Elia Alessandrini (3 March 199716 December 2022) was a Swiss 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

centre-back 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 ...

Club career

Alessandrini began playing football at his local club Schoenbuehl in

Bern, Switzerland german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

, at the age of 6, before joining the youth academy of Young Boys in 2008, where he subsequently worked his way up their youth levels. He gained national attention in 2012 as a

ball boy Ball boys and ball girls, also known as ball kids are individuals, usually human youths but sometimes dogs, who retrieve and supply balls for players or officials in sports such as association football, American football, bandy, cricket, tennis ...

in a match between the national teams of Switzerland and

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, when he snuck up on

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

to get a handshake. He was captain of the Young Boys' U21s for the 2016–17 season. In the 2017–18 season, he joined

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thoune) ...

in the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

on loan and made his professional debut as a late substitute in a 4–0 win over his parent club Young Boys on 9 August 2017. In the summer of 2018, he joined

Chiasso Chiasso (; lmo, Ciass ) is a municipality in the district of Mendrisio in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. As the southernmost of Switzerland's municipalities, Chiasso is on the border with Italy, in front of Ponte Chiasso (a frazione of C ...

on loan in the

Swiss Challenge League The Challenge League is the second-highest tier of the Swiss football league system and lower of two professional leagues in the country. Ten teams play in the Challenge League; the winners of the league are promoted to the Super League, while the ...

. He joined

SC Kriens SC Kriens is a football club based in Kriens, Switzerland, who currently play in the Swiss Challenge League. They currently play at the Stadion Kleinfeld and form a local rivalry with FC Lucerne. SC Kriens women's team plays in the Nationallig ...

on loan on 27 July 2019, and eventually joined them on a permanent basis and became their captain. Hampered by injuries, he transferred to Stade Lausanne Ouchy on 6 July 2022.

International career

Alessandrini played as a youth international for Switzerland. He first represented the Switzerland U15s in 2012. He was part of the Switzerland U19s at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. He last played for the Switzerland U20s in 2017.

Personal life and death

Born in Bern on 3 March 1997, Alessandrini was a Swiss national of Italian descent through a grandfather from

Abruzzo Abruzzo (, , ; nap, label=Neapolitan language, Abruzzese Neapolitan, Abbrùzze , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; nap, label=Sabino dialect, Aquilano, Abbrùzzu; #History, historically Abruzzi) is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy wi ...

, Italy. Alessandrini died on 16 December 2022, near

Muscat, Oman Muscat ( ar, مَسْقَط, ) is the Capital (political), capital and most populated city in Oman. It is the seat of the Muscat (governorate), Governorate of Muscat. According to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI), the t ...

, while on vacation with his partner; he reportedly drowned in a swimming pool hours before his flight was scheduled to return to Switzerland. As of 17 December 2022, the exact cause of death has not been revealed.

References

External links

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Elia Alessandrini
at Swiss Super League
Elia Alessandrini
at Swiss Football Association {{DEFAULTSORT:Alessandrini, Elia 1997 births 2022 deaths Footballers from Bern Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Swiss people of Italian descent BSC Young Boys players FC Thun players FC Chiasso players SC Kriens players FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy players Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Men's association football defenders Deaths by drowning