Josh Lambo

Early years

Born in Lansing, Michigan, Lambo moved with his family to Chicago, Illinois when he was a small child. He played club soccer for the Chicago Magic before moving to Middleton, Wisconsin in the summer of 2005, where he attended Middleton High School for less than two months before signing a Generation Adidas contract and joining the USA Residency Program in Bradenton, Florida. At the age of 15, he spent the summer training with Everton F.C. during their US tour in 2006 on the recommendation of US international Tim Howard and was invited to Finch Farm before being offered a professional contract on the proviso that he could secure an EU passport due to his Greek heritage.

Club career

Lambo was drafted in the first round (8th overall) of the 2008 MLS SuperDraft by FC Dallas. He played in the MLS Reserve Division, and was a named first team substitute on several occasions, but missed most of the second half of the 2008 season after he broke his jaw in a reserve team game. Lambo never played in an MLS match, but did appear for his team in an international friendly match versus Costa Rica’s CS Herediano in June 2009.

Lambo was loaned to USSF Division 2 Professional League expansion team FC Tampa Bay for the 2010 season. He made his professional debut on May 14, 2010 in a 2–1 victory over the Carolina RailHawks.

Lambo was waived by Dallas at the end of the 2011 season. He went on trial with D.C. United and Sheffield United in January 2012. After turning down offers from the NASL and the chance of becoming a MLS pool goalkeeper, he retired from professional soccer at the age of 21.

International career

Lambo made two appearances for the United States U-17 national team during the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup after starting the competition as a substitute. He made his debut in the third and last group stage match against Belgium, playing the whole game and keeping a clean sheet against a side that fielded future Premier League players Eden Hazard and Christian Benteke and was the goalkeeper in the 2–1 loss against Germany in the round of 16. He was an unused substitute for the United States U-20 national team at the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

College years

In the Fall of 2012, Lambo enrolled at Texas A&M University and joined the football team as a placekicker. He became starting field goal kicker after overtaking Taylor Bertolet during the 2013 season (Bertolet remained the kick-off specialist). His first career appearance came on September 22, 2012 when he made an extra point against South Carolina State. His first game-winning field goal came against Ole Miss on October 12, 2013. With the game tied at 38 and only four seconds remaining in the game, Lambo kicked a 33-yard field goal to win the game for the Aggies. Lambo converted all extra point attempts for the 2014 season, hitting on all 59 tries.

Professional American football career

On May 2, 2015, after going undrafted in the 2015 NFL Draft, Lambo signed a contract as a free agent with the San Diego Chargers. Lambo was brought in for competition for the kicker spot. On September 5, Lambo won the starting job over the incumbent veteran Nick Novak. He displayed a strong leg during exhibition games, while Novak did not have a touchback in the final half of the 2014 season.

In the 2015 season, Lambo converted 26 of 32 field goal attempts.

On September 2, 2017, Lambo was released by the Chargers after losing the starting kicker job to rookie Younghoe Koo.