Alessandro Rosina (; born 31 January 1984) is an Italian former

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 an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

or winger.

Club career

Early career

Born in

Belvedere Marittimo Belvedere Marittimo is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza in the Calabria region of southern Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is locat ...

, Rosina resided until the age of 9 in the nearby town of Bonifati (the town of origin of his maternal family), he starting his career at local Cittadella del Capo football youth team at the age of 5, where he caught the eye of

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

scouts. His father, however, decided to let him join

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

. He was subsequently brought up in the club's youth system. Rosina spent the 2001–02 season playing for the Parma Primavera team. He was promoted to the first team the next season, making his professional debut on 16 February 2003 against Juventus as a substitute for

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest Asian players of all time. Nakata began his professional career in 1995 and won the Asian Football Confederation Player ...

. In two and a half years at the club, he made 25 league appearances. Rosina was a member of the B squad in the

2003–04 UEFA Cup The 2003–04 UEFA Cup was won by Valencia in the final against Marseille. It wrapped up a league and UEFA Cup double for Valencia. Porto could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and al ...

. Following a tactical change to the team's formation, Rosina found first-team opportunities hard to come by. In January 2005 he was loaned to

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as Hellas Verona or simply Verona, is a professional Italian football club based in Verona, Italy, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won the Serie A Championship in 1984–85. His ...

, where he had a hugely successful spell. After the end of the loan he was bought by

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

, then in

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, 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 ...

Torino

Rosina was regarded as a revelation since his arrival at the Turin club. He became the driving force behind Torino's 2005–06 promotion campaign, making 42 appearances, scoring twelve times, as the club clinched a spot in the Italian top flight the following season. In two subsequent

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 Coppa ...

seasons, he dragged the team to survival from relegation, averaging a goal every three games as well as providing several assists. As a result, he earned the captain's armband in January 2008 and became a popular figure amongst Torino fans. He was nicknamed ''Rosinaldo'', a

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsRonaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, being also prevalent in Italy and Spanish-speaking countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: As ...

's name, due to his Brazilian-style flair. He stayed loyal to Torino despite awakening the interest of Italian powerhouses, signing a contract extension until 2011 in 2007. The 2008–2009 season was a major setback for Torino, as Rosina was unable to prevent the club from suffering relegation.

Zenit

On 31 July 2009, Rosina was sold to

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; russian: Российская премьер-лига; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is the top division professional association football league in Russia. It was established at the end of 2001 ...

club

Zenit St. Petersburg Football Club Zenit (russian: link=no, Футбольный клуб «Зенит» ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in ...

for a fee in the region of €7 million, signing a 4-year contract with ''Sine-Belo-Golubyye''.

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...

, then-manager of Zenit who planned to quit the club at the end of the year to become

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

coach, declared himself unhappy with the acquisition of Rosina and

Sergei Kornilenko Sergei Aleksandrovich Kornilenko ( be, Сяргей Аляксандравіч Карніленка; russian: Сергей Александрович Корниленко; born 14 June 1983) is a Belarusian professional football coach and a for ...

, labelling them newly appointed sporting director

Igor Korneev Igor Vladimirovich Korneev (russian: Игорь Владимирович Корнеев; born 4 September 1967) is a Russian professional football official and a former player who played as a midfielder, notably in La Liga for RCD Espanyol and ...

's creatures, as the Dutch gaffer wished to sign two top-class forwards, namely

Goran Pandev Goran Pandev ( mk, Горан Пандев, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After establishing himself at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the ''Ne ...

and

Paolo Guerrero José Paolo Guerrero Gonzales (; born 1 January 1984), known as Paolo Guerrero, is a Peruvian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Bras ...

, instead. Nevertheless, Rosina made his debut on 5 August 2009 against

FC Nizhny Novgorod FC Pari Nizhny Novgorod (russian: ФК «Пари Нижний Новгород») or FC Pari NN for short is a Russian football club from Nizhny Novgorod, founded in 2015. It made its debut in the Russian Premier League in the 2021–22 seaso ...

in Russian Cup, also scoring his first Zenit goal, and played full 90 minutes in subsequent league game against Tom. As Zenit lost to Tom at home, Advocaat was replaced at the helm by former Zenit player

Anatoli Davydov Anatoli Viktorovich Davydov (russian: Анатолий Викторович Давыдов; born 13 November 1953) is a Russian professional football coach and a former player. He is the director of the academy for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. Ca ...

