Marco Amelia
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| Marco Amelia | ||
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| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | April 2, 1982 | |
| Place of birth | Frascati, Rome, Italy | |
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 11⁄2 in) | |
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Palermo | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1999-2001 | Roma | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2001-2008 2003 2004 2008– |
Livorno → Lecce (loan) → Parma (loan) Palermo |
166 (0) 13 (0) 0 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1998 1998-1999 2000-2001 2002-2004 2005- |
Italy U-15 Italy U-16 Italy U-18 Italy U-21 Italy |
12 (0) 5 (0) 3 (0) 19 (0) 6 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Marco Amelia, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI[1][2], (born April 2, 1982 in Frascati, Rome) is a World Cup-winning football goalkeeper, who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Palermo and the Italian national team.
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[edit] Club
A product of AS Roma's youth system, Amelia was loaned to Livorno in 2001, where he has since remained, aside from splitting the 2003-04 season with U.S. Lecce and Parma F.C., spending time with the latter as a backup to Sébastien Frey. He scored a dramatic late goal for Livorno when he headed in a late free kick during a 2006-07 UEFA Cup group stage match against FK Partizan Belgrade on November 2, 2006, ensuring a 1-1 draw and becoming the first Italian goalkeeper to score in European competition.
Despite being recognized as one of the Italian league's top young goalkeepers, Amelia has arguably made more headlines from incessant transfer rumors. Although he signed a four-year contract extension till the 2010-11 season with Livorno in January 2007, he became disenfranchised with his club after Livorno coach Daniele Arrigoni was fired that month, and he openly criticized team president Aldo Spinelli in response, saying Spinelli himself should resign "if he's got the balls to do it." Spinelli replied, "I've tried to teach Amelia some manners but he can't hold his tongue, like all Romans."[3]
Meanwhile, a number of clubs across Europe, in particular S.S. Lazio, A.C. Milan and Liverpool F.C. expressed interest in his services. [4][5]
Following Livorno's relegation from the top flight, Amelia asked to leave Livorno for a top flight team and on June 5, 2008 Palermo announced to have signed him on a permanent basis.[6]
[edit] Country
Amelia was the starting keeper for the Azzurrini and conceded only four goals in six games as Italy won the 2004 European Under-21 Football Championship, while taking home the bronze medal with Italy at the Summer Olympics that same year.
He earned his first cap for Italy in a friendly against Ivory Coast on November 16, 2005, playing the last twenty minutes as a substitute for Christian Abbiati; this was his only senior-side experience when Italy coach Marcelo Lippi chose him over Morgan De Sanctis as the third-choice goalkeeper behind Gianluigi Buffon and Angelo Peruzzi for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. but never received any playing time. He has since moved up to Buffon's backup following Peruzzi's retirement, and started his first match for Italy in a 2-0 friendly loss to Croatia on August 16, 2006.
Amelia has earned 6 caps overall for the Azzurri, his latest coming in a 3-1 friendly match win over Portugal on February 6, 2008.
| Olympic medal record | |||
Competitor for  Italy |
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|---|---|---|---|
| Men's Football | |||
| Bronze | 2004 Athens | Team Competition | |
[edit] Honours
- FIFA World Cup: 2006
[edit] References
- ^ FIFA.com
- ^ AscotSportal.com
- ^ Guardian Unlimited: Sport blog: Livorno let die
- ^ http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/jun30e.html
- ^ SkySports.com
- ^ "Preso Amelia", US Città di Palermo, 2008-06-05. Retrieved on 2008-06-05. (Italian)
[edit] External links
- Profile and Career Statistics - Official A.S. Livorno website
- (Italian) National Team stats
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