Alex Meret (; born 22 March 1997) is an Italian 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 ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for club

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

and the Italy national team. Born in

Udine Udine ( , ; fur, Udin; la, Utinum) is a city and ''comune'' in north-eastern Italy, in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, between the Adriatic Sea and the Alps (''Alpi Carniche''). Its population was 100,514 in 2012, 176,000 with t ...

, Meret began his career at an early age with amateur club Donatello Calcio before making a switch to the famous

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a ...

youth system in 2012. After rising through the academy system at the club, he made his senior debut in 2015. He later had spells on loan with

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, sinc ...

, whom he helped win the Serie B title in 2017, and achieve promotion to Serie A. He joined Napoli in 2018. At international level, Meret has represented Italy at U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels, and made his senior debut for Italy in 2019, also representing the nation at their victorious

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

campaign.

Club career

Udinese

youth product, Meret was promoted to the first team as second-choice goalkeeper behind

Orestis Karnezis Orestis-Spyridon Karnezis ( el, Ορέστης-Σπυρίδων Καρνέζης; born 11 July 1985) is a Greek former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Panathinaikos Born in Athens, but grew up in Corfu, Karnezis ...

during the 2015–16 season. He made his senior professional debut on 2 December 2015 in the

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

against

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

. In July 2016, Meret was sent on loan to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had been ...

club

. He returned to SPAL on loan for the 2017–18 season.

Napoli

On 5 July 2018, Meret signed with

until 30 June 2023. The transfer fee agreed with Udinese was reported as €35 million. He made his European debut on 14 February 2019, in a 3–1 away win over

FC Zürich Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles a ...

in the first leg of the round of 32 of the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. He was initially often used in a rotational role along with

David Ospina David Ospina Ramírez (born 31 August 1988) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr and the Colombia national team. Ospina began his career at Atlético Nacional, making his ...

during his first two seasons with Napoli; however, under the club's new manager

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as manager of La Liga club Valencia. He was born in Corigliano (Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the cent ...

, he was relegated to the bench up until the season break due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

in March 2020, as the coach favoured the Colombian shot-stopper due to his superior ability with the ball at his feet. Due to a suspension to Ospina, however, Meret started in the

2020 Coppa Italia Final The 2020 Coppa Italia Final decided the winners of the 2019–20 Coppa Italia, the 73rd season of Italy's main football cup. It was originally scheduled to be played on 13 May 2020, at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. However, due to the COVID-19 pan ...

against Juventus on 17 June; following a goalless draw after regulation time, Meret saved

Paulo Dybala Paulo Exequiel Dybala (born 15 November 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Roma and the Argentina national team. Often considered one of the best in the world, he is nicknamed "''La Joya''" (" ...

's spot kick, helping his team earn a 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory. Subsequently, Meret ended up in the rotation with Ospina again, starting every second match on average until the end of the season. This rotational role was maintained in the following 2020–21 season, with Ospina and Meret taking turns every other match in the Europa League, Serie A and Coppa Italia.

International career

Meret was a crucial member in the Italy U19 national team which took part in the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, finishing as runner-up after losing in the final; he was named in the team of the tournament alongside Kylian Mbappé of France. In March 2017, following impressive performances for SPAL in Serie B, he was called up to the Italy national team squad for the

World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

for a match against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

and a friendly against the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. On 22 March 2018, he made his debut with the Italy U21, playing as starter in a friendly match against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

. He took part in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship under manager

Luigi Di Biagio Luigi Di Biagio (; born 3 June 1971) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. A former defensive midfielder, Di Biagio last played for Ascoli Calcio 1898 in 2007, and previously also played for several other Italian clubs ...

, as the team's first-choice goalkeeper. Meret made his international debut for the senior national team under manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player. He is currently the manager of the Italy national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for his time at Sa ...

, on 18 November 2019, coming on as a substitute for

Salvatore Sirigu Salvatore Sirigu (, ; born 12 January 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fiorentina and the Italy national team. Sirigu began his career with Venezia, and then Palermo. In 2011, he moved to Paris Sa ...

in a 9–1 home win over

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ' ...

, in Italy's final Euro 2020 qualifier. In June 2021, he was included in Italy's squad for

. On 11 July, Meret won the European Championship with Italy following a 3–2

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

victory over

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

, after a 1–1 draw in

extra-time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only ...

. He was the only squad member not to make an appearance in the competition.

Style of play

Considered once to be a talented and highly promising young goalkeeper in the Italian media, Meret is an agile goalkeeper, who possesses good reactions and shot-stopping abilities, despite his height and imposing physique, and who is known for his handling and ability to rush off his line. He has also drawn praise in the media for his decision–making, maturity, and calm composure under pressure, as well as his discipline and work ethic, despite his youth; moreover, he is capable of organising his defence effectively and is known for his penalty–stopping abilities. Although he is competent with his feet, his distribution has been cited as an area in need of improvement. He has also struggled with physical problems and injuries throughout his career.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

SPAL *

: 2016–17 Napoli *

: 2019–20 Italy U19 * UEFA Euro U-19 Championship runners-up:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Italy *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

third place:

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Individual * Primavera Girone B Goalkeeper of the Year: 2014–15 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

team of the tournament:

Goalkeeper of the Year: 2016–17 *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

Breakthrough XI: 2019 Orders :* ITA OMRI 2001 Cav BAR

5th Class / Knight: '' Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'': 2021

References

External links

*
Lega Serie A Profile
*
FIGC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Meret, Alex Living people 1997 births Sportspeople from Udine Association football goalkeepers Italian footballers Italy youth international footballers Italy international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Udinese Calcio players S.P.A.L. players S.S.C. Napoli players Serie B players Serie A players UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA European Championship-winning players Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Footballers from Friuli Venezia Giulia