Francesco Rossi (born 31 August 1977) is an Italian

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 currently 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 APD Vigor. Rossi almost spent entire career in Italian ''

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 ...

'' (ex- ''Serie C'').

Career

Chievo and early career

Born in

Portogruaro Portogruaro ( vec, Porto, fur, Puart) is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Venice, Veneto, northern Italy. The city is the centre of a district, made up of 11 ''comuni'', which form the Venezia Orientale with the San Donà di Piav ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

, (some reported in

Motta di Livenza Motta di Livenza (or di Ligenda/ Ligondo·la/ Livanda·la, later Ligondza, then Livenza) is a town in the province of Treviso, Veneto, Italy. Twin towns Motta di Livenza is twinned with: * L'Isle-Jourdain, Gers, France * Cres, Croatia * Para ...

, a town 20 km away), Rossi started his professional career at

A.C. ChievoVerona Associazione Calcio ChievoVerona, commonly referred to as ChievoVerona or simply Chievo , is a former professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 4,500 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, ...

, a Veneto team based in

Verona Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Northern Italy, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and the ...

. He played his only league match for Chievo on round 38 (last round) of

1994–95 Serie B The Serie B 1994–95 was the sixty-third tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation. Teams Chievo, Como, Perugia and Salernitana had been promoted from Serie C, while Piacenza, Udinese, Atalanta and Lecce had been releg ...

, as starting keeper. That season he was the backup of Marco Borghetto and Enzo Zanin, but in the round 37, Chievo already secured a place for next season as mathematically had higher points than

Acireale Acireale (; scn, Jaciriali, locally shortened to ''Jaci'' or ''Aci'') is a coastal city and ''comune'' in the north-east of the Metropolitan City of Catania, Sicily, southern Italy, at the foot of Mount Etna, on the coast facing the Ionian Sea. ...

. After graduating from the youth team at the age of 20, he spent 3 seasons in 3 different ''Serie C'' teams, namely

Sassari Torres Torres is an Italian football club based in the city of Sassari. It plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian football league system. Re-founded in 2017, the club is the continuation of the Società per l'Educazione Fisica Torres, bor ...

Tempio Tempio Pausania (; sdn, Tèmpiu) is a town of about 14,000 inhabitants in the Gallura region of northern Sardinia, Italy, in the province of Sassari. History Cultural and delegated administrative centre of the Gallura sub-region, Tempio has an ...

and

Brescello Brescello (; in the local dialect, in the Reggio Emilia dialect) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Reggio Emilia in the Italian region Emilia-Romagna, located about northwest of Bologna and about northwest of Reggio Emilia. A ...

. The latter one was a ''

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 ...

'' team, where he only played 5 times as the understudy of Andrea Sardini. He was sold to ''

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

'' club

Fasano Fasano (; Barese: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brindisi, Apulia, southern Italy. It is the second most populated town in the province after Brindisi, with a population in 2021 of 39,026. History According to a folk etymology, ...

in 2000 in co-ownership deal, where he brought his usual performance in that league, played 31 times. In June 2001, despite both clubs failed to form an agreement, Chievo bought back Rossi by made a higher bid in the auction mechanism set up by FIGC. That season (

2000–01 Serie B The Serie B 2000–01 was the sixty-ninth tournament of this competition played in Italy since its creation. Teams Siena, Crotone, Cittadella and Ancona had been promoted from Serie C, while Torino, Venezia FC, Cagliari and Piacenza had been ...

), Chievo also won promotion to ''

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 ...

''. However at the start of season he left for fellow top division club

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 ...

, rejoining former Chievo teammate Matteo Gianello. Rossi was an understudy of Gianello and

Sebastián Cejas Christian Sebastián Cejas (born 21 April 1975) is an Argentine former footballer that played as goalkeeper and his last club was Chacarita Juniors of the Primera B Nacional. Nicknamed ''Terremoto'' (Earthquake), he also played for teams such as ...

since January 2002.

Foggia

Rossi was sold to another ''Serie C2'' team

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

in 2002 to seek regular place. He won the Group C champion as an understudy of Antonio Efficie. However, he became the starting keeper in

2003–04 Serie C1 The 2003–04 Serie C1 was the twenty-sixth edition of Serie C1, the third highest league in the Italian football league system. League standings Serie C1/A Play-off =Semifinal= , - , style="background:#eee" colspan=4 , , - =Final= ...

. Once again Chievo bought him back along with defender Tommaso Chiecchi.

