Nicola Belmonte (born 15 April 1987) is a former Italian 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 ...

. He preferred to play as a

right 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 could also play 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 ...

Career

Bari

Siena

In July 2008, he was signed by A.C. Siena in co-ownership deal, for €1.2 million, However, after just played one league match for Siena in 2008–09 Serie A, Belmonte returned to

A.S. Bari Società Sportiva Calcio Bari, commonly referred to as Bari, is an Italian football club based in Bari, Apulia. Bari currently plays in the . The team finished the 2021–22 season in first place in Serie C and earned promotion to Serie B for ...

on loan. In the first season he played a few games, as the team had

Leonardo Bonucci Leonardo Bonucci (; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back and captains both club Juventus and the Italy national team. Known for his technique and ball-playing ability, he is regarded as one of the b ...

and Andrea Ranocchia as centre-backs. In September 2010, he extended his contract with Bari from 2013 to 2015. In ca. 2010 his contract with Siena also extended to 30 June 2014. He was the centre-back of the team along with Marco Rossi, but sometimes moved to right back when

Andrea Masiello Andrea Masiello (born 5 February 1986) is an Italian professional footballer, who plays as a centre-back for club Südtirol. He is perhaps best known for match-fixing in the Derby of Puglia, whilst playing for Bari, scoring an own goal to g ...

was unavailable. The coach also tested

Andrea Raggi Andrea Raggi (; born 24 June 1984) is an Italian retired professional footballer who played as a defender. He was a versatile player, being capable of playing both as a centre back and as a right back. Club career Raggi started his footballing ...

as starting rightback at the start of season, made Belmonte as sub and A.Masiello moved to centre-back. Despite the arrival of

Kamil Glik Kamil Jacek Glik (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 February 1988) is a Polish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie B club Benevento and the Poland national team. The previous clubs Glik played for include Piast Gliwice fro ...

in mid-season, Glik injury made Belmonte's role unaffected. He also missed a few games since 24 January due to injury. He was replaced in the first half on 6 March, his first match since injury. On 23 June 2011, he returned to Siena for a second spell at the club. Bari and Siena made a pure player swap, which Belmonte (€1.25 million),

Pedro Kamata Pedro Kamata (born 6 September 1981) is a Congolese former professional footballer who played as a winger. Born in Angola, he made one appearance for the DR Congo national team. Club career Kamata was born in Luanda, Angola. He started his c ...

(€500,000) and

Filippo Carobbio Filippo Carobbio (born 15 October 1979) is an Italian footballer who played as a midfielder. Football career Carobbio started his career at Atalanta youth team. He was farmed to Serie B and Serie C1 teams, then jointed Varese in co-ownership ...

(€500,00) moved to Siena outright, and

Abdelkader Ghezzal Abdelkader Mohamed Ghezzal ( ar, عبد القادر غزال; born 5 December 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward or midfield playmaker. Born in France, he made 28 appearances for the Algeria national team scorin ...

moved to Bari outright (€2.25 million). On 10 August 2012, he was suspended for 6 months due to involvement in

2011 Italian football scandal Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

; the ban later reduced to 4 months by Tribunale Nazionale di Arbitrato per lo Sport of

CONI The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

Udinese

On 17 June 2014, Belmonte was signed by

Udinese Calcio 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 foo ...

on a free transfer.

Catania

On 8 January 2015, Belmonte was signed by

Calcio Catania Catania S.S.D., commonly known as Catania, is an Italian football club based in the city of Catania, Sicily, that plays in . Originally founded in 1908 as ''Associazione Sportiva pro Educazione Fisica'', the club boasts 17 appearances in the ...

Perugia

On 27 July 2015, Belmonte was signed by

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and pa ...

Robur Siena

On 14 September 2018, he returned for the third time to Siena, signing a three-year contract. On 24 May 2019, he had to announce his retirement from playing due to persistent medical problems with his knee.

References

External links

* * Living people 1987 births Sportspeople from Cosenza Footballers from the Province of Cosenza Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players SSC Bari players AS Melfi players ACR Siena 1904 players Udinese Calcio players Catania FC players AC Perugia Calcio players {{Italy-footy-defender-1980s-stub