Mauro Biello (born August 8, 1972) is a Canadian professional soccer assistant coach and former player who was the interim head coach of the Canada men's national team.[1] He played as a forward for several Canadian and American lower division clubs, namely Montreal Supra, Buffalo Blizzard, Rochester Raging Rhinos, and Toronto Thunderhawks. He also spent a total of 16 seasons with the second division Montreal Impact, for whom he is the all-time statistical leader in goals and appearances, with over 80 goals and over 300 games for the team. As a Canadian international, he was capped four times from 1995 until 2000.
 Biello in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | August 8, 1972 | ||
| Place of birth | Montreal, Quebec, Canada | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Canada (assistant coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Vanier Cheetahs | |||
| Concordia Stingers | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1991–1992 | Montreal Supra | 16 | (1) |
| 1993–1998 | Montreal Impact | 108 | (32) |
| 1995–1997 | Buffalo Blizzard (indoor) | 57 | (48) |
| 1999 | Rochester Raging Rhinos | 28 | (8) |
| 1997–2000 | Montreal Impact (indoor) | 116 | (133) |
| 2000–2009 | Montreal Impact | 235 | (40) |
| 2000–2001 | Toronto Thunderhawks (indoor) | 39 | (44) |
| Total | 389 | (81) | |
| International career | |||
| 1995–2000 | Canada | 4 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2012–2015 | Montreal Impact (assistant) | ||
| 2015–2017 | Montreal Impact | ||
| 2018–2023 | Canada (assistant) | ||
| 2022–2023 | Canada U-20 | ||
| 2023–2024 | Canada (interim) | ||
| 2024– | Canada (assistant) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
As a manager, he served as the head coach of Montreal Impact from 2015 until 2017 and has served as the interim head coach of the Canadian men's national team since September of 2023.
Early life
editThis section of a biography of a living person does not include any references or sources. (April 2022) |
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Biello attended St. Monica's Elementary School, Vincent Massey Collegiate and Marymount Academy, and played college soccer at Vanier College and Concordia University. He is of Italian descent.[2]
Club career
editEarly career
editBiello began his professional soccer career in 1992 when he was drafted by the Montreal Supra.
Montreal Impact
editA year later, the team folded and Biello signed with the newly formed expansion team, the Montreal Impact of the American Professional Soccer League. Biello helped the Impact capture the League Championship for the first time in 1994, but Biello played a small part in capturing the Championship. In 1997, Biello helped the Impact win the regular-season title by scoring 8 goals and recording 10 assists. He was awarded the Giuseppe-Saputo Trophy as the Impact's Team MVP. In addition to playing for Montreal during the outdoor season, Biello also spent two seasons, 1995–1997, with the Buffalo Blizzard in the National Professional Soccer League. In 1997, the Impact entered the NPSL. Consequently, Biello played both indoor and outdoor seasons with Montreal.[3]
During the 1998 outdoor season, Biello played a major part for the Impact, scoring 11 goals and amassing 35 points (a team record that stood until the 2002 season, when Eduardo Sebrango surpassed it with 18 goals and 36 points). At the end of the season he was awarded the Giuseppe-Saputo Trophy for the second straight year.
Rochester Raging Rhinos
editIn 1999, Biello left the Impact because the new ownership decided not to play the 1999 outdoor season in order to better prepare the 1999-2000 indoor season, which left him to sign with rivals the Rochester Raging Rhinos. With Rochester, Biello enjoyed much success; he was Rochester's leading scorer with eight goals and four assists. He also helped the Rhinos win the U.S. Open Cup for the very first time and helped reach the championship game, which Rochester lost to the Minnesota Thunder.
Return to Montreal Impact
editIn 2000, Biello returned to the Impact, but the Impact didn't qualify for the playoffs that season. As the Impact was no longer playing indoor soccer, Biello spent the winter of 2000–01 with the Toronto Thunderhawks in the NPSL.[4] In 2001, Impact coach Valerio Gazzola chose Biello to be the captain of the Montreal Impact. That year, the Impact had a struggling season both on and off the field. The team missed the playoffs for the second straight year. Biello lead the team in scoring with eight goals and again was awarded the Giuseppe-Saputo Trophy.
