Raphaël Nuzzolo (born 5 July 1983) is a Swiss former professional

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 ...

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. He played a majority of his carrier for

Neuchâtel Xamax , neighboring_municipalities= Auvernier, Boudry, Chabrey (VD), Colombier, Cressier, Cudrefin (VD), Delley-Portalban (FR), Enges, Fenin-Vilars-Saules, Hauterive, Saint-Blaise, Savagnier , twintowns = Aarau (Switzerland), Besançon (France ...

. He currently works as a scout for

BSC Young Boys BSC Young Boys (YB by short abbreviation ) are a Swiss sports club based in Bern, Switzerland. Its first team has won 15 Swiss league championships and six Swiss Cups. YB is one of the most successful Swiss football clubs internationally, reac ...

Career

Xamax

Born in

Biel , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) B ...

, Nuzzolo began playing football for hometown club

Biel-Bienne , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) B ...

. After two seasons there he joined

in 2001. Originally hired as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, he only started to be successful years later when he was moved to the position of right

. In 2006,

Miroslav Blazevic Miroslav may refer to: * Miroslav (given name), a Slavic masculine given name * ''Young America'' (clipper) or ''Miroslav'', an Austrian clipper ship in the Transatlantic case oil trade * Miroslav (Znojmo District), a town in the Czech Republic S ...

who was then trainer at

, declared that "Nuzzolo has a future in the Swiss national team". On Sunday 19 February 2006 he scored his first goal at the highest Swiss level on a 2–2 tie in Zurich against Grasshoppers. During the 2008–09 season, as Xamax's trainer by then

Nestor Clausen Nestor may refer to: * Nestor (mythology), King of Pylos in Greek mythology Arts and entertainment * "Nestor" (''Ulysses'' episode) an episode in James Joyce's novel ''Ulysses'' * Nestor Studios, first-ever motion picture studio in Hollywood, ...

had difficulties finding a performant right back, he moved Nuzzolo to this position, which he kept for most of the season. In the 2009–10 season, Nuzzolo proved being a key player of the team as either a left or right

and has been regarded by many as the club's best player for that season. For the 2010–11 season he was elected captain of the first team, reinforcing his position as a both a key a local figure at the start of his 10th season for the club.

Young Boys

On 16 July 2011, he was transferred to Young Boys for an undisclosed fee. After five years with Young Boys, he returned to Xamax ahead of the 2016–17 season. Despite having a year left on his contract, he reached an agreement with the club to dissolve the contract early.

Xamax and retirement

After two years in Neuchâtel, Nuzzolo achieved promotion back to the

Swiss Super League The Swiss Super League (known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a Swiss professional league in the top tier of the Swiss football league system and has been played in its current format since the 2003–04 season ...

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. In the following season, he narrowly avoided relegation, with Xamax beating

FC Aarau FC Aarau is a Swiss football club based in Aarau. They play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss football after being relegated from Swiss Super League. History FC Aarau was formed on 26 May 1902 by workers from a local ...

on penalties after a 4–4 aggregate score in the relegation playoff. Aarau had won the first leg in Neuchâtel 4–0, where Nuzzolo had been sent off in the 52nd minute. However, in the next season, they were unable to stave off relegation and were forced to return to the Challenge League after two years in the top tier. On 3 May 2023, he announced his retirement from football, following the end of the

2022–23 Swiss Challenge League The 2022–23 Swiss Challenge League (referred to as the Dieci Challenge League for sponsoring reasons) is the 125th season of the second tier of competitive football in Switzerland and the 20th season under its current name. Overview Ten teams w ...

season. His last act at Xamax was helping the team stay in the Challenge League, as his last game was a 3–0 victory over

FC Rapperswil-Jona Fussball Club Rapperswil-Jona, was founded in 1928 and is now the largest sports club in the Oberer Lake / Linth area. After achieving promotion in June 2017, the first team will played in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Swiss foot ...

in the relegation play-off. In his second stint at Xamax he scored 98 goals in 238 league appearances. In his 488 appearances for Xamax, he scored a total of 137 goals.

Post-retirement

On 16 June 2023, he returns to Young Boys to work in their scouting department under head scout

Stéphane Chapuisat Stéphane Chapuisat (born 28 June 1969) is a Swiss former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer for both club and country (for which he appeared more than 100 times), he spent most of his career with Bundesliga ...

Personal life

Nuzzolo was born in Switzerland and is of Italian descent.

Honours

Individual *

Top assists provider: 2018–19

References

External links

* * 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Biel/Bienne Footballers from the canton of Bern Men's association football midfielders Swiss men's footballers Swiss people of Italian descent Swiss Super League players Swiss Challenge League players Neuchâtel Xamax FCS players BSC Young Boys players FC Biel-Bienne players {{Switzerland-footy-midfielder-stub