Daniele De Rossi

Daniele De Rossi

Personal information
Full name	Daniele De Rossi
Date of birth	24 July 1983 (1983-07-24) (age 27)
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Height	1.84 m (6 ft  1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Roma
Number	16
Youth career
1997–2000	Ostiamare
2000–2003	Roma
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2001–	Roma	222	(27)
National team‡
2001	Italy U-19	3	(0)
2002	Italy U-20	4	(0)
2003–2004	Italy U-21	16	(3)
2004–	Italy	59	(9)
Honours Competitor for  Italy Football (soccer) Olympic Games Bronze Athens 2004 Team Competition UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship Gold Germany 2004 FIFA World Cup Gold Germany 2006
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 August 2010. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 3 September 2010

Daniele De Rossi, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI^[1][2] (born 24 July 1983 in Rome) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who plays as a midfielder for Serie A club Roma and the Italian national team.

Club career

De Rossi joined the youth system of Roma from Ostiamare where he had played as a striker in 2000. He made his first-team debut on 10 October 2001 against Belgian side Anderlecht in the Champions League. He made his Serie A debut on 25 January 2003 against Como. His first Serie A start, and his first goal, came on 10 May 2003 against Torino.

In March 2006, De Rossi was praised by referee Mauro Bergonzi for fair play ^[3]. Roma were trailing 1–0 in a Serie A match against Messina, when De Rossi scored a goal with his hand, Bergonzi did not see the incident and allowed the equaliser to stand. However, De Rossi immediately told the referee that he had pushed the ball in with his hand leading to the goal being disallowed. Roma went on to win 2–1.

In the 2006–07 season, De Rossi scored from 40 yards against Fiorentina with Sébastien Frey in goal. This was the first of three goals of the night for Roma. He also scored in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United in the 2006/07 season.

International career

De Rossi played many matches in the Italy national under-21 football team, winning as a regular the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. In the same year, he collected a bronze medal with the Italy national football team at the Athens Olympics. A few weeks after returning from Greece, De Rossi earned his first cap in the senior squad, scoring on his debut in the 2006 World Cup qualifying game against Norway (2–1), at the age of 21.

2006 World Cup

De Rossi was named to the Italian national team in 2006. During a 2006 World Cup group play match against the United States, De Rossi received a straight red card after he elbowed Brian McBride in the face. McBride left the pitch bloodied, but returned after treatment and later required three stitches. The BBC stated that DeRossi had "disgraced himself with a sickening, needless elbow on Brian McBride".^[4] De Rossi later apologised to McBride, who subsequently praised De Rossi as "classy" for approaching him after the match.^[5] De Rossi was subsequently banned for four matches and fined CHF 10,000.^[6]

After having been disqualified for four matches, De Rossi returned for Italy in the final against France, coming on as a substitute on the 61st minute for Roma team mate Francesco Totti. In the penalty shoot-out at the end of the match (which finished 1–1), De Rossi scored Italy's third penalty to help his country win their fourth FIFA World Cup.

Euro 2008

De Rossi played in all of Italy's Euro 2008 qualifying games, scoring a goal against Georgia. He has also been given the honour of wearing the number 10 shirt after Totti decided to retire after the World Cup final. He captained the team on three occasions: two friendly matches against South Africa on 17 October 2007 and Portugal on 6 February 2008, respectively, and in the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Faroe Islands. On 17 June, during UEFA Euro 2008, De Rossi scored from a deflected freekick off Thierry Henry's left boot in a 2–0 win over France. This was his 5th international goal and guaranteed Italy's progress to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Spain, his shot was saved by Iker Casillas as Italy lost 4–2. He scored his first double in the national team against Georgia on 10 September 2008.

2009 Confederations Cup

In the 2009 Confederations Cup on 15 June, De Rossi scored for Italy against the United States in the 71st minute with a low long-range strike. The goal put Italy 2–1 up after Giuseppe Rossi had equalized after Landon Donovan scored the opener in the first half. Italy went on to win the game 1–3 after Andrea Pirlo set up Rossi for his second of the game.

De Rossi is tipped by many to be Italy's next captain after Fabio Cannavaro, such is his dedication to the cause. An Italian fan favorite, he is noted to be a big game player, and plays a pivotal role in breaking down the opposition and being a box-to-box player. De Rossi has scored crucial goals for Italy in their 2008–09 World Cup Qualifying campaign. For Roma De Rossi plays mainly as a defensive midfielder but for the Azzurri he is given license to get forward with the presence of Gennaro Gattuso in the team to hold the midfield and as a result his goal ratio is much greater than at club level.

2010 World Cup

De Rossi scored Italy's first goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Paraguay, making the score 1–1.^[7]

Personal life

De Rossi is the son of Alberto De Rossi, former Roma player and Roma's Primavera coach. He married Tamara Pisnoli on 18 May 2006, the mother of his daughter Gaia and ex-dancer of Mediaset, Sarabanda. The couple separated in early 2009.

De Rossi made his debut for Roma wearing number 27 shirt, which he wore for two seasons. He then switched to the number 4, which he was also wearing during the 2006 World Cup but with the birth of his daughter, on 16 June 2005, he changed to number 16 during the 2005–2006 season.

