Emiliano Moretti (; born 11 June 1981) is an Italian former 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 ...

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 ...

. He began his career at Lodigiani and was signed by

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

in 1998. In March 2001 he made his debut 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 Coppa ...

under

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 ...

, before spending periods at

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. In 2004, he was signed by Spaniards

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, where he won the

Copa del Rey The Campeonato de España–Copa de Su Majestad el Rey, commonly known as Copa del Rey or simply La Copa and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–36) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–76), is an annual knockout footbal ...

in 2007–08. In 2009, he returned to Italy where he spent four seasons with

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

. In August 2013, he was signed 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 ...

, where he remained until his retirement in 2019, having collected over 600 career appearances at club level. Internationally, Moretti represented Italy at under-16 and under-20 youth levels. He was also part of the under-21 team that won the

UEFA European Under-21 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 comp ...

and a bronze medal at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. On 18 November 2014, at the age of 33, he became the oldest player to debut for the

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 ...

, playing as a starter in a friendly against

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. In total, he collected 2 appearances for Italy at senior level between 2014 and 2015.

Club career

Early career

Moretti started his career with local club Lodigiani, and in 1998 transferred to

. He made his Serie A debut in March 2001, and was a member of the team that won the 2001

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 2001–02 season, he played in 27 matches. Right before the Fiorentina

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

, Moretti moved to

in June 2002 for a fee of €2.6 million, and was loaned to

to help them avoid relegation. In 2003,

signed Moretti for €1.8 million (part of Stephen Appiah's €2 million loan), loaning him to Serie A team

. In 2004, with Parma facing financial problems and

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri Grande Ufficiale OMRI (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian football manager and former player. He will be the new head coach of club Cagliari from 1 January 2023. Ranieri began his managerial career in the lower leagues in ...

becoming head coach of

, the left defender was traded to Valencia.

Valencia

In the summer of 2004 he was transferred outright to Spanish club Valencia, who had already purchased fellow Italians

Bernardo Corradi Bernardo Corradi (; born 30 March 1976) is an Italian former footballer who played as a forward, and current coach. He played top-division football for several teams in Italy, Spain, and England, and last played for Canadian side Montreal Imp ...

Marco Di Vaio Marco Di Vaio (; born 15 July 1976) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. A prolific goalscorer, in his long club career, Di Vaio scored over 200 league goals ...

and

Stefano Fiore Stefano Fiore (; born 17 April 1975) is an Italian Association football, football manager and former player, who played as an attacking midfielder or on the winger (association football), right wing. He was in charge as manager technical area of ...

. On 27 August, while remaining on the bench, he was part of the team that won the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

, beating Porto 2–1.

would use Moretti predominantly at left-back, and, despite a difficult start due to competition with

Fábio Aurélio Fábio Aurélio Rodrigues (born 24 September 1979) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played for Grêmio, São Paulo, Valencia and Liverpool. He played as either a left back or left winger and represented Brazil at under-17 and ...

and compatriot

Amedeo Carboni Amedeo Carboni (; born 6 April 1965) is an Italian former footballer who played as a left-back. In a professional career which spanned 22 years and saw him appear in nearly 700 official games, he played mainly for Roma (seven seasons) and Valen ...

, would soon earn the starting spot. He scored his first goal for Valencia on 28 November 2004 in the Primera División in a 2–0 home win against

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

. In the Champions League he played 4 games against

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

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen (), Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen, Bremen (state), Free Hanseatic City of Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, they are be ...

and

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

, with 29 appearances during the season. The following season, he was a starter, making 33 appearances and a decisive contribution to the achievement of a third-place finish. At the beginning of the following season, on 6 November 2006, in the match against

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

, Moretti was seriously injured, damaging his lateral ligament of the knee, forcing him to the sidelines for more than three months. Despite the injury, the season remained one of the most important on a personal level and as a team, which reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, defeated only by

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. Moretti ended the year with 34 total appearances. The 2007–08 season was not as positive, which concluded with Valencia tenth. Moretti remained a protagonist of the side, leading to Valencia's victory on 16 April 2008 in the 2008 Copa del Rey Final, playing all the matches from the initial stage to the final. The following season, he was still a starter in the Spanish side, which reached the first knockout round of the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

, which concludes the year sixth place in the Primera División. Moretti disputed 32 games.

Genoa

After 172 appearances and 4 goals with the Spanish club, he returned to Italy to play for

, engaged in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. The transfer fee was €3.5 million, according to Genoa. He made his debut for Genoa on 23 August 2009, a 3–2 victory at home against

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 ...

. A week later he scored his first goal in red and blue colours 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 ...

. His first season with the ''Grifoni'' finished with 37 appearances and 1 goal in total. The following year, he only made 18 appearances under

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 ...

, while the team finished the season in tenth place. The 2011–12 season is even more difficult for the team, and despite 27 appearances and a goal (against Inter Milan), Genoa finished in fourth last position. He was confirmed part of the Genoa defence for the 2012–13 season, contributing 33 total appearances. On 5 May 2013, he celebrated his hundredth appearances in

with the shirt of Genoa, on the occasion of a match ending 4–1 against

Pescara Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...

Torino

After being close to a renewal with Genoa, on 11 July 2013 he was signed by

on a free transfer, on a two-year contract. He made his competitive debut for the ''Granata'' on 17 August, in

against

. He scored his first official goal for Torino on 24 December in a 4–1 win 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 ...

. At the end of the season he extended his contract until 2016. On 25 January 2015, he scored a goal in the 94th minute in which Torino defeated

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 ...

after 27 years. It was his second goal for Torino. On 30 August, he scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season, the equaliser in a 3–1 home win against

. On 25 November, his contract was renewed until 2017. On 2 April 2017, he scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season in a 2–2 home draw against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

. On 5 April, his contract was renewed until 2018. On 26 May 2019, he made his last appearance for Torino and of his football career, coming on as a substitute for Armando Izzo, and helped Torino beat

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

3–1 at home, after which he retired from professional football; in total, he collected over 600 career appearances at club level

International career

Moretti was in Italy's squad in the 1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship, which the ''Azzurrini'' lost to Republic of Ireland in the final. With the under-21, he won the

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 ...

and a bronze medal at the

football tournament. On 9 November 2014, he was called up to the senior

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who is the head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur. Playing as a midfielder, Conte began his career at local club Lecce and later ...

ahead of a

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

match 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 a friendly against

. On 18 November, he was deployed as a starter in

during a 1–0 win against

, becoming, at 33 years, 5 months and 7 days, the oldest player to debut for Italy. He made his second and final appearance for Italy a 1–1 friendly draw 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 ...

in Turin on 31 March 2015.

Style of play

A naturally left-footed defender, Moretti was originally an attacking

left-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 ...

, but throughout his career he has often been 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 ...

. He is noted for his physicality, good positional sense, excellent technique, and ability in the air.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Fiorentina *

: 2000–01 Juventus *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

: 2002–03 Valencia *

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 ...

: 2007–08 Italy U21 *

* Olympic bronze:

Orders :*

5th Class / Knight: '' Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'': 2004

References

External links

* *
FIGC

Stats. at Voetbal International
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moretti, Emiliano Living people 1981 births Footballers from Rome Men's association football fullbacks Italian men's footballers AS Lodigiani players ACF Fiorentina players Juventus FC players Modena FC 2018 players Parma Calcio 1913 players Bologna FC 1909 players Genoa CFC players Torino FC players Valencia CF players Serie A players Serie C players La Liga players Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Olympic footballers for Italy Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Italy men's international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic