Telmo Pires

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Telmo Pires is a former U.S. soccer player.

Pires grew up in Newark, New Jersey where he attended East Side High School. He was a three sport varsity letterman in soccer, baseball and basketball. When he was still in high school, he also played for the Newark Benfica. When he was seventeen, he scored three goals in Benfica’s 5-1 victory over the New York Ukrainians in an indoor tournament held at the Elizabeth Armory.

In 1976, Pires played a single season in the North American Soccer League (NASL) with the Hartford Bicentennials. In 1977, he was with the New Jersey Americans in the American Soccer League (ASL). That season, he scored nine goals in twenty-two games as the Americans took the ASL title with a win over the Sacramento Spirits in the championship game.

Pires earned one cap with the U.S. national team in a 4-0 loss to Poland on June 24, 1975. He also appeared with the U.S. Olympic soccer team as it attempted, but failed, to qualify for the 1976 Summer Olympics. However, Pires did score in a 4-2 loss to Mexico in the last qualification game on August 28, 1975.