In 2004, Biello led the Impact to win the club's second league championship, beating the Seattle Sounders. That same year, he helped the Impact win the Voyageurs Cup for the third straight year.
In 2005, he helped the Impact play a 15-game streak without a loss (10-0-5), setting a new league record. He was the Impact's leading scorer in 2005, following a production of nine goals and three assists for a total of 21 points. Biello also was a finalist for League MVP honors, losing to Jason Jordan, and for the fourth time in his career he was awarded the Giuseppe-Saputo Trophy. Mauro also helped the Impact capture the Voyageurs Cup for a fourth straight year. On December 7, 2005, Biello signed a two-year deal with the Impact.
On July 13, 2007, he played his 300th career game with the Impact against the Carolina RailHawks, making him the first Impact player to reach that milestone as well as the first player in USL history to play 300 games with the same team.
On January 5, 2009, the Montreal Impact announced that Biello and veteran midfielder Patrick Leduc had both accepted contract extensions for the 2009 season.[5] During the 2009 USL season Biello contributed by helping the Impact clinch a playoff spot under new head coach Marc Dos Santos. He helped the Impact reach the finals where Montreal would face the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, this marking the first time in USL history where the final match would consist of two Canadian clubs. In the final Biello helped the Impact win the series 6–3 on aggregate. The victory gave the Impact their third USL Championship and also the victory marked Biello's third USL Championship. Once the season came to a conclusion Biello announced his retirement from competitive soccer on November 19, 2009.[6]
International
editBiello played in two of Canada's three games at the 1989 FIFA U-16 World Championship in Scotland.[7]
Senior team
editHe made his senior debut for the Canada national team on May 28, 1995, in a match against Chile. He earned a total of four caps, scoring no goals. His final international was a January 2000 friendly match against Trinidad and Tobago.
Coaching career
editMontreal Impact
editBiello joined the coaching staff of the Montreal Impact in 2009 and became the interim head coach on August 30, 2015, after Frank Klopas was fired, a day after a 2–1 loss to Toronto FC.[8] Montreal won 4–3 in his first match as interim head coach.[9] Biello guided the team to the Eastern Conference semi-finals where they were eliminated by Columbus Crew.[10] Biello had the interim tag removed after guiding the Impact into the playoffs.[11] The Montreal Impact finished fifth in the Eastern Conference[12] and got to the Eastern Conference final where they eliminated by Toronto FC.[13] In 2017, the Impact struggled, winning just 11 games, against 17 losses and 6 draws. Biello was fired the day after the season ended.[14]
Canada
editIn February 2018, Canada Soccer hired Biello as assistant coach to the Canada men's national team under head coach John Herdman.[15]
On August 28, 2023, John Herdman resigned from the men's national team in order to join Toronto FC as their head coach.[16] and Biello was announced as the interim coach of the team on September 20, 2023.
Career statistics
editClub
edit- As of October 17, 2009[citation needed]
| Club | Season | League | Playoffs | Domestic cup[a] | Continental[b] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Montreal Impact | 1993 | American Professional Soccer League | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
| 1994 | 13 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 2 | ||||||
| 1995 | A-League | 17 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 20 | 5 | |||||
| 1996 | 22 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 25 | 8 | ||||||
| 1997 | 25 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 30 | 10 | ||||||
| 1998 | 27 | 11 | — | 27 | 11 | |||||||
| Totals | 109 | 32 | 15 | 4 | 124 | 36 | ||||||
| Rochester Rhinos | 1999 | A-League | 28 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 2 | 40 | 13 | ||
| Montreal Impact | 2000 | 28 | 5 | — | — | 28 | 5 | |||||
| 2001 | 25 | 8 | 25 | 8 | ||||||||
| 2002 | 25 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 29 | 3 | ||||||
| 2003 | 28 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 7 | ||||||
| 2004 | 22 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 27 | 2 | ||||||
| 2005 | USL First Division | 28 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 9 | |||||
| 2006 | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 30 | 3 | ||||||
| 2007 | 15 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 17 | 1 | ||||||
