He earned eighteen caps, scoring five goals, with the United States men's national soccer team between 1977 and 1980.
Villa grew up in Saint Louis, Missouri, where he attended Mehlville High School from 1971 to 1975.
The Strikers traded Villa to the Tulsa Roughnecks only a few games into the 1979 season.
At the completion of the 1980 NASL season, he signed with the St. Louis Steamers of Major Indoor Soccer League (MISL).
However, due to President Carter's boycott of the games, held in the Soviet Union, Villa did not play in the Olympics