1955 in Vancouver) is a
former North American Soccer League star, Canada
men's national soccer team|Canadian International,
and Head coach|coach of the Canadian national and
olympic soccer teams.  He is currently Head of
Soccer Operations for Vancouver
Whitecaps|Whitecaps F.C. in Vancouver.

==As a professional player==
A midfielder/defender (soccer)|defender,
Lenarduzzi began his professional playing career
at age 15 as a youth with Reading F.C. in The
Football League|England and went on to play 67
first-team games with the club, and score 2 goals.
 Lenarduzzi then joined the NASL Vancouver
Whitecaps in 1974 in the team's first season.  He
played 11 seasons until the Whitecaps last season
in 1984, when the league folded.  Lenarduzzi holds
the record for most games played in the league,
with 312.  He was also voted NASL North American
player of the year in 1978.  The Whitecaps won the
NASL champioship in 1979.

==As a professional head coach==
Lenarduzzi resumed his pro career in 1987 as a
player/coach with the newly formed Vancouver 86ers
of the newly founded Canadian Soccer League.  In
1989, he retired from play but continued as head
coach of the team until 1993.  He lead the
franchise to an unprecedented four consecutive CSL
titals from 1988 to 1991.  His team set a record
for professional North American sports teams when
the team went 46 games unbeaten between 6 June
1988 and 8 August 1989.  His 86ers career totals
of 96wins-24loses-28ties makes him the winningest
coach in Vancouver professional sports history.  

==As the national team head coach==
Lenarduzzi became head coach (ie. manager) of the
national team in 1993.  In his first of two bids
to see Canada back through to a World Cup finals,
his squad twice came close but failed to progress
to the 1994 Football World Cup|1994 finals.  First
they lost at home to Mexico national football
team|Mexico despite scoring the game's first goal
in a game with which Canada could have gone
through to the finals with a win.  As CONCACAF
qualifying winners-up, Canada then lost the away
leg to Australia national football team|Australia
in a match decided by penalty kicks that saw the
winner of the home-and-away series go on to play
Argentina national football team|Argentina in a
home-and-away series for a finals spot (won by
Argentina).  

In qualifying for the 1998 Football World Cup|1998
finals, Canada failed to finish in the top three
of a six-nation CONCACAF final qualifying round
league tournament and progress.  Lenarduzzi
subsequently resigned his post in 1997. 

==As a national team player==
Lenarduzzi won 47 caps playing for Canada.  He
played all the country's matches both as the squad
progressed to the quarterfinals of the 1984 Summer
Olympics and as it participated in the first round
of the 1986 World Cup finals.  

==As a soccer executive==
Lenarduzzi served as 86ers general manager from
1988 to 1993.  He resumed the post in 1998 and was
named the USL First Division|A-League's executive
of the year for 2000.  In 2001 he also assumed the
position of the Whitecaps Head of Soccer
Operations. (The 86ers changed their name to
Whitecaps in 2001.)  

==Awards==
In 2005, he was awarded the Order of British
Columbia.

==External links==
*http://www.soccer.on.ca/OSN.nsf/c1bfa845a2dec3bf8
5256b0b005d4116/3454fe119c8bbc0a85256b0b005daa9b?O
penDocument The Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum
(Ontario) run by the OSA with a induction profile
of Lenarduzzi
*http://www.soccerhall.org/famers/Bob_Lenarduzzi.h
tm National Soccer Hall of Fame and Museum (in the
U.S.) with its 2003 induction page on Lenarduzzi