Albano Benjamín Bizzarri (born 9 November 1977) is an Argentine former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a goalkeeper. He spent the vast majority of his professional career in Spain and Italy, starting out at

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

in 1999.

Club career

Spain

Born in

Etruria Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria. Etruscan Etruria The ancient people of Etruria are identified as Etruscan civiliza ...

, Córdoba of Italian descent, Bizzarri began his career with Racing Club de Avellaneda in the

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

, where his good performances drew attention from La Liga powerhouse

, which signed him in 1999. Unsettled and blocked by the emergence of 18-year-old

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce spectac ...

, he battled for second-choice status with Bodo Illgner, being a used player in the club's victorious campaign in the UEFA Champions League. In the summer of 2000, Bizzarri was transferred to Real Valladolid, eventually becoming the starter. He did not miss one single league game from 2002 to 2004, but his team would be relegated from the top flight in the latter season. Bizzarri played for Gimnàstic de Tarragona in 2006–07, in another campaign that ended in top-tier relegation.

Italy

In June 2007, Bizzarri signed a two-year deal with Italy's Calcio Catania, a contract that would be renewed at the end of the season for an equal period. During 2008–09, he became first-choice under new coach Walter Zenga, after spending most of his debut campaign as a reserve behind

Ciro Polito Ciro Polito (born 12 April 1979) is an Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. As of 2017, he has worked as technical director of Juve Stabia. Career Salernitana Ciro Polito began his football career with the youth system of Salerno ...

. His performances were consistent as the Sicily side retained their league status, and the player's performances also allowed him to be part of Goal.com's weekly " Serie A Team of the Week" more than any other goalkeeper in the competition. Despite some stellar performances, Bizzarri admitted towards the end of the season he would not be renewing his link with Catania. Following this announcement, coach Zenga opted to drop him to the bench so young

Tomáš Košický Tomáš Košický (born 11 March 1986) is a Slovak goalkeeper who plays for Czech club Vítkovice. Club career Inter Bratislava Košický began his professional career with hometown club Inter Bratislava, where he advanced from the youth sy ...

could gain some experience. Bizzarri joined fellow league club

S.S. Lazio Società Sportiva Lazio (; ; ''Lazio Sport Club''), commonly referred to as Lazio, is an Italian professional sports club based in Rome, most known for its football activity. The society, founded in 1900, plays in the Serie A and have spent ...

in June 2009, on a free transfer. In his first two years, he backed up another South American, Uruguayan

Fernando Muslera Néstor Fernando Muslera Micol (; born 16 June 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Turkish club Galatasaray, whom he captains, and the Uruguay national team. He is considered one of the finest goalkeepers ...

, as the Rome team ranked 12th in

the first The First may refer to: * ''The First'' (album), the first Japanese studio album by South Korean boy group Shinee * ''The First'' (musical), a musical with a book by critic Joel Siegel * The First (TV channel), an American conservative opinion ne ...

(he added four appearances in the UEFA Europa League, winning two, losing two and conceding seven goals). The 36-year-old Bizzarri moved to A.C. ChievoVerona in summer 2014, renewing his contract for two years at the end of the season. On 1 July 2016, he signed a one-year deal with

Delfino Pescara 1936 Delfino Pescara 1936, commonly referred to as Pescara, is a professional Italian football club based in Pescara, Abruzzo. The club was formed in 1936 and currently plays in Serie C. Pescara has competed in seven seasons in Serie A, 1977–78, ...

, which included an automatic one-year renewal in the case of top-division survival. On 16 July 2018, after a further campaign in the main division with Udinese Calcio, Bizzarri joined Serie B club Foggia Calcio. In the following transfer window, he was loaned to A.C. Perugia Calcio also of the latter tier until 30 June.

International career

Although he never earned a cap for Argentina, Bizzarri was part of the nation's final squad at the

1999 Copa América The 1999 Copa América was a football tournament held in Paraguay, from 29 June to 18 July. It was organized by CONMEBOL, South America's football governing body. There was no qualifying for the final tournament. Mexico and Japan were invited to ...

Career statistics

Honours

Real Madrid * UEFA Champions League: 1999–2000 Lazio *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

* Coppa Italia:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bizzarri, Albano 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Córdoba Province, Argentina Argentine people of Italian descent Argentine footballers Association football goalkeepers Argentine Primera División players Racing Club de Avellaneda footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Real Madrid CF players Real Valladolid players Gimnàstic de Tarragona footballers Serie A players Serie B players Catania S.S.D. players S.S. Lazio players Genoa C.F.C. players A.C. ChievoVerona players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Udinese Calcio players Calcio Foggia 1920 players A.C. Perugia Calcio players UEFA Champions League winning players 1999 Copa América players Argentine expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy