Paolo Castellini (born 25 March 1979) 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

left 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 ...

Club career

Born in

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. ...

Lombardy Lombardy ( it, Lombardia, Lombard language, Lombard: ''Lombardia'' or ''Lumbardia' '') is an administrative regions of Italy, region of Italy that covers ; it is located in the northern-central part of the country and has a population of about 10 ...

, Castellini made his professional debut at

U.S. Cremonese Unione Sportiva Cremonese, commonly referred to as Cremonese, is an Italian football club based in Cremona, Lombardy, which plays in the . History Cremonese was in the Serie A in its first season, 1929–30, but entered a long period of decli ...

at only 17, going on to appear for the club in both the

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 ...

and

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 ...

. In summer 2000 he signed with

Torino FC 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 ...

, achieving 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 ...

in his first season whilst appearing in 33 games. From January 2004, Castellini served a loan at his hometown side,

Brescia Calcio Brescia Calcio, commonly referred to as Brescia (), is an Italian football club based in Brescia, Lombardy, that currently plays in . The club holds the record for total number of seasons (64) and consecutive seasons (18, from 1947–48 to 1 ...

of the top division, after which he was released by ''Toro''. In the ensuing summer he moved to Spain, joining

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () or just Betis, is a Spanish professional football club based in Seville in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1907, it plays in La Liga. It holds home games at the Estadio Benito Vill ...

on a five-year contract. His spell in

Andalusia Andalusia (, ; es, Andalucía ) is the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomous community in the country. It is officially recognised as a ...

was disastrous, as he never dislodged veteran

Luis Fernández Luis Miguel Fernández Toledo (born 2 October 1959), known as Luis Fernandez, is a French football manager and former player who played as a defensive midfielder. Fernandez spent most of his playing career for Paris Saint-Germain. He earned 6 ...

from his starting position, also suffering with injuries (torn ligaments and cartilage in his right knee). After cutting ties with Betis, Castellini returned to his country in the summer of 2006, joining

Parma F.C. Parma Calcio 1913 (), commonly known as Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, which competes in the Serie B, the second tier of Italian football. ''Parma Football Club'' was originally founded in Decembe ...

and being first choice from the beginning. In his third season he played 41 out of 42 matches, helping the team return to the top level after only one year. In the 2009–10 campaign, Castellini often played as wingback in a 3–5–2 or 5–3–2 formation, with

Cristian Zaccardo Cristian Zaccardo (; born 21 December 1981) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. He mainly played as a centre back, although he was also capable of playing as a full-back or in midfield. He began his club career with Ital ...

in the other flank. He helped Parma to a final eighth position, narrowly missing out on

qualification Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to: * Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...

for the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. On 26 August 2010, Castellini was loaned to

A.S. Roma ' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...

as cover for

John Arne Riise John Arne Semundseth Riise (born 24 September 1980) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who played as a left back and a left midfielder. He is currently the manager of Toppserien club Avaldsnes. With 110 caps, Riise is ...

. On 24 June 2011, also on loan, he signed for

U.C. 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, S ...

of the second tier; he agreed to a permanent deal at the latter on 9 July 2012, with

Jonathan Biabiany Jonathan Ludovic Biabiany (born 28 April 1988) is a French professional footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish club San Fernando. During the most notable period of his career (between 2008 and 2014), he was regarded as one of the fastes ...

heading in the opposite direction. Castellini played in all three major levels until his retirement in 2016, representing

A.S. Livorno Calcio Unione Sportiva Livorno 1915 (formerly A.S. Livorno Calcio, commonly known as Livorno), is a semi-professional Italian football club based in Livorno, Tuscany. They compete in Serie D, the top tier of semi-professional Italian football after t ...

, Cremonese and Brescia.

International career

Castellini never won one full

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for

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 ...

, but appeared with the under-21s at the 2002 UEFA European Championship, helping the national side to the semi-finals.Notizie pubblicate dal sito nel mese di Maggio 2002 (News published by site in the month of May 2002)
at Parcar Sport

Honours

Torino *

: 2000–01

References

External links

*
National team data
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castellini, Paolo 1979 births Living people Footballers from Brescia Italian footballers Association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players U.S. Cremonese players Torino F.C. players Brescia Calcio players Parma Calcio 1913 players A.S. Roma players U.C. Sampdoria players U.S. Livorno 1915 players La Liga players Real Betis players Italy youth international footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain