Lorenzo Squizzi (born 20 June 1974) 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 le ...

who played 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 ...

. Squizzi started his career at

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 ...

team

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 ...

, but spent most of his career in the lower divisions. In summer 2006, he signed for his second Serie A club

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 ...

Career

Early career

Born in

Domodossola Domodossola (; Lombard: Dòm) is a city and ''comune'' in the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the region of Piedmont, northern Italy. It was also known as Oscela, Oscella, Oscella dei Leponzi, Ossolo, Ossola Lepontiorum, and Domo d'Ossola ...

, Piedmont, Squizzi started his career at

, the club giant of the region. In 1994–95 season, he worked as

Angelo Peruzzi Angelo Peruzzi (; born 16 February 1970) is an Italian football coach and former goalkeeper, and a three-time winner of the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award. Peruzzi is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest Italian goalkeepers of all ...

's backup, along with

Michelangelo Rampulla Michelangelo Rampulla (born 10 August 1962) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Club career Born in Patti, Sicily, Rampulla initially had short stints with Sicilian amateur clubs, such as his local tea ...

. He played the final match of the season, which ''Le Zebre'' already secured the title weeks before. In the next season he left for

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 ...

club

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 ...

, where he worked as

Oriano Boschin San Paolo (Italian for "Saint Paul") is a ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia, in the Italian region Lombardy (man), (woman) lmo, lumbard, links=no (man), (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , populati ...

's backup. In 1996–97 season, he left for

Atletico Catania Unione Sportiva Dilettantistica Atletico Catania is an Italian association football club founded in 1967 and based in Catania, Sicily. Throughout its history, the club played extensively at Serie C1 and Serie C2 professional level, almost gaini ...

, where he helped the club reach the semi-final of the promotion playoffs.

Lucchese

Squizzi secured a long-term contract with

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 ...

club Lucchese, where he helped the league struggler avoided relegation in the first season. In the second season, the poor scoring record made the club finished the second from the bottom, made Squizzi had to search another club.

Salernitana

Squizzi joined

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

which newly relegated from

in a co-ownership deal, which also saw

Ciro Polito Ciro Polito (born 12 April 1979) is an Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. As of 2017, he has worked as technical director of Juve Stabia. Career Salernitana Ciro Polito began his football career with the youth system of Salerno ...

moved to opposite direction. He worked as Fabrizio Lorieri's backup, ahead youth product

Rosario Niosi Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most po ...

, Lorieri himself also a new signing but from

club

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

. He survived in mid-season sale, which saw Salernitana reduced the number of goalkeeper from 5 to 3 by sending ex-no.2 Andrea Ivan and youth product Crescenzo De Vito to

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

and

Giugliano Giugliano in Campania , also known simply as Giugliano, is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, Italy. , it had some 124,000 inhabitants,Salvatore Soviero Salvatore may refer to: * Salvatore (name), a given name and surname, including a list of people with the name * "Salvatore" (song), by Lana Del Rey, 2015 * Salvatore (band), a Norwegian instrumental rock band * '' Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams' ...

Domenico Botticella Domenico Botticella (born 2 March 1976 in San Giovanni Rotondo) is an Italian football coach and former player, who used to play as a goalkeeper. He is the current goalkeeping coach of Casertana. Playing career Botticella played in Serie B with ...

and youth product Raffaele Coscia. Ciro Polito, who was bought back from Lucchese, also transferred to

Avellino Avellino () is a town and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

Serie C1 (2000–03)

In November 2000, Squizzi signed for Reggiana. He quickly became the first choice, ahead of

Raffaele Nuzzo Raffaele Nuzzo (born 21 February 1973) is an Italian former professional footballer. He spent most of his career in the Italian Serie C1 and Serie C2, in the role of a backup goalkeeper. Career Internazionale Born in 1973, in Monza, which at t ...

. With club they survived in the relegation play-out. In the next season he secured another long-term contract with newly relegated side

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, ahead of Luca Davide Righi and youth product Daniele Mandelli. But the team-mate failed to score into opponent nets once again made Squizzi tasted relegation. In the next season he was loaned to

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

as the first-choice goalkeeper, ahead

Francesco Musarra Francesco, the Italian (and original) version of the personal name "Francis", is the most common given name among males in Italy. Notable persons with that name include: People with the given name Francesco * Francesco I (disambiguation), sever ...

and Davide Bertaccini, replacing

Nicola Santoni Nicola Santoni (born 18 January 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Career Santoni started his professional career at native club Cesena of Emilia-Romagna region. He was on loan to Chieti (Serie C1) ...

who left for

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. He concerned only 29 goals in the season, ranked 2 least among the teams, behind

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 ...

. Although his team finished third and Pisa finished fourth, the team lost to Pisa in promotion playoffs semi-finals.

Catania

Due to Monza failing to win promotion, on 29 August 2003 Squizzi secured a move to

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 ...

, ahead

Emanuele Concetti Emanuele Concetti (born 6 March 1978) is an Italian footballer goalkeeper. Career Concetti started his professional career at Lazio. In mid-2000, he was loaned to Arezzo. During the 2002–03 season, he was initially a backup for Angelo Peruzzi ...

Paolo Mancini Paolo is both a given name and a surname, the Italian form of the name Paul. Notable people with the name include: People with the given name Paolo Art *Paolo Alboni (1671–1734), Italian painter *Paolo Abbate (1884–1973), Italian-American s ...

(joined in January) and youth product Gaetano Romano as first choice. He concerned only 29 goals in 29 league matches with 11 clean sheets, but after injured in March, Concetti and Mancini concerned 15 goals in 9 league matches with 4 clean sheets and 4 goals in 4 matches with 1 clean sheet respectively between round 33 to 45. Squizzi returned to field on the last round, played 77 minutes as starter without concerned a goal, before replaced by Mancini. The match ended in 2–0 won to the second club ranked from the bottom.

Perugia

His performance made Perugia, which newly relegated to Serie B, sign him to provide extra cover for Australian international

Željko Kalac Zeljko Kalac (born 16 December 1972) is an Australian former soccer goalkeeper, who is currently the manager of NK Urania Baška Voda, who play in the Croatian third division. Nicknamed "Spider" due to his tall, gangly figure, standing at 2.02& ...

. He conceded 9 goals in 14 matches, with Kalac conceding 25 goals in 29 matches. Squizzi also played all 4 promotion playoffs that lost to

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 ...

in the finals. But Perugia was expelled from Serie B due to financial problem.

Chievo

In August 2005 Squizzi signed for

, his second Serie A club, initially as backup of Alberto Fontana, along with youth product

Enrico Alfonso Enrico Alfonso (born 4 May 1988) is an Italian professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for S.P.A.L., SPAL. Club career Early career Aged only 6 years old, Alfonso began his pla ...

. But in the first match of the season, he replaced Fontana at half time, after Chievo concerned a goal from

David Trezeguet David Sergio Trezeguet (born 15 October 1977) is a French former professional footballer who played as a striker. Trezeguet began his career in Argentina with Club Atlético Platense at the age of eight, progressing through their youth system ...

, of his former team Juve. In that season, he occasionally played 12 league matches, 9 of them were starter. In the next season, the club signed

Vincenzo Sicignano Vincenzo Sicignano (born 8 July 1974 in Pompei, Province of Naples) is an Italian former football goalkeeper turned coach. He is currently working as goalkeeping coach for Empoli. Playing career Unlike other footballers from Naples which start ...

from relegated Lecce to replace Fontana who left for

. But Squizzi was promoted to first choice in the 2 round (ahead youth product

Mattia Passarini Mattia Passarini (born 29 July 1980 in Verona) is an Italian football goalkeeper. He plays for Chievo. Football career A Verona native, Passarini started his career at Chievo but spent much of it on loan to various clubs. He played two seasons ...

) and played one

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 ...

match verse

Sporting Braga Sporting Clube de Braga () (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese ...

. In the round 7 Sicignano regained his place but in February Squizzi restored as first choice, ahead his former team-mate

who signed in mid-season. Although Sicignano and Squizzi concerned 24 goals each, and ranked mid-table by terms of goals concerned, Chievo poor goal scoring, partially due to the left of

Amauri Amauri Carvalho de Oliveira (born 3 June 1980), known as Amauri, is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker. His previous clubs include Bellinzona, Parma, Napoli, Piacenza, Empoli, Messina, Chievo, Palermo, Juventus, Fiorentina ...

, made Sicignano and Squizzi once again tasted relegation. At Serie B, Squizzi secured his place as first choice, ahead

Gabriele Aldegani Gabriele Aldegani (born 10 May 1976) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Football career Aldegani started his senior career at Miranese of Serie D. in 1994 he was signed by A.C. Milan reserve team in 1994. He spent 6 se ...

and

. He won Serie B champion with team and returned to Serie A. Since the signing of

Stefano Sorrentino Stefano Sorrentino (born 28 March 1979) is an Italian former footballer. A professional goalkeeper for his whole career, he is currently a football agent, as well as owner/chairman of Chieri in the Serie D league. Sorrentino played for several ...

in July 2008 and turned to age 34, he worked as backup goalkeeper again, along with Gabriele Aldegani (2008–09) and Michał Miśkiewicz (2009–10). On 7 June 2010, Chievo announced Squizzi had signed a new one-year contract. He extended his contract again in July 2011 and 2012.

Honours

Juventus *

: 1994–95 *

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 ...

: 1994–95 Chievo *

: 2007–08

References

External links

Profile at Football.it

Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport

Profile at Chievo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Squizzi, Lorenzo 1974 births Living people People from Domodossola Italian footballers Association football goalkeepers Juventus F.C. players S.P.A.L. players S.S.D. Lucchese 1905 players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players A.C. Reggiana 1919 players A.C. Monza players A.C. Cesena players Catania S.S.D. players A.C. Perugia Calcio players A.C. ChievoVerona players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Footballers from Piedmont Sportspeople from the Province of Verbano-Cusio-Ossola