Andrea Barzagli

Infobox Football biography


playername = Andrea Barzagli
fullname = Andrea Barzagli
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1981|5|8
cityofbirth = Fiesole
countryofbirth = Italy
height = height|m=1.86
currentclub = VfL Wolfsburg
clubnumber = 43
position = Centre back
youthyears =
youthclubs = Rondinella
years = 1998–2000
2000
2001
2001–2003
2003–2004
2004–2008
2008-
clubs = Rondinella
Pistoiese
Rondinella
Ascoli
Chievo
Palermo
Wolfsburg
caps(goals) = 051 (3)
005 (0)
013 (1)
046 (3)
029 (3)
142 (3)
007 (0)
nationalyears = 2002
2003–2004
2004–
nationalteam = Italy U-20
Italy U-21
Italy | nationalcaps(goals) = 008 (0)
015 (0)
025 (0)
pcupdate = May 18 2008
ntupdate = September 6 2008

Andrea Barzagli, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI [ [http://www.fifa.com/en/organisation/president/index/0,4095,129202,00.html?articleid=129202 FIFA.com] ] [ [http://www.ascotsportal.com/news/newsdtl.aspx?PID=89262e2c-3beb-4080-bd5e-949f498ecbcc&CID=4ca0fc99-f8bf-4260-b379-ee5bca3085eb&NID=e47baa4d-fe98-4feb-a0ff-a007b8e62e87 AscotSportal.com] ] , (born May 8, 1981 in Fiesole) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer, who plays for VfL Wolfsburg and the Italian national football team. [ [http://www.football.co.uk/wolfsburg/double_delight_for_wolfsburg_265430.shtml Double delight for Wolfsburg - Wolfsburg Team News from football.co.uk ] ] .

Club career

In the season 1998–1999 Barzagli had his first professional football appearance with semi-pros Rondinella Calciohttp://www.footballdatabase.com/index.php?page=player&Id=7093&pn=Andrea_Barzagli] before moving to Serie B side A.C. Pistoiese in 2000/2001. The journey was short because the year later he rejoined Rondinella Calcio in Serie C2. He then signed Ascoli Calcio 1898 in season 2001/2002 and helped them to Serie B promotion. He remained in Ascoli for another year without further success. His first Serie A cap was won with Chievo Verona in the 1-1 draw at Brescia on August 2003. The year later the commanding defender was signed by Serie A outfit Palermo. Barzagli was bestowed with the captains armband after Eugenio Corini controversially left the Sicilian club in the summer of 2007/2008 [ [http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/2008/defenders.html channel4.com - Football Italia ] ] .

In 2008 Barzagli was in contract negotiations with ACF Fiorentina and was widely expected to sign. To everyone's surprise the deal fell through as Barzagli, a native Florentian, had already stated his eagerness to join [ [http://www.footballitaliano.tv/barzagli-nears-viola-move-1686/ Barzagli nears Viola move | Football Italiano | five.tv ] ] . Barzagli's agent spoke to media saying: “The difference between what we were asking and what they offered was minimal – it amounted to £100,000. Andrea was willing to give up a lot of money to play for Fiorentina, but they didn’t take our requests into consideration" [ [http://www.footballitaliano.tv/barzagli-goes-german-1721/ Barzagli goes German | Football Italiano | five.tv ] ] . Instead Barzagli choose to join VfL Wolfsburg and the Bundesliga following fellow Italian and team-mate Cristian Zaccardo. It was later reported that the Italian international snubbed Fiorentina's five years £1.2mio contract over VfL Wolfsburg's 3 years £2.5mio offer. [ [http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/blogs/jh27.html channel4.com - Football Italia ] ] The transfer fee is still undisclosed.

International career

Barzagli won his first international cap on November 2004 against Finland under Italian coach Lippi. He was called up for 2006 FIFA World Cup and, while not expecting to play at all, was deployed as a substitute in a group match against Australia and again for a full 90 minutes in the quarter-final against Ukraine due to the suspension of Marco Materazzi [ [http://www.kantipuronline.com/sports/football/euro2008/player-profile.php?cid=218 UEFA euro 2008 ] ] . Barzagli was deployed six times under the UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying matches and appeared in the crucial 2-1 victory over Scotland. [ [http://en.euro2008.uefa.com/tournament/players/player=74055/index.html euro2008.uefa.com - Tournament - Players ] ] He was recalled to Italy's UEFA Euro 2008 squad and partnered Materazzi in the heavy 0-3 defeat against The Netherlands after Italian skipper Fabio Cannavaro on June 2 suffered an injury in training [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/euro_2008/italy/7432512.stm BBC SPORT | Football | Euro 2008 | Italy | Cannavaro vows to stay with squad ] ] .

Honours

*UEFA European Under-21 Championship: Gold: 2004
*The Olympics: Bronze: 2004
*FIFA World Cup:Gold: 2006

References

External links

* [http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/en/0708/scheda.jsp?id=1643 Barzagli's profile (from US Palermo official website)]

Persondata
NAME= Barzagli, Andrea
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Barzagli, Andrea
SHORT DESCRIPTION=footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1981-5-8
PLACE OF BIRTH= Fiesole , Italy
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=