Franco Brienza

Infobox Football biography
playername = Franco Brienza
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1979|3|19
cityofbirth = Cantù
countryofbirth = Italy
height = height|meter=1.68
clubnumber = 81
currentclub = Reggina
position = Left/right winger, Deep-lying forward
youthyears = ?–1994 1994–1996
1996–1997
youthclubs = Campagnano Isolotto
Foggia
years = 1997–2000 2000–2008 2002–2003 2004 2008January 2008-
clubs = Foggia Palermo → Ascoli (loan) → Perugia (loan) → Reggina (loan) Reggina
caps(goals) = 59 0(8) 168 0(17) 30 0(7) 12 0(2) 20 0(7)
nationalyears = 2005
nationalteam = Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 02 0(0)
pcupdate = 2008-08-08
ntupdate = 2008-04-18

Franco Brienza (born March 19, 1979) is an Italian footballer who plays for Reggina Calcio in Serie A and also represented Italy at international level. He is a left footed forward usually playing on the right wing.

Career

Club

Born in Cantù but grown in Ischia, he began his footballing career for local club Campagnano, before moving in Florence at the age of 15 to play for Isolotto. In 1997-98 he joined with Serie B club Foggia. In 2000 he joined U.S. Città di Palermo, then playing in Serie C1, helping his club to win the league and achieve promotion to Serie B. In 2002 he moved on loan at Ascoli, where he scored 7 goals playing as second striker. In 2003 he returned at Palermo, playing for the "rosanero" for the first half of the season before being loaned out to Perugia on January 2004 as part of the agreement that brought Fabio Grosso to Palermo, making his Serie A debut at Stadio San Siro, in an away match lost 2-1 to AC Milan. He returned once again at Palermo in the 2004-05 Serie A campaign, scoring an impressive 10 goals in 33 games playing just behind Luca Toni. That year, Brienza was called up to the Italian national team and has been subsequently been capped during a North-American tour with the "Azzurri", marking his debut in a 1-1 draw with Serbia and Montenegro at Rogers Centre, Toronto on June 8, 2005, and playing also the next match, another 1-1 draw, this time to Ecuador, three days later.

In 2005-06, new Palermo boss Luigi Del Neri, who always showed a preference to play a 4-4-2 formation, ruled out a 'free role' for Brienza, who had little space during the first half of the season. After Del Neri's dismissal, Brienza later found more space in the starting lineup with new coach Giuseppe Papadopulo. He scored only one goal in 27 matches, being also featured 13 times in the UEFA Cup, scoring three goals in the continental competition.

The 2006-07 season begun with Francesco Guidolin's return to Palermo; however, Brienza failed to find a stable place in the regular lineup, being featured mostly as a substitute, playing only 22 league and five UEFA Cup matches. On the 37th matchday, a 2-1 home win to Siena, Guidolin declared his choice to use Brienza mostly as a reserve as one of his main mistakes in a troubled season which ended in a fifth place. [cite web|url=http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/index.php?action=read&id=59845|language=Italian|publisher=TuttoMercatoWeb|title=TMW A CALDO - Palermo, Guidolin: "Soddisfatto della Uefa, ma ammetto i miei errori…"|accessdate=2007-05-20|date=2007-09-09] Brienza, who originally declared his intention to leave Palermo to find more space in the lineup, was however confirmed also for the 2007-08 season, later stating to have changed his mind following a meeting with new boss Stefano Colantuono. [cite web|url=http://www.stadionews.it/brevi.asp?ID=25100|language=Italian|publisher=Stadionews|title=Brienza: "A Palermo mi trovo molto bene"|accessdate=2007-09-09|date=2007-09-09]

On January 17, it was announced that Brienza had joined Reggina on loan. Before leaving Palermo, Brienza was the only player still contracted to Palermo who played with the "rosanero" in both Serie A, B and C1 divisions.

During the summer of 2008, Brienza joined Reggina on a permanent basis. The club paid around €2.2million to buyout his Palermo contract.

References

External links

* [http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/en/0708/scheda.jsp?id=642 Brienza's profile (from US Palermo official website)]
* [http://www.gazzetta.it/speciali/statistiche/2008_nw/giocatori/53189.shtml Brienza's profile (from La Gazzetta dello Sport website)] it icon

Persondata
NAME= Brienza, Franco
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Brienza, Franco
SHORT DESCRIPTION=footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1979-3-19
PLACE OF BIRTH= Cantù , Italy
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=