Samuele Dalla Bona

Football player infobox
playername =Sam Dalla Bona


fullname = Samuele Dalla Bona
height = height|m=1.85
nickname = "Sam"
"Lady Oscar"
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|2|6
cityofbirth = San Donà di Piave
countryofbirth = Italy
currentclub = S.S.C. Napoli
clubnumber = 24
position = Midfielder
youthyears = 1996-98
1998-99
youthclubs = Atalanta
Chelsea
years = 1999-02
2002-06
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-
clubs = Chelsea
A.C. Milan
→ Bologna (on loan)
→ Lecce (on loan)
→ Sampdoria (on loan)
Napoli

caps(goals) = 55 (6)
4 (0)
19 (3)
36 (6)
29 (0)
34 (3) [ [http://www.calcionapolinews.it/archivio/calciatore_view.asp?q=820&n=4814 CalcioNapoliNews.it] ]
nationalyears = 2002-03
1999-00
1996-98
1996
nationalteam = Italy U21
Italy U18
Italy U16
Italy U15
nationalcaps(goals) = 9 (0)
10 (2)
21 (?)
7 (0)
pcupdate = July, 2005
ntupdate = 08:38, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

Samuele Dalla Bona (born February 6, 1981 in San Donà di Piave, Venice) commonly referred to as Sam Dalla Bona is an Italian footballer who currently plays for S.S.C. Napoli.

Chelsea

By the time he was 17 years-old, he was captain of the under 18 national side, and was signed by English football club Chelsea in October 1998. Dalla Bona's move to London saw the FIGC amend the legislation regarding the sale of their young players. [ [http://www.sporting-heroes.net/football-heroes/displayhero_club.asp?HeroID=5575 Sporting-Heroes] ]

The young midfielder was brought into the youth and reserve team squads at Chelsea first, gaining a reputation for prolific goalscoring with 16 reserve team goals, winning the club golden boot in 1998-99. [ [http://www.chelseafc.com/article.asp?hlid=347080&title=Chelsea+Golden+Boot+On+Record&nav=news ChelseaAFC.com] ] In the same season, he was voted Chelsea's young player of the year.

He made his senior team debut for the club against Feyenoord in the Champions League a year later. With the departure of older midfielders Dennis Wise and Gustavo Poyet in 2001 and some impressive performances, Dalla Bona got an extended run in the side, making 32 appearances in that season and scoring 2 goals. He also played during some of the matches in Chelsea's 2001-02 FA Cup run; the team were eventual runners-up to Arsenal, though Dalla Bona didn't play in the final.

The following season, Dalla Bona turned down a contract extension, as he had only reportedly been offered £3000 a week. Following this contract disupute, Dalla Bona was forced to train with the reserves by the then Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri. [cite news | date= 2002-05-09 | url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020509/ai_n12623773 | title=Dalla Bona ready to discuss new contract with Chelsea| publisher=The Independant | accessdate=2008-09-08] Dalla Bona fell out of favour and was placed on the transfer list. [cite news | date=2002-05-23 | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/2005549.stm | title=Dalla Bona shown door| publisher=BBC | accessdate=2007-08-28]

A.C. Milan

Dalla Bona had decided to move back to his home nation of Italy. Numerous clubs were interested in the player, including his home town club Venezia who had a £5 million offer accepted [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chelsea/1445241.stm BBC.co.uk] ] but Dalla Bona decided his future lay elsewhere and turned down the opportunity.

He moved to A.C. Milan for around £1million in July 2002, [ [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/Kind=2/newsId=27853.html UEFA.com] ] having played 73 games for Chelsea in all competitions and scored 6 goals. Dalla Bona made his Serie A debut on 6 October 2002 as Milan defeated Torino 6-0. During his first season at Milan, he received Champions League and Coppa Italia winners medals along with the rest of the squad.

Facing competition from a star-studded AC Milan midfield containing the likes of Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo, Dalla Bona's opportunities at the club were limited and he spent various seasons on loan at different clubs in Italy, the first of which was a year long loan at Bologna. [ [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/Kind=2/newsId=81609.html UEFA.com] ] The following season he was loaned to Lecce [ [http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/Kind=2/newsId=206396.html UEFA.com] ] having made just a handful of appearances for Milan and in 2005 he was loaned to Sampdoria for a season. [ [http://www.uefa.com/competitions/UEFACup/news/Kind=1/newsId=313624.html UEFA.com] ]

Napoli

At the end of the championship he returned to A.C. Milan but after a few weeks he was bought by S.S.C. Napoli, in the Italian Serie B league. Dalla Bona has had a positive start at Napoli, with the club performing well in Serie B. His contributions to the team included a particularly stunning goal, a left footed volley from outside the box against Treviso. However, as Napoli made their return to Serie A, Dalla Bona is again regularly left out of the starting line, with Napoli signing new players.

Honours

*2002-03 Coppa Italia (AC Milan)
*2002-03 UEFA Champions League (AC Milan)

References

External links

*it icon [http://www.figc.it/nazionali/DettaglioConvocato?codiceConvocato=1692 National Team stats at FIGC official site]