Alberto Aquilani - TheSportsDB.com

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Name
Alberto Aquilani

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Complete

60%

Born
1984 (40 years old)

Birth Place

Rome, Italy

Position
Central Midfield

Status

Ethnicity
White

Team Number

Height
186 cm

Weight
77 kg

Outfitter

Kit

Side

Agent

Wage Year

Player Manager ID
836911

Player Cutout

Full Body Render

Sport

Soccer

Team
_Retired Soccer

2nd Team

League
_No League Soccer

Creative Commons Artwork
No

Description
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Alberto Aquilani (Italian pronunciation: ; born 7 July 1984) is an Italian football manager and former player. Mainly a central midfielder, he usually operated as a deep-lying playmaker, but was also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder. He is the head coach of Fiorentina Primavera.

Aquilani began his career with Italian side Roma and, after a brief loan spell at Triestina, returned to the Serie A club where he became a regular in the Roma side during the 2005–06 season, earning the nickname "Il Principino" (The Little Prince), due to his resemblance to former Roma legend Giuseppe Giannini, both in terms of appearance and playing style, who was known as "Il Principe" (The Prince). During the following season, he suffered a thigh injury and was ruled out for several months. In 2007 and 2008 he won consecutive Coppa Italia titles with Roma, as well as the 2007 Supercoppa Italiana.

He moved to English club Liverpool for the start of the 2009–10 season but in August 2010, having received only limited playing time at Anfield due to injury, he returned to Italy and joined Juventus on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season. Aquilani returned to Liverpool at the end of the season as Juventus did not take up their purchase option. He went on loan again in 2011, playing for Italian club Milan for the 2011–12 season, and was subsequently sold to Fiorentina in 2012, where he remained until his transfer to Portuguese club Sporting CP in 2015; he returned to Italy in 2016, joining Pescara, and was later loaned to Sassuolo for the second half the season. In 2017, he joined Spanish club Las Palmas, but was released by the club at the end of the season. After a year without a club, he announced his retirement in 2019.

Internationally, Aquilani has represented Italy at various youth levels, while at senior level, he made his full international début in November 2006 in a 1–1 draw against Turkey. In total, he made 38 appearances for Italy between 2006 and 2014, scoring 5 goals, and also took part at Euro 2008, the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (winning a bronze medal in the tournament), and the 2014 FIFA World Cup with the Italian senior team.

At youth level, Aquilani was capped for Italy at 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship qualifying. He won 2003 UEFA European Under-19 Championship with Italy and scored one goal, later being named the tournament's best player. He was then promoted to the U21 team and took part in 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying, but missed out on the final tournament due to injury.

Aquilani made his senior debut on 15 November 2006 in a 1–1 friendly against Turkey. He played as a regular during the 2007 U-21 Championship held in the Netherlands, scoring two goals, and being named in the "UEFA Team of the Tournament". Italy finished 5th and qualified for the 2008 Olympics. He 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 France. He started Italy's quarter-final match against Spain due to the suspensions of Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso. Italy lost 4–2 in a penalty shootout after a goalless draw after extra time.

Aquilani scored his first goal for Italy during the 2010 World Cup qualification match against Montenegro on 15 October 2008, a tally he doubled later in the same match. In spite of this, the national team manager Marcello Lippi opted not to include him in the 23-man Italian squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In Italy's UEFA Euro 2012 qualification campaign, Aquilani played his first game in a 1–0 away win against Slovenia on 25 March 2011, playing for the full 90 minutes. He also started in Italy's next match at home against Estonia on 3 June, but came off in the first half of the 3–0 win due to a head injury. On 10 August 2011, he scored his third international goal with the late winner in a friendly against defending world champions Spain.

Aquilani took part at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup under manager Cesare Prandelli, where Italy managed a third-place finish; in the victorious bronze medal match against Uruguay, he converted a penalty in the resulting shoot-out.

On 11 October 2013, Aquilani scored the late equalizing goal in Italy's 2–2 away draw against Denmark during the team's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign; this was his fifth goal for Italy. He was an unused member of Italy's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad, as the Italians suffered a group-stage elimination.

On 11 July 2019, Aquilani was announced as the head coach of Fiorentina's under-18 team, remaining in that position until December, when he joined the first team staff as an assistant to Giuseppe Iachini. On 19 July 2020, he was appointed as head coach of the Primavera squad. On 26 August 2020, the side successfully defended the Coppa Italia Primavera title, beating Hellas Verona 1–0 in the final.

Aquilani married Michela Quattrociocche on 4 July 2012. Together, they have two daughters: Aurora (b. 2011) and Diamante (b. 2014). On 11 May 2020, it was announced that the two had separated.