Background
Pesa was born in Yugoslavia, but moved to the United States. as a youth and grew up in Queens, New New York
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Njego Pesa
Edit ProfileEducation
He attended Ulster Community College where he played on the men"s soccer team from 1977 to 1978.
Career
He earned seven caps with the United States. national team In January 1979, the Dallas Tornado of the North American Soccer League (NASL) traded Jeff Bourne in exchange for the first pick in the upcoming College Draft. With that pick, they took Pesa, signing him for $18,000.
In 1979, he saw time in twelve games, scoring only one goal, but came alive in 1980 when he bagged thirteen goals in twenty-six appearances.
During the winter of 1979-1980, Pena also played for the expansion Saint Louis Steamers of the Major Indoor Soccer League. In 1981, Pena experienced a scoring drought with the Tornado, scoring only one goal in twenty-six games.
The Tornado then traded him to the Tampa Bay Rowdies. The Rowdies traded him to the Tulsa Roughnecks half way through the 1982 season after Pesa failed to score in eleven games.
The trade took place on July 2, 1982 as the Rowdies sent Pesa and Terry Moore to Tulsa in exchange for Don Droege.
Pesa regained his scoring touch with the Roughnecks, getting four goals in thirteen games with Tulsa that season. Then in 1983, his career hit its highest point as Tulsa went to the NASL title game. Pesa scored the first goal and was the game’s Most Valuable Player. Pesa left both the Roughnecks and the NASL in 1983 to devote himself to indoor soccer.
In 1983, he signed with the New York Arrows of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).
In March 1984, the Arrows sold him to the Saint Louis Steamers. He remained with the Steamers through the 1985-1986 season.
In 1986, he moved to the expansion New York Express, but the team folded after the half time break. Pesa became a free agent and signed with the San Diego Sockers on March 6, 1987.
The Sockers released him in June following the loss to the Tacoma Stars in the MISL championship series.
Pesa earned seven caps with the United States. national team between 1979 and 1982. He scored one goal with the United States. Olympic team in a 4-4 tie with Surinam in an April 2, 1980 Olympic qualification game. However, that game is not considered a full international by Fédération internationale de football association.
