Alberto Aquilani

Football player infobox
playername = Alberto Aquilani


fullname = Alberto Aquilani
height = height|m=1.86
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1984|7|7
cityofbirth = Rome
countryofbirth = Italy
currentclub = Roma
clubnumber = 8
position = Midfielder
years = 2002-
2003–2004
clubs =Roma
→ Triestina (loan)
caps(goals) = 094 0(9)
041 0(4)
nationalteam = Italy U-21
Italy
nationalyears = 2004–2007
2006–
nationalcaps(goals) = 020 0(5)
009 0(0)
pcupdate = October 5 2008
ntupdate = September 10 2008

Alberto Aquilani (born July 7, 1984 in Rome) is an Italian football midfielder who, known for his passing ability and thunderous long shots, currently plays for A.S. Roma.

Club career

In 2001, when he was 16, Chelsea offered him a lucrative contract but he declined the offer because it was his dream to play for A.S. Roma, whom he had supported since childhood. [ [http://www.campionatoprimavera.com/giocatori/aquilani/aquilani/scheda.html Alberto Aquilani] ] He made his debut in Serie A on 10 May 2003 against Torino, but played the season 2003-04 in US Triestina on loan.Back to Roma in 2004-05, he scored the second goal in the victory in the derby played on 26 February 2006; that victory broke the record of most consecutive wins in Serie A.In the following season he was expected to be one of the best player of Roma, in fact he was also capped for the first time by Italy on 15 November 2006 for a friendly against Turkey. Unfortunately an injury forced him to stay away from the fields for several months. Despite this he played as regular during the 2007 U-21 Championships held in the Netherlands and was also named in the 'UEFA Team of the tournament'. He scored an excellent free kick in this tournament against the Czech Republic.He also played in the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid where he had an excellent game. That performance earned him much praise from the media and Real Madrid were reported to be targeting him for a transfer soon after the game.

He scored two long range goals in the first two matches of the season 2007-08 with AS Roma against Palermo and Siena, and thus was called up to Roberto Donadoni's "Azzurri" for the fundamental games against France and Ukraine.

Aquilani was named to the 23-man roster for Euro 2008, his first major international tournament. He came on as a sub in Italy's third game of the tournament, which was a 2-0 victory over rivals France. He started Italy's quarterfinal match against Spain due to the suspensions to Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso where Italy lost 4-2 in a shootout after 0-0 at 120 minutes.

Career statistics

:"Correct as of October 5, 2008".

¹European competitions include the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Cup
²Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana

References