Paul Stalteri

Paul Stalteri

Stalteri playing for Canada in 2008
Personal information
Full name Paul Andrew Stalteri[1]
Date of birth (1977-10-18) October 18, 1977[2]
Place of birth Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada
Height 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2]
Playing position Wingback/Midfielder
Youth career
1992–1995 Malton Bullets
1995–1996 Clemson Tigers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1997 Toronto Lynx 16 (7)
1998–2005 Werder Bremen 151 (6)
2005–2008 Tottenham Hotspur 42 (3)
2008 → Fulham (loan) 13 (0)
2009–2011 Borussia Mönchengladbach 19 (0)
Total 241 (16)
National team
1993 Canada U-17 3 (0)
1996–1997 Canada U-20 9 (0)
1998–2000 Canada U-23 7 (2)
1997–2010 Canada 84 (7)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Paul Andrew Stalteri (born October 18, 1977) is a former Canadian soccer player[3] who spent most of his professional career in Germany. He won the league and cup double with Werder Bremen in the 2003–04 season. Stalteri also played football in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham.[4]

A regular for the Canadian national team, Stalteri made a national record 84 appearances at the senior level, scoring 7 goals.[5] He was part of the squad that won the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2000.[5]

He announced his retirement from the game at the age of 35 on March 20, 2013.[6]

Early life

Stalteri was born to an Italian father and a Guyanese mother.[3] While growing up, Stalteri says his favourite player was Paolo Maldini and the first live football match he ever saw was Toronto Blizzard. He also considered Physical Education to be his favourite subject.[7]

While playing youth soccer in Ontario with the Malton Bullets, won a Robbie International Soccer Tournament Championship.

Club career

A defender who can play either side of the field as well as in midfield, Stalteri began his soccer career playing one year of college soccer at Clemson University in 1996. Following his first year, he elected to turn professional, signing a contract with the Toronto Lynx while attending York University. After playing one season with the Lynx, alongside fellow Canadian national team-mate Dwayne De Rosario, where he led the team in scoring with eight goals and two assists, Stalteri was noticed by a scout from Werder Bremen and purchased from the team. After two and a half seasons in the reserves,[8] Stalteri made his debut with the club in August 2000, scoring in the first game of the season against Energie Cottbus.

During the 2001–02 season, Stalteri established his role in the first team at Bremen and went on to cement his role as a regular in the 2002–03 season. In 2003–04, Werder Bremen won the Bundesliga.

In May 2005, Stalteri transferred to English Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur.[9] He featured heavily in the 2005–06 campaign as Spurs narrowly missed out on a Champions League place, but the arrival of full back Pascal Chimbonda at White Hart Lane the following season limited his chances.

On March 4, 2007, after coming on as a substitute, he scored a dramatic last minute winner against London rivals West Ham United to complete an extraordinary 4–3 win.[10] He had hardly featured in the first team all season up to that point. His other Spurs goals came against Manchester City in the league[11] and Leicester City in the FA Cup.[12]

On January 31, 2008, Stalteri moved to Fulham on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut for Fulham away at Middlesbrough on February 9, 2008 where his team lost 1–0.[13] Having returned to White Hart Lane, his contract was terminated by mutual consent on December 21, 2008.[14]

Stalteri returned to the Bundesliga, having been immediately signed by Borussia Mönchengladbach where he joined fellow international Rob Friend.[4][15]

International career

Stalteri was a regular starter for the Canadian national team for over ten years since making his debut on August 17, 1997 against Iran. In total, he won 84 caps and scored 7 goals for the national team.[16] That made him the most capped Canadian of all time until this record was surpassed by Julian De Guzman in 2015.[17] He was named team captain for a friendly on June 1, 2007 against Venezuela, and remained captain for international fixtures for the rest of his international career including for the entirety of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup. On September 7, 2010 Stalteri earned his 83rd cap for Canada in a 2–1 win over Honduras making him the all-time leader in appearances for the Canadian Men's National Team.[18]

International goals

# Date City Opponent Result Competition
1. Jun 2, 1999 Canada Edmonton, Canada  Guatemala 2–0 Canada Cup
2. Nov 14, 2001 Malta Paola, Malta  Malta 1–2 Friendly match
3. May 15, 2002 Switzerland St. Gallen, Switzerland   Switzerland 3–1 Friendly
4. Feb 12, 2003 Libya Tripoli, Libya  Libya 4–2 Friendly
5. Mar 29, 2003 Estonia Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 1–2 Friendly
6. Jul 12, 2003 United States Foxboro, United States  Costa Rica 1–0 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup
7. Mar 25, 2007 Bermuda Hamilton, Bermuda  Bermuda 3–0 Friendly

Honours

Club

Werder Bremen

Country

Canada

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Quick Facts and FAQ's". Paul Stalteri official website. Retrieved 9 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream Publishing. p. 393. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  3. 1 2 Nicola Sparano (November 14, 2004). "Paul Stalteri Goes Big League". Tandem News (Canada). Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  4. 1 2 "Spurs release defender Stalteri". BBC Sport. December 22, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  5. 1 2 "Canadian soccer star Stalteri retires". Rogers Sportsnet. March 20, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  6. ↑ "Former Canadian captain Paul Stalteri retires from soccer". The Globe and Mail. March 20, 2013. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Paul Stalteri on Past, Present and Future". Fulham Official Website. 8 April 2008. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  8. ↑ Arnhold, Matthias (23 June 2016). "Paul Stalteri - Matches and Goals in Bundesliga". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  9. ↑ "Spurs snap up defender Stalteri". BBC Sport. May 16, 2005. Retrieved December 4, 2007.
  10. ↑ "West Ham 3-4 Tottenham". BBC. March 4, 2007. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  11. ↑ "Tottenham 2-1 Man City". BBC. April 8, 2006. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  12. ↑ "Leicester 3-2 Tottenham". BBC. January 8, 2006. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Fulham bring in three new players". BBC Sport. January 31, 2008.
  14. ↑ "Stalteri departs". Tottenham Hotspur. December 21, 2008. Retrieved December 21, 2008.
  15. ↑ "Stalteri to leave Tottenham and join Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach". The Daily Mail. December 22, 2008. Retrieved December 22, 2008.
  16. ↑ Mamrud, Roberto (23 June 2016). "Paul Stalteri - International Appearances". RSSSF. Retrieved 27 June 2016.
  17. ↑ Canada - Record International Players
  18. ↑ "Stalteri sets all-time record for national appearances". Canada Soccer Association. September 7, 2010. Retrieved September 7, 2010.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/8/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.