- Massimo Maccarone
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Massimo Maccarone 
Personal information Date of birth September 6, 1979 Place of birth Galliate, Italy Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) Playing position Forward Club information Current club Sampdoria Number 32 Youth career 1996–1998 Milan Senior career* Years Team Apps† (Gls)† 1998–2000 Milan 0 (0) 1998 → Modena (loan) 0 (0) 1998–1999 → Prato (loan) 21 (4) 1999 → Varese (loan) 3 (0) 1999–2000 → Prato (loan) 28 (20) 2000–2002 Empoli 68 (26) 2002–2007 Middlesbrough 81 (18) 2004 → Parma (loan) 7 (0) 2005 → Siena (loan) 11 (6) 2007–2010 Siena 102 (34) 2010–2011 Palermo 18 (2) 2011– Sampdoria 14 (3) National team 1995 Italy U15 2 (1) 1995–1996 Italy U16 4 (1) 1998–1999 Italy U20 5 (3) 2000–2002 Italy U21 15 (11) 2002 Italy 2 (0) * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:20, 24 January 2011 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).Massimo Maccarone (born September 6, 1979 in Galliate, Province of Novara) is an Italian association football striker currently playing for Sampdoria.
He made headlines in March 2002 when he became the first Serie B player in twenty years to be picked for the Italian national side. He is nicknamed Big Mac.[1]
Biography
Maccarone started his career at Calder High's youth system. On 1998, he went on loan to Modena, but did not make a single appearance. On 1999, he was transferred to Serie C2 team Prato (in co-ownership deal), scoring 20 goals in 28 league matches. In 2000, he was bought back by Milan and transferred to Empoli F.C., helping the club get promoted to Serie A during the 2001–02 season. In the same period, he was one of the most outstanding players of the Italian U21 team which reached the semi-finals in the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. As a result he was noticed by several teams, and was signed by English Premier League team Middlesbrough. His transfer from Empoli in July 2002 cost Middlesbrough £8.15m (€12.7m).
Despite showing fine early form in his first few matches for Middlesbrough, the remainder of his spell at the club was a struggle to justify his price tag and during the 2004–05 season he was loaned out to Serie A club Parma, moving (yet again on loan) on January 2005 to Siena.
Maccarone returned to Middlesbrough for the 2005–06 season, and despite not being a regular first-team player, endeared himself to the Middlesbrough fans, especially through his work-rate and attitude. The player's spell at Middlesbrough is remembered for two last minute winners in key UEFA Cup ties in 2006. He scored against FC Basel in the second leg of the quarterfinals, a tie in which Middlesbrough overturned a three goal deficit to win 4–3 on aggregate.[2] In the semi-final of the same competition he came on as a substitute and scored twice in the aggregate 4–3 win over Steaua Bucharest,[3] once again in the 90th minute, taking Boro to the final in Eindhoven, in which he came on as a substitute. Following his exploits in the semi-final, fellow Middlesbrough striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink declared "Massimo, I love him until I die... it's unbelievable".[4]
Despite these heroics, he made few appearances for Middlesbrough in the following season and in January 2007 Maccarone moved to Siena on a free transfer, signed a 3-year contract.[5] In February 2007 he made headlines by criticizing former Middlesbrough and then England manager Steve McClaren for his "ineptitude", causing his club's chairman Steve Gibson to call Maccarone "a fool".[6]
On February 11, 2007 he played his first Serie A match after his Siena return against Cagliari Calcio.[7] Maccarone scored a brace in the 4–3 defeat by AC Milan on February 17, to register his first goals for Siena. He finished the season with 6 goals, and added 13 in the following (club best by a long margin), as Siena achieved two consecutive 13th league places. After the club was relegated at the end of the 2009–10 season, Maccarone agreed a move to Sicilian Serie A club Palermo, signing a three-year deal with the rosanero.[8] His stint at Palermo however turned out to be a disappointing one, with only two league goals in 18 games, leading the Sicilians to put him into transfer. On 24 January 2011, it was announced Maccarone had agreed a permanent move to Sampdoria.[9]
References
- ^ "Big Mac al Parma L'ha deciso lui" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2004-09-01. http://archiviostorico.gazzetta.it/2004/settembre/01/Big_Mac_Parma_deciso_lui_ga_10_04090110663.shtml. Retrieved 2009-07-10.
- ^ "Middlesbrough 4–1 Basle (agg 4–3)". BBC. 6 April 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/m/middlesbrough/4875620.stm. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
- ^ "M'brough 4–2 S B'chrst (agg 4–3)". BBC. 27 April 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/europe/4933504.stm. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
- ^ Middlesbrough, Sevilla advance to UEFA Cup final
- ^ "Maccarone è bianconero" (in Italian). AC Siena. 30 January 2007. http://www.acsiena.it/dettaglionews_1.php?id=4743. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
- ^ Gibson: "Massimo's a fool"
- ^ "Tactical Formation". Football-Lineups.com. http://www.football-lineups.com/wiki/_match3866.php. Retrieved February 15, 2007.
- ^ "MASSIMO MACCARONE NUOVO ACQUISTO DEL PALERMO" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 2010-06-15. http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/it/0910/news_scheda.jsp?id=20926. Retrieved 2010-06-15.
- ^ "MACCARONE CEDUTO ALLA SAMPDORIA" (in Italian). US Città di Palermo. 24 January 2011. http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/it/1011/news_scheda.jsp?id=22425. Retrieved 24 January 2011.
External links
• 2 Bonera • 3 Bellini • 4 Ferrari • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Donati • 7 Marchionni • 8 Brighi • 9 Maccarone • 10 Pirlo • 11 Bonazzoli • 12 Spadavecchia • 13 Castellini • 14 Dainelli • 15 Lucchini • 16 Natali • 17 Blasi • 18 Gatti • 19 Pinzi • 20 Caracciolo • 21 Iaquinta • 22 Pelizzoli • Coach: Gentile
U.C. Sampdoria – current squad 1 Da Costa · 3 Costa · 4 Padalino · 5 Accardi · 6 Volta · 7 Castellini · 9 Pozzi · 10 Foggia · 11 Koman · 14 Obiang · 16 Foti · 17 Palombo (c) · 18 Laczkó · 19 Fornaroli · 20 Romero · 21 Soriano · 22 Bertani · 23 Dessena · 25 Krstičić · 28 Gastaldello · 32 Maccarone · 33 Rispoli · 35 Rossini · 44 Fiorillo · 77 Semioli · 81 Bentivoglio · 88 Signori · 90 Piovaccari · 92 Tozzo · 99 Icardi · Coach: Iachini
Categories:- 1979 births
- Living people
- People from the Province of Novara
- Italian footballers
- Italy international footballers
- Italian expatriate footballers
- Italy under-21 international footballers
- A.C. Milan players
- Empoli F.C. players
- Modena F.C. players
- Middlesbrough F.C. players
- Parma F.C. players
- A.C. Siena players
- Serie A footballers
- Serie B footballers
- Premier League players
- Association football forwards
- A.S. Varese 1910 players
- A.C. Prato players
- U.S. Città di Palermo players
- U.C. Sampdoria players
- Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom
- Expatriate footballers in England
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