Whellington Fabiano Santacroce (born 24 August 1986) 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 defender in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics * Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentri ...

or on the left. He was born in Brazil to an Italian father and an

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see " preto"). Most members of another group of people, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a range of degree of African ancestry. ...

mother, then spending his childhood in the Lombard town of

Casatenovo Casatenovo ( Brianzöö: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Lecco in the Italian region of Lombardy, about northeast of Milan and about southwest of Lecco. , it had a population of about 12,700. Casatenovo borders the followin ...

, in Northern Italy. At international level, he has represented the Italy national under-21 football team. He is cousin of fellow footballer

Alessandro Santos , often known as Alex, is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Born in Brazil, he became a Japanese citizen and made 82 appearances for the Japan national team. Club career Santos was born in Maringá in Paraná and mo ...

, who played for Japan-

Club career

Como

Santacroce was a youth product of Calcio Como SpA. He finished as the losing side in the round 16 of 2004 Primavera Reserve League. He was in the starting lineup alongside future Serie A players Marco Parolo,

Giuseppe Greco Giuseppe Greco (; 4 January 1952 – September 1985) was a hitman and high-ranking member of the Sicilian Mafia. A number of sources refer to him exclusively as Pino Greco, although Giuseppe was his Christian name; "Pino" is a frequent abbr ...

and

Daniele Padelli Daniele Padelli (born 25 October 1985) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Serie A club Udinese Calcio, Udinese. Early life Padelli was born in Brescia, I ...

. Parolo and Santacroce were promoted to Como first team in 2004, as the club had faced financial difficulties as well as relegation from Serie B in 2004. Santacroce remained with the club in the whole 2004–05 Serie C1 despite they were declared bankrupt on 22 December 2004. Santacroce was in the starting XI in Como's relegation "play-out", which the playoffs matches Como losing to

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...

in 1–2 aggregate. Como folded at the end season as a takeover bid was denied.

Brescia

Santacroce moved to

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

as a free agent and played for their ''Primavera'' team before making his first team debut for the ''rondinelle'' in a

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

game on 23 April 2006, against

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

. He played at Brescia from 2005 to 2007, also ensuring a place in the Italian U-21 team due to his impressive performances with the Lombardian side.

Napoli

During the January 2008 transfer window,

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 Cop ...

club

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

completed the signing of Santacroce in a permanent move, for €5.5 million, becoming the third Brescia player to join the ''azzurri'' that year, the other two being

Marek Hamšík Marek Hamšík (; born 27 July 1987) is a Slovak professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Süper Lig club Trabzonspor. He formerly captained the Slovakia national team. After beginning his club career with Slovan Bratislava in 20 ...

and Daniele Mannini. He quickly established himself into Napoli's regular lineup, forming a valid defense duo with team captain Paolo Cannavaro, and playing very well throughout the remainder of the season. Santacroce has been described by a number of people in Italy, including Napoli chairman Aurelio De Laurentiis, as the "new

Alessandro Nesta Alessandro Nesta (; born 19 March 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Usually deployed as a centre-back, he is widely considered one of the best defenders of all time. He was best known for his pace, artistic ta ...

" That half season he started 13 times as well as 27 times in 2008–09 Serie A. However, after the arrival of Hugo Campagnaro,

Walter Mazzarri Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian former footballer and head coach, most recently in charge of Serie A club Cagliari. After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several ...

started to fix its 3-men defense to Salvatore Aronica, Campagnaro and Cannavaro.

Parma

At the start of

2011–12 Serie A The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from S ...

, Napoli sent Manuele Blasi and Santacroce to

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

as part of the compensation of signing

Blerim Džemaili Blerim Džemaili ( sq, Blerim Xhemaili, ; mk, Блерим Џемаили; born 12 April 1986) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays for Super League club Zürich as a midfielder. He began his career at FC Zürich, where he won the Swi ...

(€9 million). Santacroce went on loan for €100,000. He was largely used as a back-up central defender and made 12 league appearances, which was enough to secure him a move to Parma in a co-ownership deal for €900,000 in 4-year contract in July 2012.Parma FC SpA ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2013 Santacroce wore no.13 shirt that season, changing from no.33. Following the

2012–13 Serie A The 2012–13 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 111th season of top-tier Italian football, the 81st in a round-robin tournament, and the 3rd since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...

season, the remaining half of Santacroce's ownership was purchased from Napoli by Parma for free. The club now owns him outright. On 6 August 2013 Santacroce left for

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

in a temporary deal. Santacroce was given no.3 shirt of the first team.

Ternana and Juve Stabia

On 1 February 2016 the last day of the transfer market goes in

with

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

, signing a contract until June with the option for the following season. Collect only two appearances and 30 June is released from the umbrian club. The 19 January 2017 is made official its acquisition by Juve Stabia.

Virtus Verona

On 17 August 2019, he signed a one-year contract with

Virtus Verona Virtus Verona, founded as Unione Sportiva Virtus Borgo Venezia in 1921, sometimes referred to as Virtus Vecomp Verona for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian association football club located in Borgo Venezia, a district of Verona, Veneto. It c ...

. He retired from football in early 2021, and pursued a career as a sports agent.

International career

Santacroce has been a member of the Italy U-21 national team from 2007 to 2009. In 2008–09, Santacroce was confirmed as a Napoli regular, and his performances were quickly noted by new

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

head coach

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and 2 ...

, who on 5 October 2008 called him to join the ''azzurri'' squad for the FIFA World Cup 2010 qualification matches against

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

and

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

. However, he was an unused substitute during these matches, and is yet to make his senior international debut. Santacroce dedicated his first senior call-up to his former Como youth team coach

Stefano Borgonovo Stefano Borgonovo (; 17 March 1964 – 27 June 2013) was an Italian footballer and manager, who played as a striker. An opportunistic striker, Borgonovo played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, and came to prominence while playin ...

, who is battling

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), also known as motor neuron disease (MND) or Lou Gehrig's disease, is a neurodegenerative disease that results in the progressive loss of motor neurons that control voluntary muscles. ALS is the most comm ...

Career statistics

Club

''Statistics accurate up until 16 May 2012''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Santacroce, Fabiano Italian footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Como 1907 players Brescia Calcio players Association football defenders People from Camaçari Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Milan Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian emigrants to Italy Citizens of Italy through descent 1986 births Living people S.S.C. Napoli players Parma Calcio 1913 players Calcio Padova players Ternana Calcio players A.C. Cuneo 1905 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Footballers from Lombardy