| 2008 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
| 2009 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | 23 | 2 | |||||
| Totals | 235 | 40 | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 265 | 41 | ||
| Career totals | 372 | 80 | 47 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 429 | 90 | ||
- ^ U.S. Open Cup (American clubs), Canadian Championship (Canadian clubs)
- ^ CONCACAF Champions League
Coaching statistics
edit- As of March 23, 2024
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | W | L | T | GF | GA | GD | Win % | Ref. | ||||
| Montreal Impact | 
|
August 30, 2015[17] | October 23, 2017 | 94 | 37 | 35 | 22 | 147 | 146 | +1 | 39.36 | [10][13] |
| Canada |
|
September 20, 2023[18] | May 13, 2024 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 8 | −1 | 50.00 | |
| Total | 98 | 39 | 37 | 22 | 154 | 154 | +0 | 39.80 | ||||
Honours
editPlayer
editMontreal Impact
- APSL Championship: 1994
- USL First Division Championship: 2004, 2009
- USL First Division Commissioners Cup: 1995, 1996, 1997, 2005, 2006
- Voyageurs Cup Champions: 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Rochester Raging Rhinos
Individual
edit- Number 20 retired by Montreal Impact[19]
Personal Life
editBiello's sons are also soccer players; Gabriele played in the academy of Montreal Impact and is currently in the roster of the Soccer team of Dawson College (Blues); and Alessandro plays for CF Montréal.[20] as well the Canada men's national under-20 soccer team.[21]
Biello speaks fluent English, French and Italian.[22]
References
edit- ^ Devin Heroux. "'I worked for this moment': Interim men's coach Biello wants to lead Canada into 2026 World Cup". cbc.ca. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
- ^ "Montreal Impact original Mauro Biello tackles interim job with hometown club following decades of service | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer.
- ^ "National Professional Soccer League Final Official Statistics -- 1997-1998". Archived from the original on January 28, 2016.
- ^ "National Professional Soccer League Final Official Statistics -- 2000-2001". Archived from the original on September 27, 2007.
- ^ "Biello back for 16th campaign". Usl1.uslsoccer.com. January 5, 2008. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ^ "Biello retires after 16 seasons with USL's Impact". Canada.com. Retrieved December 13, 2012.
- ^ Mauro Biello – FIFA competition record (archived)
- ^ "Home sports Montreal Impact fire head coach Frank Klopas, name Mauro Biello as interim". The Gazette. Montreal. The Canadian Press. August 29, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
- ^ Hickey, Pat (September 6, 2015). "Impact's Drogba scores hat-trick in 4-3 win over Fire". The Gazette. Montreal. Retrieved September 10, 2015.
- ^ a b "Impact de Montréal » Fixtures & Results 2015/2016". World Football. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "Montreal Impact remove interim tag, name Mauro Biello coach". ESPN FC. ESPN. Associated Press. November 13, 2015. Retrieved November 14, 2015.
- ^ "USA » Major League Soccer 2016 » 8. Round". World Football. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ a b "Impact de Montréal » Fixtures & Results 2016/2017". World Football. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "Impact fire Mauro Biello after missing playoffs". Retrieved October 23, 2017.
- ^ "Canada Soccer announces Mauro Biello as Men's National Team Assistant Coach and EXCEL U-23 Program Director". Canada Soccer. Retrieved February 26, 2018.
- ^ "John Herdman steps down as Canadian men's soccer coach to join Toronto FC". cbc.ca. The Canadian Press. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
- ^ "Home sports Montreal Impact fire head coach Frank Klopas, name Mauro Biello as interim". The Gazette. Montreal. The Canadian Press. August 29, 2015. Retrieved August 30, 2015.
- ^ "'I worked for this moment': Interim men's coach Biello wants to lead Canada into 2026 World Cup". Devin Heroux. Toronto. CBC Sports. September 20, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2023.
- ^ Cowan, Stu (May 11, 2018). "Ex-Impact coach Biello stays in the game with Canada Soccer". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
- ^ "Marque finale - CF Montréal 1-3 Columbus Crew" [Final score - CF Montreal 1-3 Columbus Crew]. CF Montréal (in French). May 15, 2024.
- ^ "Canada's Roster for the 2024 Concacaf Men's U-20 Championship Qualifiers Released". Canadian Soccer Association. June 10, 2022. Retrieved June 10, 2022.
- ^ "Profile - Canada Soccer". January 28, 2020.
External links
edit- Montreal Impact bio
- Mauro Biello at the Canadian Soccer Association
- Mauro Biello at National-Football-Teams.com