Marcello Castellini

Marcello Castellini

Personal information
Date of birth	2 January 1973 (1973-01-02) (age 38)
Place of birth	Perugia, Italy
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Defender
Youth career
	Perugia
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1990–1994	Perugia	51	(0)
1994–1996	Parma	17	(0)
1996–1997	Perugia	27	(1)
1997–2000	Sampdoria	73	(1)
2000–2003	Bologna	86	(0)
2003–2004	Parma	32	(0)
2004–2006	Sampdoria	57	(3)
2006–2009	Bologna	84	(0)
Total		427	(5)
National team‡
2003	Italy	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:11, 16 December 2009 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11:11, 16 December 2009 (UTC)

Marcello Castellini (born 2 January 1973) is an Italian footballer who currently without a club. Castellini has played over 300 matches at Serie A and capped once for Italy.

Career

Perugia & Parma

Castellini started his career at hometown club A.C. Perugia. He stayed at the club for 4 Serie C1 seasons. In mid-1994, he joined Parma A.C. of Serie A, which he made his debut on 18 September 1994, against Cagliari Calcio. Castellini had limited chance in the 1994–95 UEFA Cup winner and 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup quarter-finalists. In 1996-97 season, he rejoined Perugia which won promotion to Serie A last season.

Sampdoria

Due to Perugia failed to protect its place in Serie A, he was signed by Sampdoria. With the Genoese side he played two Serie A season, but in the second season Sampdoria concerned 3rd largest number of goals in the season, made the side relegated to Serie B. The Blucerchiati failed to return to Serie A by finished 5th, thus Castellini was signed by Serie A struggler Bologna.^[1]

Bologna

In 2001–02 season, Bologna finished 7th and qualified for 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup. Castellini played at the finals which lost to Fulham F.C. in a 3-5 aggregate. The 2002-03 season Bologna once again protect his place in Serie A.

Parma return

In August 2003, Castellini was re-signed by UEFA Cup competitor Parma for a reported 3-year contract.^[2]

At Parma, Castellini played 32 Serie A matches and 3 games in 2003–04 UEFA Cup, in although the club already have young talents likes Daniele Bonera and Paolo Cannavaro, Castellini played regularly along with Matteo Ferrari. During the season, he was call-up to national team for the first time and played against Romania. Italy at that time qualified for UEFA Euro 2004 and aimed to find the best squad to the tournament. The friendly match ended in 1-0 won and Castellini played as Fabio Cannavaro's substitute in the 55th minute. He received another call-up in March 2004 but withdrew duo to injury.^[3]

Sampdoria return

As Parma faced financial difficulty as their sponsor Parmalat was facing scandal, Matteo Ferrari and Castellini, one of the backbone of the defensive line, were turn to cash and washed out to decrease wage expense. Castellini re-joined Sampdoria for just €0.8million.^[4] At Sampdoria he played 22 Serie A as Castellini missed the field in October and in March. He also played once in Serie A only in November. With effort of Francesco Antonioli and other member of the defensive line including Castellini, the Genoese team finished fifth and concerned 3rd least number of goals. In the second season, Castellini played 33 league matches but just played 3 out of 6 UEFA Cup matches.

Bologna return

A surplus for young Sampdoria, Along with Francesco Antonioli, Castellini were signed by Serie A newcomer Bologna in June 2006. This time at Serie B. The defensive duo made a contribution to the team to won promotion to Serie A again in 2008 by concerned the least goals along with U.S. Lecce, But Castellini was too old for the Italian top division and he just made 13 appearances. Along with Antonioli, the duo released again after Bologna almost failed to avoid relegation back to Serie B.

Honours

• UEFA Cup: 1995
• Serie C1: 1994

References

1. ^ "BOLOGNA SIGN DEFENSIVE DUO". Skysports. 2000-07-11. http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11866_2187750,00.html. Retrieved 2009-12-16. 
2. ^ "Castellini completes Parma move". UEFA.com. 2003-08-23. http://www.uefa.com/competitions/uefacup/news/kind=1/newsid=93848.html. Retrieved 2009-12-16. 
3. ^ "Zidane misses Rotterdam trip". UEFA.com. 2004-03-29. http://www1.uefa.com/news/kind=1/newsid=160946.html. Retrieved 2009-10-22. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Castellini leads Sampdoria arrivals". UEFA.com. 2004-07-09. http://www.uefa.com/footballeurope/news/kind=2/newsid=206516.html. Retrieved 2009-12-16. 

External links

• Profile at Football.it (Italian)
• Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport 2007-08 (Italian)
• Profile at FIGC (Italian)
• Marcello Castellini career stats at Soccerbase

Persondata
Name	Castellini, Marcello
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	2 January 1973
Place of birth	Perugia, Italy
Date of death
Place of death