Andrea Esposito (born 17 May 1986) is an Italian

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 defender for club

Latina Latina or Latinas most often refers to: * Latinas, a demographic group in the United States * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America. *Latin Americans Latina and Latinas may also refer ...

Club career

As a young boy, Esposito started his career in the local Lecce Primavera youth squad before being sent to

Sambenedettese A.S. Sambenedettese S.r.l. is an Italian association football club, based in San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche. Sambenedettese currently plays in Serie D. History Foundation The club was founded in 1923 as ''U.S. Sambenedettese''. In 195 ...

on loan for the 2006–07 season. He also played five Serie A games before he left on loan, the first of which was on 25 January 2004, against

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. After returning to the Lecce side in 2007, he scored his first professional goal in a 3–2 win over

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

and helped the club win promotion from

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 ...

. In the following season in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Cop ...

he scored a goal in a 1–1 home draw against

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

and impressed enough to force his way into the senior

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

squad at the end of the 2008–09 Serie A season. In July 2009, he was signed by

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

in co-ownership deal. On 19 January 2010 Livorno signed the defender on loan from Genoa until June 2010. He rejoined Lecce for the

2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione The 2012–13 Lega Pro Prima Divisione season was the thirty-fifth football league season of Italian Lega Pro Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the fifth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It was divided into two pha ...

season after the club's relegation from

in 2011–12 and subsequent expulsion from the

for their part in the Calcio Scommesse scandal. On 4 September 2018, following the bankruptcy of

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. ...

, he signed with the

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

club Catania.

International career

Esposito has represented Italy at Under-17 level. Despite being uncapped for the Under-21 side, he was named in

Pierluigi Casiraghi Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker. Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before endi ...

's preliminary squad for the 2009 Under-21 European Championships but did not make the final 23. He was called up to the senior

squad for the first time in June 2009 and was an unused substitute for the friendly against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Player Profile
''at bolognafc.it''
Player Profile
''at tuttocalciatori.net'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Esposito, Andrea 1986 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Lecce Footballers from Apulia Italian footballers Men's association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players U.S. Lecce players A.S. Sambenedettese players Genoa C.F.C. players U.S. Livorno 1915 players Bologna F.C. 1909 players Latina Calcio 1932 players L.R. Vicenza players A.C. Cesena players Catania S.S.D. players Italy youth international footballers 21st-century Italian people