Grosseto

Chievo bought back Rossi in June 2004 but soon sold him to

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the Province of Grosseto. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, in the Maremma, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the Ombrone river. It is the m ...

in another co-ownership deal, where he spent 2 ''Serie C1'' seasons as starting keeper. The team entered promotion playoffs in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

and

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, losing both. Chievo also tried to buy back Rossi in June 2005, this time losing in the blind auction mechanism. Rossi played 36 games in 2004–05 season, conceded 17 goals only, an average of 0.47 goals per games, which was his career record. He then left for

Cisco Roma Atletico Roma Football Club was an Italian football club based in Rome, Italy. The club was founded as Nuova Tor Sapienza Calcio, which was renamed to Cisco Tor Sapienza in 1998. Under several merger, the club was subsequent known as A.S. Cis ...

in 2006, and Grosseto tried another keepers Luca Anania and Angelo Pagotto (eventually promoted).

Cisco Roma and Gallipoli

Rossi was signed by ''Serie C2'' club

in 2006. Rossi entered playoffs phase for the third successive year, but again losing it with the team. Reggiana won Cisco Roma in 2–0 in aggregate in the first round (semi-final) of the playoffs. Before the playoffs Cisco Roma conceded second less goals in Group B, only two more than the group champion

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located so ...

(22 goals). Rossi played 29 games of the league, conceded 18 goals, an average of 0.62 goals per games. In 2007, he left for ''Serie C1'' club

Gallipoli The Gallipoli peninsula (; tr, Gelibolu Yarımadası; grc, Χερσόνησος της Καλλίπολης, ) is located in the southern part of East Thrace, the European part of Turkey, with the Aegean Sea to the west and the Dardanelles ...

. The team finished as the ninth of Group B, with worst goal conceded (44 goals) among the mid-table (6th to 13th place). Rossi played 32 games of them, conceded 39 goals, nearly a double compared to the last season. At the end of season he left the club.

Portogruaro

Rossi returned to Veneto in 2008, for

Calcio Portogruaro Summaga Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica Portogruaro Calcio (usually referred to as Portogruaro) is an Italian association football club, based in Portogruaro, Veneto. Currently it plays in Serie D. History Calcio Portogruaro-Summaga Foundat ...

. He was the starting keeper of the team in the first three seasons, winning Group B of ''

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� ...

'' (ex- ''Serie C1'') but losing the

Supercoppa di Lega di Prima Divisione The Supercoppa di Serie C, formerly named Supercoppa di Lega Pro, is an Italian football competition played by the three group winners of Serie C, inaugurated in 2000. Forerunners The FIGC introduced a third-level national football championship f ...

against the Group A champion in 2010. Portogruaro ranked fifth in goal conceded (26 goals) counting from the bottom in 2009–10 season. The team also had 15 clean sheet, ranked equal fourth. However, in the maiden ''Serie B'' season of Portogruaro and "second" ''Serie B'' season for Rossi, the team conceded the third most goals and poor goal scoring, made the team relegated just 1 season. In 2011–12 season, new coach

Massimo Rastelli Massimo Rastelli (born 27 December 1968) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a striker. He is the current head coach of club Avellino. Career Playing A second striker/winger, Rastelli started his career with Serie D ...

preferred Andrea Bavena as new starting keeper, with Michele Mion occupied the bench except the only

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 solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

match.

Later career

After a spell with Cornuda Crocetta 1920, 37-year old Rossi returned to

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

and joined ASD Liventina in the summer 2015. He left the club at the end of the season and later joined USD EuroMarosticense in the autumn 2016 where he played for the rest of the year. In December 2019, Rossi joined APD Vigor in the

Seconda Categoria The Seconda Categoria is a level of football in Italy. It is the 8th level (since 2014-15) in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Seconda Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the ...

at the age of 42.CALCIOMERCATO VENETO INVERNO 19/20: aggiornamenti in diretta
tuttocampo.it, 24 December 2019

Honours

;Foggia * ''

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

'': 2003 ;Portogruaro * ''

'': 2010

References

External links

Football.it Profile

Lega Serie B Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossi, Francesco Italian men's footballers Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players AC ChievoVerona players Siena FC SSD players Calcio Foggia 1920 players US Grosseto 1912 players Atletico Roma FC players ASD Città di Gallipoli players Portogruaro Calcio ASD players Men's association football goalkeepers Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Venice 1977 births Living people People from Portogruaro