Luigi Sala (born 21 February 1974) is a former

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

defender. He played 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 ...

Club career

In June 2001, Sala was sold to

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 ...

for 7 billion lire, along with

Gianni Comandini Gianni Comandini (born 18 May 1977) is an Italian former Association football, footballer who played principally as a Forward (association football), forward. Club career Early career Born in Cesena, Comandini joined the youth academy of hi ...

(30 billion) and Luca Saudati (18 billion), as part of

Cristian Zenoni Cristian Zenoni (; born 23 April 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He is the twin brother of former footballer Damiano Zenoni. Club career Zenoni started his career at his native club Atalanta B.C., j ...

and

Massimo Donati Massimo Donati (born 26 March 1981) is an Italian football coach, pundit and former professional player, who played as a central or defensive midfielder. He is the manager of Legnago Salus in Serie D. Born in San Vito al Tagliamento, Ita ...

's deal to Milan, for 60 billion

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

. In 2002–03 season, he was the first choice and partnered with Cesare Natali. In December 2002, Sala was injured and rested one month. He returned to field on 6 January, a rescheduled round 13 match against

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 June 2005, he was signed by

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

. In August 2008, he was signed by

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 free transfer. He signed a two-year contract with AlbinoLeffe in 2009. In 2010–11 season, he changed his shirt number from 26 to 21.

Italian football scandal

Sala was banned 2 year after a

plea bargain A plea bargain (also plea agreement or plea deal) is an agreement in criminal law proceedings, whereby the prosecutor provides a concession to the defendant in exchange for a plea of guilt or '' nolo contendere.'' This may mean that the defendan ...

on 1 August 2012 due to involvement in 2011–12 Italian football scandal. He was questioned by the prosecutor on 8 March 2012.

Honours

;

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

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 ...

: 1998–99

References

External links

Luigi Sala
at FIGC.it
Player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sala, Luigi 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Como Italian footballers Association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players S.S.C. Bari players A.C. Milan players Atalanta B.C. players A.C. ChievoVerona players Como 1907 players U.C. Sampdoria players Udinese Calcio players U.C. AlbinoLeffe players Footballers from Lombardy