Simone Del Nero (born 4 August 1981) is an Italian former footballer.

Club career

Born in

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

Massa-Carrara The province of Massa-Carrara ( it, provincia di Massa-Carrara) is a province in the Tuscany region of central Italy. It is named after the provincial capital Massa, and Carrara, the other main town in the province. History The province of "Ma ...

, Del Nero grew up in the youth system of

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

. He played just four senior games in two years for the Tuscans before moving to

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. ...

. Upon joining the Rondinelle, Del Nero at first played with the youth team, developing as a player under the guidance of youth coach and former professional, Luciano De Paola. Del Nero made fleeting appearances for the senior side, before a disappointing stint on loan with Scottish outfit

Livingston Livingston may refer to: Businesses * Livingston Energy Flight, an Italian airline (2003–2010) * Livingston Compagnia Aerea, an Italian airline (2011–2014), also known as Livingston Airline * Livingston International, a North American custom ...

. He returned to Brescia for the 2002–03 season, where he made three appearances before another loan spell, this time to

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

with

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 ...

, at the time in

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 ...

. However, Del Nero did not play a game with the rosanero and returned north at the season's end. Del Nero had a breakout year in 2003–04, the first in which he established himself as a regular and consistently played in the senior side. In 2004–05, he remained a regular, but did not manage to save his team from relegation. Del Nero was one of the most talented young players at Brescia with his former coach,

Mario Somma Mario Somma (born 17 September 1963) is an Italian football manager. Career Player Somma, who was born in Latina, Lazio, started his career with Genoa and then spent his later years mostly at the Serie C1 and Serie C2 level, playing for several ...

, a great admirer. He remained a regular under Rolando Maran and

Zdeněk Zeman Zdeněk Zeman (; born 12 May 1947) is a Czech-Italian football coach. Known for his exciting, offensive footballing tactics and use of the 4–3–3 formation, Zeman has managed numerous teams over the years, mostly in Italian football. He has ...

in his last two years at the club, 2005–06 and 2006–07, both of which were spent in

. In the summer of 2007, Del Nero was available on a free transfer as he was out-of-contract at Brescia and was quickly signed to a five-year deal by giants

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, who were preparing for a return to the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, having just finished third in

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 ...

. Lazio were drawn to face Romanian champions

Dinamo București A dynamo is a magnetic device originally used as an electric generator. Dynamo or Dinamo may also refer to: Places * Dinamo (Moscow Metro), a station of the Moscow Metro, Moscow, Russia * Dinamo (Yekaterinburg Metro), a station of the Yekaterinbu ...

in the Champions League qualifiers and, in the second leg, Del Nero proved decisive. Having only managed a 1–1 draw in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, the biancocelesti travelled to

Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ro, București ) is the capital and largest city of Romania, as well as its cultural, industrial, and financial centre. It is located in the southeast of the country, on the banks of the Dâmbovița River, less than north of ...

needing a win and Del Nero won an early penalty for the first goal before setting up the second, with Lazio going on to win 3–1 and qualify for the group stage. Unfortunately for the

Liguria Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...

n, he did not take any part in the group phase, and only managed five

appearances due to injury. At the end of the 2007–08 season, Del Nero underwent an operation in Finland for

plantar fasciitis Plantar fasciitis or plantar heel pain (PHP) is a disorder of the plantar fascia, which is the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot that is usually most severe with the f ...

. That surgery had kept him out for much of the 2008–09 season as well, but he made a return to action on 14 December 2008, playing the first half of Lazio's draw against

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 ...

. Del Nero went on to make a handful more appearances towards the end of the season, including a substitute appearance in the

2009 Coppa Italia Final The 2009 Coppa Italia Final was the final match of the 2008–09 Coppa Italia, the 62nd season of the top cup competition in Italian football. The match was played at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome on 13 May 2009 between Lazio and Sampdoria; Lazio wo ...

, which Lazio won on penalties. The Coppa was Del Nero's first title with the Roman club. He joined Malaysia Super League club,

Johor Darul Ta'zim Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club or simply JDT is a professional football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. The club was founded in 1972 as PKENJ FC and currently competes in the top division of Malaysian football, the Malaysia Super ...

in 2013. He bagged his first goal in

2013 Malaysia Super League The 2013 Liga Super ( en, 2013 Super League) also known as the Astro Liga Super for sponsorship reasons, is the 10th season of the Liga Super, the top-tier professional football league in Malaysia.http://www.rsssf.com/tablesm/malay2013.html 2013 ...

when Johor Darul Ta'zim draw 2–2 against LionsXII at

Tan Sri Dato Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium Tan Sri Dato' Haji Hassan Yunos Stadium, also known as Larkin Stadium, is a multi-purpose stadium in Larkin, Johor Bahru, Johor, Malaysia. It is currently used mostly for football matches. The stadium holds 30,000 people and opened in 1964. It ...

on 19 February 2013. Fitness and injury problems restricted his playing time at Johor, affecting his performance on the pitch, and he rejected an offer to be loaned to sister club

Johor FA Johor Darul Ta'zim Football Club II (; ms, Kelab Bolasepak Johor Darul Ta'zim II) or simply JDT II is a Malaysian football club based in Johor Bahru, Johor. The club currently plays in the Malaysia Premier League, the second division profess ...

, resulting in the end of his spell in Johor. On 6 April 2013, together with fellow import player Dani Guiza, they played their last game for Johor Darul Ta'zim in a

Malaysia FA Cup The Malaysia FA Cup ( ms, Piala FA) is an annual national knock-out football tournament in Malaysia. The cup was first held in 1990. The competition was previously managed by Football Association of Malaysia (FAM), before being transferred to Fo ...

semi final first leg match, which ended in 2–3 defeat to

Selangor FA Selangor Football Club (Malay: ''Kelab Bola Sepak Selangor''), commonly referred to as Selangor F.C. is a Malaysian professional football club based in the city of Shah Alam, Selangor, that currently competes in the Malaysia Super League, the ...

. Del Nero joined

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

club Massese in the end of 2013. On 30 July 2016, he was sent on loan to

Carrarese Carrarese Calcio 1908, commonly referred to as Carrarese, is an Italian football club based in Carrara, Tuscany. It currently plays in Serie C, having last been in Serie B in 1948. History The club was founded in 1908. In the season 2010–1 ...

for the 2016–17 season, along with fellow striker Gennaro Tutino, who arrived from

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

Coaching career

Del Nero was appointed as head of youth at Lavagnese in 2022.

International career

Del Nero was a part of the Italy U-21 side which emerged victorious in the

2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 14th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Germany between 27 May and 8 June 2004. Italy U-21s won the competition for the fifth time. Italy's Al ...

and also won a bronze medal with the Italian Olympic team at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

. Del Nero has never been called up to the senior

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

Honours

Club

Lazio *

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 ...

: 2008–09 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

International

Italy *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

* Olympic bronze medal:

Orders

5th Class / Knight: ''

Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic ( it, Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana) is the senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking h ...

'': 2004

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Nero, Simone 1981 births Living people People from Carrara Italian footballers Men's association football forwards Empoli F.C. players Brescia Calcio players Livingston F.C. players S.S. Lazio players A.C. Cesena players U.S. Massese 1919 players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Serie D players Scottish Premier League players Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Malaysia Italian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Italian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Olympic footballers for Italy Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate footballers Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Sportspeople from the Province of Massa-Carrara Footballers from Tuscany