De Rossi was chosen as Pringles spokesperson for UEFA's Euro 2008 football championship, along with other top European football players such as Thierry Henry, Fernando Torres, Alexander Frei, Philipp Lahm, and Michael Owen. He also appears in an Adidas Dream Big Commercial along with Steven Gerrard, Michael Ballack, and David Beckham.

De Rossi is featured on the cover of FIFA 09 in the Italian version of the game. The picture on the cover is taken from De Rossi's emphatic goal-scoring celebration after scoring versus Internazionale in the Supercoppa Italiana in 2009.

Honours

Club

Winners

• Coppa Italia (2): 2007, 2008
• Supercoppa Italiana: 2007

Runners-up

• Serie A (5): 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010
• Coppa Italia (4): 2003, 2005, 2006, 2010
• Supercoppa Italiana (3): 2006, 2008, 2010

International

Winners

• UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2004
• FIFA World Cup: 2006

Individual

• Serie A Young Footballer of the Year: 2006
• Italian Footballer of the Year: 2009

Orders

• 
  5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 2004^[8]

• 
  4th Class / Official: Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 2006^[9]

Career statistics

Correct as of 28 August 2010.

Club career

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

Competition statistics

• Serie A: 222 appearances 27 goals^[10]
• Coppa Italia: 38 appearances 4 goals
• Supercoppa Italiana: 4 appearances 2 goal
• UEFA Champions League: 30 appearances 3 goals
• UEFA Europa League: 25 appearances 4 goals
• FIFA World Cup: 6 appearances 1 goal
• UEFA European Championship: 3 appearances 1 goal
• FIFA Confederations Cup: 3 appearances 1 goal

International career

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	September 4, 2004	Stadio Renzo Barbera, Palermo, Italy	Norway	1 – 1	2 – 1	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification
2.	October 13, 2004	Stadio Ennio Tardini, Parma, Italy	Belarus	2 – 0	4 – 3	2006 FIFA World Cup Qualification
3.	March 1, 2006	Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy	Germany	3 – 0	4 – 1	Friendly match
4.	October 11, 2006	Boris Paichadze Stadium, Tbilisi, Georgia	Georgia	0 – 1	1 – 3	UEFA Euro 2008 Qualification
5.	June 17, 2008	Letzigrund, Zürich, Switzerland	France	0 – 2	0 – 2	UEFA Euro 2008
6.	September 10, 2008	Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy	Georgia	1 – 0	2 – 0	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification
7.	September 10, 2008	Stadio Friuli, Udine, Italy	Georgia	2 – 0	2 – 0	2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification
8.	June 15, 2009	Loftus Versfeld Stadium, Pretoria, South Africa	United States	1 – 2	1 – 3	2009 FIFA Confederations Cup
9.	June 14, 2010	Cape Town Stadium, Cape Town, South Africa	Paraguay	1 – 1	1 – 1	2010 FIFA World Cup

References

External links

• A.S Roma profile
• Daniele De Rossi - FIFA competition record
• Profile on Italian FA official website
• FootballDatabase.com profile and stats

Italy squad Italy squad – 2004 Olympic Bronze Medalists 1 Amelia • 2 Chiellini • 3 Moretti • 4 Ferrari • 5 Bonera • 6 De Rossi • 7 Pinzi • 8 Palombo • 9 Gilardino • 10 Pirlo • 11 Sculli • 12 Gasbarroni • 13 Barzagli • 14 Bovo • 15 Donadel • 16 Del Nero • 17 Mesto • 18 Pelizzoli • Coach: Gentile Italy squad – 2006 FIFA World Cup Winners (4th Title) 1 Buffon • 2 Zaccardo • 3 Grosso • 4 De Rossi • 5 Cannavaro (c) • 6 Barzagli • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 Totti • 11 Gilardino • 12 Peruzzi • 13 Nesta • 14 Amelia • 15 Iaquinta • 16 Camoranesi • 17 Barone • 18 Inzaghi • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Oddo • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Lippi Italy squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Grosso • 4 Chiellini • 5 Gamberini • 6 Barzagli • 7 Del Piero (c) • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 De Rossi • 11 Di Natale • 12 Borriello • 13 Ambrosini • 14 Amelia • 15 Quagliarella • 16 Camoranesi • 17 De Sanctis • 18 Cassano • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Aquilani • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Donadoni Italy squad – 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup 1 Buffon • 2 Santon • 3 Grosso • 4 Chiellini • 5 Cannavaro (c) • 6 Legrottaglie • 7 Pepe • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 De Rossi • 11 Gilardino • 12 De Sanctis • 13 Gamberini • 14 Amelia • 15 Iaquinta • 16 Camoranesi • 17 Rossi • 18 Palombo • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Montolivo • 21 Pirlo • 22 Dossena • 23 Quagliarella • Coach: Lippi Italy squad – 2010 FIFA World Cup 1 Buffon • 2 Maggio • 3 Criscito • 4 Chiellini • 5 Cannavaro (c) • 6 De Rossi • 7 Pepe • 8 Gattuso • 9 Iaquinta • 10 Di Natale • 11 Gilardino • 12 Marchetti • 13 Bocchetti • 14 De Sanctis • 15 Marchisio • 16 Camoranesi • 17 Palombo • 18 Quagliarella • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Pazzini • 21 Pirlo • 22 Montolivo • 23 Bonucci • Coach: Lippi