Ringo Cantillo

Infobox Football biography
playername= Ringo Cantillo
fullname = Julio M. Cantillo
nickname = Ringo


dateofbirth =
cityofbirth =
countryofbirth = Costa Rica
height =
currentclub = Retired
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1972-1975
1976
1977
1978-1980
1981-1982
1983
1984-1985
clubs = Cincinnati Comets
Tampa Bay Rowdies
New Jersey Americans
New England Tea Men
Jacksonville Tea Men
Team America
Jacksonville Tea Men
caps(goals) =
21 (0)
22 (7)
84 (3)
56 (2)
13 (0)
nationalyears = 1979-1982
nationalteam = United States
nationalcaps(goals) = 11 (0)
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Julio “Ringo” Cantillo is a former Costa Rican-American soccer midfielder. He played seven seasons in the American Soccer League where he was the league MVP as a rookie. He won MVP honors a total of three times in the ASL. Cantillo also spent four seasons in the North American Soccer League, one in the United Soccer League and one in Major Indoor Soccer League. Cantillo also earned eleven caps with the U.S. national soccer team.

Professional career

Cantillo, a native of Costa Rica, began his professional soccer career with the Cincinnati Comets of the American Soccer League in 1972. Cantilla was only 17 years old, but quickly established himself as among the most talented players in the league when he won MVP honors as a rookie. The Comets also won the the league championship that season. Cantillo earned MVP honors in 1974 and in 1975 was a first team All Star. At the end of the 1975 season, the Tampa Bay Rowdies of the North American Soccer League signed Cantillo from the Comets. He played a single season, twenty-one games total, with Tampa Bay before returning to the ASL, this time signing with the New Jersey Americans. Cantillo was part of the ASL’s most exciting team as the Americans played a free flowing attacking game which took them to the 1977 championship. Cantillo was again the league MVP, his third in five years in the ASL, and a first team All Star.

Cantillo jumped leagues again at the end of the 1977 season. He joined the New England Tea Men of the NASL. He would remain with this team in its various incarnations until 1985, except for 1983 when he played for Team America. The Tea Men spent the 1978-1980 seasons in New England before moving to Jacksonville, Florida at the end of the 1980 season. Cantillo moved with the team and played the 1981 and 1982 seasons with Jacksonville. In 1983, he signed with Team America. That year, the U.S. Soccer Federation attempted to create a more successful U.S. national team by entering the team into the NASL as a franchise. However, the team stumbled to a 10-20 record and the bottom of the league standings and USSF pulled the national team from the NASL at the end of the season. Cantillo returned to the Tea Men for the 1984 season, but the team had left the NASL at the end of the 1982 season to join the United Soccer League. Cantillo and the Tea Men began the 1985 season with the USL, but the team and the league collapsed after only six games.

Cantillo also played one season in the Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).

National team

Cantillo earned eleven caps with the U.S. national soccer team between 1979 and 1982. Ironically, although part of Team America in 1983 he was never called up for the U.S. games that year. Cantillo played his first game with the U.S. in its only 1979 match, a 3-1 win over Barbados. He played his last game on March 21, 1982 in a 2-1 win over Trinidad and Tobago.