Alberto Fontana (born 1967)

Infobox Football biography
playername = Alberto Fontana


fullname =
height = height|meter=1.86
nickname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1967|1|23
cityofbirth = Cesena
countryofbirth = Italy
currentclub = Palermo
clubnumber = 12
position = Goalkeeper
youthyears = 1985-86
youthclubs = Cesena
years = 1986-87
1987-88
1988-89
1989-93
1993-97
1997-2000
2001
2001-05
2005-06
2006-present
clubs = → Vis Pesaro (on loan)
Cesena
→ SPAL (on loan)
Cesena
Bari
Atalanta
Napoli
Internazionale
Chievo
Palermo
caps(goals) = 2 (0)
0 (0)
29 (0)
103 (0)
133 (0)
100 (0)
14 (0)
10 (0)
29 (0)
31 (0)
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
pcupdate = May 30, 2007
ntupdate = N/A

Alberto Fontana (born 23 January, 1967 in Cesena) is an Italian football goalkeeper, currently playing for Palermo.

Career

Fontana started his career with hometown team Cesena, but marked his professional debut with Vis Pesaro, where he was loaned during the 1986-87 season. He was again sent on loan, this time to SPAL, for the 1988-89 season. In 1989 he returned at Cesena, and made his Serie A debut with the Romagna side on September 9, 1990. As Cesena relegated after the 1990-91 season, Fontana played the two following seasons in Serie B. In 1993 he signed for Bari, where he played four seasons (two in Serie B, two in Serie A) as starter. This was followed by three seasons with Atalanta, where he won a promotion to Serie A in 2000. On January 2001 he was signed by Napoli where he played for six months.

During the 2001 summer he accepted an offer from Internazionale, looking for a backup for Francesco Toldo. He stayed at Internazionale for four seasons, being featured in ten Serie A matches, as well as marking two appearances in the UEFA Champions League, four in the UEFA Cup and eight in the Coppa Italia.

In 2005 he left Internazionale in order to sign a one-year deal with Chievo Verona, where he returned to play as a regular and was instrumental in a successful club campaign which ended in Chievo gaining a UEFA Cup spot (whereas the team was successively admitted to the UEFA Champions League qualifying round following the 2006 Serie A scandal).

In 2006 he joined Palermo, with the initial aim to serve as an experienced backup keeper alongside young promise Federico Agliardi. However, an injury occurred to Agliardi, who additionally did not play impressively during the early 2006-07 matches, caused Fontana to be promoted in the starting lineup by Francesco Guidolin.

At the age of 40, Fontana was confirmed by Palermo for their 2007-08 campaign, and still plays as a regular for the "rosanero" with impressively good results. He is currently the second-oldest player in the whole Serie A, only behind 44-year old keeper Marco Ballotta.

External links

* [http://www.ilpalermocalcio.it/en/0607/scheda.jsp?id=3810 Fontana's profile (from US Palermo official website)]

Persondata
NAME= Fontana, Alberto
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Fontana, Alberto
SHORT DESCRIPTION=footballer
DATE OF BIRTH= 1967-1-23
PLACE OF BIRTH= Cesena, Italy
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=