, who soon afterwards brought in another offensive midfielder, controversial

Vladimir Bystrov Vladimir Sergeyevich Bystrov (russian: Владимир Серге́евич Быстров, born 31 January 1984) is a Russian former footballer who played as a right winger. Career FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Bystrov began his career in youth ...

. Despite finding little playing time through tough competition, Rosina had impressed on occasions, achieving a total of two goals and two assists in nine RFPL games out of remaining fourteen. 2010 preseason saw another head coach change, as fellow Italian Luciano Spalletti took reign. However, with

Danny Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to the male name Daniel. It may refer to: People * Danny Altmann, British immunologist *Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer *Danny Baker (born 1957), English journal ...

having recovered from cruciate ligaments injury, Rosina again found himself on the bench at the start of the season. Being used mainly as a substitute, he managed to contribute with a vital assist against archrivals Spartak Moscow, finding

Nicolas Lombaerts Nicolas Robert Christian Lombaerts (born 20 March 1985) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a centre-back and current assistant manager of K.A.A. Gent. Career Club Brugge Lombaerts joined Club Brugge at young age where h ...

' head with a perfect cross in a game that finished 1–1. As Spalletti settled to a counterattacking 4–3–3 or 4–2–3–1 formation with two wingers, and established internationals Danny,

Konstantin Zyryanov Konstantin Georgiyevich Zyryanov (russian: Константин Георгиевич Зырянов; born 5 October 1977) is a Russian football manager and a former player of Komi descent. He is the manager of Chernomorets Novorossiysk. Club ...

and

Danko Lazović Danko Lazović ( sr-Cyrl, Данко Лазовић, ; born 17 May 1983) is a Serbian former footballer who played as a forward or winger. He represented the Serbia national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Club career Partizan Lazović st ...

all being options on the left, left-footed Rosina was mainly used in the rotation on the right as a backup for Bystrov. He scored after coming on as a substitute in 6–1 trashing of Saturn in September, rounding the keeper and scoring in the empty net. On 29 January 2011, before the start of Russian Premier League 2011–12 season, Rosina was loaned to

side

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

until July 2011.

Cesena

Rosina made his debut for Cesena on 2 February 2011 against

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute for

Emanuele Giaccherini Emanuele Giaccherini (; born 5 May 1985) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He began his career at A.C. Cesena, Cesena, and after loans at t ...

. He scored his first goal for Cesena on 20 February 2011 against

, firing home the opener in the 31st minute. Rosina struggled with his fitness during his time on loan and amassed only 9 league appearances for Serie A newcomers.

Return to Zenit

After his loan deal with Cesena came to an end, Rosina returned to Zenit and was subsequently registered for Russian Premier League football. On 14 August he was included in the starting line-up against Amkar and put off a dynamic performance, but due to below-par passing and general lack of end product he was substituted even before the break. Despite this, Zenit head coach Luciano Spalletti praised Rosina for his footballing attitude and determination to fight for a place in the team, promising him a squad role for the remainder of the season. Rosina had to fight off competition from Lazović,

Aleksei Ionov Aleksei Sergeyevich Ionov (russian: Алексей Сергеевич Ионов; born 18 February 1989) is a Russian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for FC Krasnodar, Krasnodar and the Russ ...

Szabolcs Huszti Szabolcs Huszti (; born 18 April 1983) is a Hungarian professional football coach and a former player. He was well known for his dribbling, pace, passing and goal scoring ability from midfield. Huszti began his professional career at the Hunga ...

as well as recovering Bystrov. In April, he won his second

title.

Return to Italy

On 31 August 2012, Rosina was sold to

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. He spent two seasons with the club, until its bankruptcy in July 2014. On 23 July 2014, he signed with

club

International career

Rosina was a member of the Italy U-21 team from 2004 to 2007. On 17 October 2007, Rosina made his

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

debut against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

in an international friendly match.

Honours

Club

Zenit St. Petersburg *

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

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* Russian Cup:

International

Italy U-21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Individual

* UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament:

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosina, Alessandro 1984 births Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Living people Footballers from the Province of Cosenza Parma Calcio 1913 players Hellas Verona FC players Torino FC players AC Cesena players ACR Siena 1904 players Catania FC players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players SSC Bari players US Salernitana 1919 players Serie A players Serie B players Russian Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers