Bryan Cristante (born 3 March 1995) 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 le ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

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 ...

club

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 the Italy national team.

Early life

Cristante was born to a Canadian father of Italian descent and an Italian mother in

San Vito al Tagliamento San Vito al Tagliamento ( fur, San Vît dal Tiliment) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about southeast of Pordenone. Main sights It i ...

, Italy. He grew up in the district of San Giovanni in

Casarsa della Delizia Casarsa della Delizia, simply known as Casarsa (Standard Friulian: ; Western Friulian: ), is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pordenone in the Italian region Friuli-Venezia Giulia, located about northwest of Trieste and about east ...

. Cristante's parents named him Bryan in honour of English singer

Bryan Ferry Bryan Ferry Order of the British Empire, CBE (born 26 September 1945) is an English singer and songwriter. His voice has been described as an "elegant, seductive croon". He also established a distinctive image and sartorial style: according to ' ...

. He holds dual

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

–

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

citizenship.

Club career

Early career

Cristante was born in

but raised in the nearby San Giovanni di Casarsa, where he started playing football as a child. He moved on to Liventina Gorghense, an

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

club in the

province of Treviso The Province of Treviso ('' it, Provincia di Treviso'') is a province in the Veneto region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Treviso. The province is surrounded by Belluno in the north, Vicenza in the west, Padua in southwest, Venice in the so ...

, before joining

AC Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons ...

in 2009.

AC Milan

Throughout his time in AC Milan's youth system he was a member of the under-15 squad who won the ''Campionato Giovanissimi Nazionali'' in 2010, scoring eight goals, as well as a member of the under-17 side who won the ''Campionato Allievi Nazionali'' in 2011. He made his professional debut for the club on 6 December 2011, aged 16 years and 278 days, coming on as a substitute for

Robinho Robson de Souza ( or , born 25 January 1984), known as Robinho (), is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a forward. In 1999, at 15 years of age, Robinho was picked by Brazil legend Pelé as his heir apparent and, in 2002, ...

in a

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 competit ...

group stage match against

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, which ended in a 2–2 draw. He thus became the youngest ever Milan player to feature in a Champions League game and third youngest overall. Cristante was elected as the best player at the Torneo di Viareggio 2013. On 4 March 2013, Cristante signed his first professional contract, which would have kept him at Milan until 2018. He joined the first team squad at the start of the 2013–14 season. On 10 November 2013, he made his debut in

, coming on as a substitute for

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime as a playmaker at AC Milan, a period marke ...

in a match against

Chievo Verona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Football in Italy, Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and o ...

, which ended in a 0–0 draw. He scored his first goal for the club on 6 January 2014, set up by the Brazilian in a 3–0 victory at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

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, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

Benfica

On 1 September 2014, Cristante signed a five-year contract with Portuguese champions Benfica for a transfer fee of €4.84 million. On 12 December, he debuted in a 0–5

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

victory at

Vitória Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória (b ...

. On 14 January, he scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win against Arouca in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hig ...

of the

league cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

Atalanta

Cristante joined Atalanta on loan from Benfica in January 2017; Atalanta later bought him outright in summer 2018 for the €4 million release clause, in a total fee of €9.5 million, with Benfica keeping 15% of Cristante's economic rights.

Roma

On 8 June 2018, Cristante was immediately loaned out to

in a one-year loan deal from Atalanta for a fee of €5 million with a compulsory purchase option for an additional €15 million and a further €10 million in performance-related bonuses. On 28 February 2019, Roma made the deal permanent.

International career

Prior to representing the Italian senior side, Cristante also represented Italy at various youth levels. He was initially also eligible to play for

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

at international level, as he holds a Canadian passport through his father. On 10 November 2016, he made his debut with the Italy U21 team, in a friendly match lost 3–2 against

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 ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. Cristante was called up to the senior Italy national team for the side's 2018 World Cup qualifying matches against Macedonia and

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on 6 and 9 October 2017, respectively. He made his senior international debut on 6 October, coming on as a substitute in the second half of an eventual 1–1 home draw against Macedonia. Cristante scored his first goal for the national team on 7 October 2020, the first goal of a 6–0 home win against

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in a friendly match. In June 2021, he was included in Italy's squad for

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 ...

by 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 Samp ...

. On 11 July, Cristante 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 pen ...

victory over

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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 cont ...

, 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 onl ...

; Cristante made a substitute appearance during the final, coming on for

Nicolò Barella Nicolò Barella (born 7 February 1997) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Inter Milan and the Italy national team. He is often recognized as one of the best midfielders in Europe. Club career Cagliari ...

in the second half of regulation time, and played a role in helping Italy score the equalizing goal by setting up the goal of

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

following a corner kick.

Style of play

Cristante is known for his technical ability, vision, physicality, and versatility in central areas of the pitch, which allows him to win back possession and start attacking plays; moreover, he is adept with either foot and is also capable of making late attacking runs into the penalty area. While he is not known for his heading ability, his height also makes him effective in the air. Having started his senior career at Milan as a

deep-lying playmaker A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or a ''

regista is a Japanese visual novel publishing company founded by Takumi Nakazawa. The company name comes from an Italian word meaning film director, control tower, producer, and game maker. The company mainly ports adult game to the consumer port PlayS ...

'' in Italian, he successfully transitioned into 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 a ''

trequartista A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

'', in the 3–4–1–2 formation employed by manager

Gian Piero Gasperini Gian Piero Gasperini (born 26 January 1958) is an Italian football manager and former player, who is currently the manager of Italian side Atalanta. Playing career Gasperini entered the Juventus youth system at the age of 9; during his stay ...

at Atalanta, which led him to score 15 times in just one and a half seasons for the club; he has also been used out

wide WIDE or Wide may refer to: *Wide (cricket) *Wide and narrow data, terms used to describe two different presentations for tabular data *WIDE Project, Widely Integrated Distributed Environment *Wide-angle Infinity Display Equipment *WIDE-LP, a radio ...

on occasion. However, at Roma, while mostly playing as an offensive–minded

central midfielder A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, known as the ''

mezzala A midfielder is an 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 central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

'' role in Italian football jargon, Cristante also began to be used as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

in the middle of a back three, courtesy of his positional sense, as well as his ability to play out or carry the ball out from the back.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cristante goal.''

Honours

Benfica *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Roma *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

: 2021–22 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 contes ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

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 *

Torneo di Viareggio The Torneo di Viareggio ( en, Viareggio Tournament), officially named the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale, is a youth association football tournament held annually in the commune of Viareggio, Italy and its surrounding area ...

– Golden Boy: 2013

Orders

5th Class / Knight: ''

Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking h ...

'': 2021

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cristante, Bryan 1995 births Living people People from San Vito al Tagliamento Footballers from Friuli Venezia Giulia Italian footballers Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Italy international footballers Association football forwards A.C. Milan players S.L. Benfica footballers Palermo F.C. players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Atalanta B.C. players A.S. Roma players Serie A players Primeira Liga players UEFA Euro 2020 players Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Italian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Italian people of Canadian descent UEFA European Championship-winning players Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic UEFA Europa Conference League winning players