Enrico Alfonso (born 4 May 1988) 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

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

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, since ...

Club career

Early career

Aged only 6 years old, Alfonso began his playing career with Alte di Montecchio. He spent 4 years with the club, before moving for one season at

Montecchio Maggiore Montecchio Maggiore ( vec, Montécio Majore) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Vicenza, Veneto, Italy. It is situated approximately west of Vicenza and east of Verona; SP 246 provincial road passes through it. Montecchio Maggiore bord ...

at the age of 10. After that season, Alfonso joined

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

's Giovanissimi. He was sent on loan to

Pizzighettone Pizzighettone ( Pizzighettonese: ) is a ''comune'' of the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy. The main population centre is located on the river Adda and is divided into two parts: Pizzighettone on the east bank and Gera on the ...

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

in summer 2006. He was competing with

Alex Cordaz Alex Cordaz (born 1 January 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Inter Milan. Career Inter Milan Cordaz started his career at Inter Milan. In the 2001–02 season, he was the regular selection ahead of ...

for first choice until Cordaz ended his loan.

Internazionale

On 27 August 2007, he joined

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

on co-ownership deal, for €1.9 million, signing a five-year deal with the club. He replaced

Fabián Carini Héctor Fabián Carini Hernández (born 26 December 1979 in Montevideo) is a Uruguayan former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Carini played for Uruguayan club Danubio F.C. for three seasons, before signing with ...

, who left for

Real Murcia Real Murcia Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., commonly known as Real Murcia (, "Royal Murcia"), is a Spanish football club based in Murcia, in the Región de Murcia. Founded in 1919, it currently plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 2, playing ho ...

, as fourth goalkeeper (but in

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 ...

the 4th keeper was

Paolo Tornaghi Paolo Tornaghi (born 21 June 1988) is an Italian footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. Club career Youth career Born in Garbagnate Milanese, the Province of Milan, Tornaghi started his career with Inter Milan. Tornaghi had played for Inter fr ...

). He took the 71 shirt, which was previously owned by Cordaz. On 17 January 2008 Alfonso made his debut against Reggina 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 ...

, in the match he was forced to make two good saves in the end Inter won 3–0, and 7–1 on aggregate. In January 2008 Alfonso was loaned out to

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

until the end of the 2007–08 season. Alfonso spent the 2008–09 season on loan to

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 ...

side

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

. After Pisa's relegation to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978� ...

, and ultimately its financial collapse, Internazionale secured a loan move to

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

for Alfonso for the 2009-10 Serie B season. In the next season he became the starting goalkeeper of Modena, played 31 times. In July 2011 he was transferred to

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

along with

Michele Rigione Michele Rigione (born 7 March 1991) is an Italian footballer who plays for side Avellino as a centre back. Club career Chievo and Inter Born in Naples, Campania, Rigione had played for Veneto club Chievo since 2001. In August 2007 he joined Int ...

and

Riccardo Bocalon Riccardo Bocalon (born 3 March 1989) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Mantova. Career Treviso Born in Venice, Veneto, Bocalon started his career with Treviso. In January 2008, he was signed by Internazion ...

. He finished as the losing semi-finalists in the promotion playoffs. On 21 June 2012, Inter bought Alfonso outright for €1.1 million, with

Matteo Solini Matteo Solini (born 9 March 1993) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender for Como. Career Youth career Born in Bussolengo, the Province of Verona, Veneto region, Solini started his career at Verona club Chievo. In August 2009 Lombard ...

returned to Chievo also for €1.1 million. In July 2012, he returned to

Lega Pro clubs

In late July 2013 Alfonso joined

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

as a trialist, which he played as one of the starting keeper in the pre-season game. On 10 August 2013 Alfonso signed a 1-year contract with

and immediately submitted to the office of

Lega Pro 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 ...

. Alfonso immediately replaced Angelo Di Stasio as the starting keeper of Vicenza in competitive game, the second round of

2013–14 Coppa Italia The 2013–14 Coppa Italia, also known as TIM Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 67th edition of the competition. As in the previous year, 78 clubs have taken part in the tournament. Lazio were the cup holders. Napoli were the winners, thus qua ...

. He was the first choice in the match after, against

Del Piero Alessandro Del Piero (; born 9 November 1974) is an Italian former professional footballer who mainly played as a deep-lying forward, although he was capable of playing in several offensive positions. Since 2015, he has worked as a pundit f ...

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

. Vicenza promoted back to Serie B in 2014 as a replacement of

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 ...

, despite finished a losing quarter-finalist in 2014 promotion playoffs. On 26 September 2014, Alfonso went to Pro Piacenza as a free agent. On 16 July 2015, Alfonso was signed by

A.S. Cittadella Associazione Sportiva Cittadella, commonly known as Cittadella, is an Italian professional football club based in the city of Cittadella, Veneto, currently playing in . The team was founded in 1973 and play their home games at the Stadio Pier ...

Return to Cremonese

On 26 August 2020 he returned to

SPAL

On 29 January 2022, he signed with

until 30 June 2023.

International career

Alfonso had been part of every minor

Italy national football 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 ...

s, from the under-15 till the under-21. He took part in 2005 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship (which he was sent off in the third match) and

2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 2005 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eleventh edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Lima, Trujillo, Chiclayo, Piura and Iquitos in Peru between 16 September and 2 October 2005. Players born after 1 January 1988 could participa ...

. He was not played in any match of 2007 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship elite qualification and rarely selected to U-19 team. On 5 September 2007, the round 1 of 2007–08 Four Nations Tournament, Alfonso played the whole match of Italy under-20 national team against

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Alfonso managed to hold a clean sheet, as the match ended in a goalless draw. On 5 October 2007, Pierluigi Casiraghi called up Alfonso, along with teammate

Francesco Bolzoni Francesco Bolzoni (born 7 May 1989) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Swiss club Rapperswil-Jona that competes in the third-tier Swiss Promotion League. He is a former Italy U21 international. Club career Internazionale ...

, to form part of the

Italy national under-21 football team The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation. The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Championship, held every two years. Italy (along with ...

. The national side would be involved in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualification matches against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

. However, he did not play nor on the bench. That season he only managed to play the third and sixth round of the Four Nations Tournament. He was called up to the

2008 Toulon Tournament The 2008 Toulon Tournament was the 36th edition of the Toulon Tournament, and was held from 20 May to 29 May 2008. Tournament finished with the final between Italy and Chile at Stade Mayol in Toulon as Italy had the title after the final score of ...

from Italy Olympic where he played two matches keeping one clean sheet, during the group stages, after Italy already qualified for the next round with a win. He was not selected to

2008 Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nati ...

in August. Despite still being eligible for the 2009–11 season, he did not receive any call-up since May 2008.

References

External links

*
FIGC
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfonso, Enrico Living people 1988 births Sportspeople from Padua Association football goalkeepers Italian footballers Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers A.C. ChievoVerona players A.S. Pizzighettone players Inter Milan players Pisa S.C. players Venezia F.C. players Modena F.C. players U.S. Cremonese players L.R. Vicenza players A.S. Cittadella players Brescia Calcio players S.P.A.L. players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Footballers from Veneto