Orazio Russo

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Orazio Russo (born 6 October 1973 in Misterbianco) is an Italian professional football player. He is currently a Padova right forward or midfielder. He is 1.78 m tall and he weighs 70 kg.

He was born in Misterbianco, near Catania, where he grew up. His first team was S.S. Battiati, which plays in Sant'Agata li Battiati. His trainer Enzo Fazio trusted in him and when he was 15 years old he became the leader of the senior team. At the age of 18, he was bought by Calcio Catania. He played in the youth team until 1992, when Giuseppe Caramanno called him for the Serie C1 team. He reckoned 5 matches only during the first season, but in 1992–1993 he played 25 matches, scoring 2 goals.

In 1993 summer Catania Calcio failed and he went to U.S. Lecce. He played his first match in Serie A against A.C. Milan: 1-0, on 29th August 1993. Nedo Sonetti, his coach, chosed him for the starting lineup and Russo didn't disappoint his mister, but at the end Lecce was relegated. During the following summer, Orazio Russo made a tournée in U.S. with F.C. Inter team, playing just friendlies. He came back to Lecce after this short experience. Lecce was relegated again in 1995, but in 1996 they won Serie C1. Russo had little space. The year later, he came back in Catania, in Serie C2: it wasn't a lucky season, because the team lost promotion play-off against F.C. Turris.

The following seasons, Orazio Russo played for Spal and A.C. Savoia. He won two championships, but his trainers didn't chose him for the starting lineup. In 1999 he decided to come back to Sicily; he became the star of A.S. Acireale. His president, Antonino Pulvirenti, became his close friend and both worked to bring this team to Serie B. They started from Serie C2. In 2000 they lost the promotion against L'Aquila after playing the play-off. In 2001 and 2002, the team wasn't enough strong and risked to be relegated. In 2003, Acireale won the championship. The following season, Acireale lost Serie B against Viterbese at play-off.

At the same time, Pulvirenti bought Catania Calcio. In summer 2004, Orazio Russo and other players were bought by Catania. The first year in Serie B was difficult for the team trained by Maurizio Costantini (replaced by Nedo Sonetti), but Russo was one of the best of that year. In 2006 Catania was promoted to Serie A, and Russo helped his team with 2 goals. He left Catania in August to play in Padova.

He played some matches with the Italian military national team.