Sergio Floccari (; born 12 November 1981) is a former Italian

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 ...

who plays as a striker.

Club career

Early career

Floccari began playing football as a junior with the local side of his town,

Nicotera Nicotera ( Calabrian: ; grc, Νικόπτερα, translit=Nikóptera) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the province of Vibo Valentia, Calabria, southern Italy. History The origins of Nicòtera lie with the ancient Greek city of Medma, which ...

, before moving into the youth system of

Catanzaro Catanzaro (, or ; scn, label= Catanzarese, Catanzaru ; , or , ''Katastaríoi Lokrói''; ; la, Catacium), also known as the "City of the two Seas", is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its p ...

. He began senior career with Avezzano and Promozione team

Montebelluna Montebelluna is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, Italy, approximately northwest of Venice. It has an estimated population of 32,000. Montebelluna borders the following municipalities: Altivole, Caerano di San Marco, Cornuda, Crocetta del Montello ...

before moving up to Serie C2 with

Mestre Mestre () is a borough of the ''comune'' (municipality) of Venice, on the mainland opposite the historical island city in the region of Veneto, Italy. Administratively, Mestre forms (together with the nearby Carpenedo) the ''Municipalità di ...

and Faenza. It was at Faenza, under coach Carlo Regno, assistant to 2009–10

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

coach

Davide Ballardini Davide Ballardini (born 6 January 1964) is an Italian football manager. He formerly played professionally for Cesena as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of club Cremonese. Playing career A former midfielder, Ballardini spent seve ...

, that Floccari first bloomed, scoring many goals.

Rise

Following his successful period at Faenza, he joined

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian census, the Province of ...

in 2002, but did not establish himself as a regular, playing just nine league games and scoring one goal in his first season of

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

. Floccari took a step back into Serie C2, joining

Rimini Rimini ( , ; rgn, Rémin; la, Ariminum) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy and capital city of the Province of Rimini. It sprawls along the Adriatic Sea, on the coast between the rivers Marecchia (the ancient ''Ariminu ...

in co-ownership deal where he played and scored regularly. His goals contributed to successful promotions as Rimini went from playing in C2 to Serie B during his time there. The club also bought him outright in June 2003. In January 2006, Floccari's form was rewarded when

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 Cop ...

strugglers Messina signed him (jointly-signed with

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 (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology ...

from Rimini) as they looked to avoid relegation. Floccari scored three times as Messina survived thanks to the

Calciopoli ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A and to a lesser extent Serie B. Involving various clubs and numerous executives, both from the same clubs and from the main Italian football b ...

scandal. Two of those goals came in a 2–2 draw with Juventus. In June 2006, Messina bought the remain rights from Atalanta. In his first full season of Serie A in 2006–07, Floccari scored only twice as Messina finished last.

Atalanta

The Calabrese striker did not return to Serie B with his Messina teammates though.

re-signed him for a fee of €1.875 million (€1.675 million plus defender Mariano Stendardo). At Atalanta, Floccari battled for a starting place with the likes of

Simone Inzaghi Simone Inzaghi (; born 5 April 1976) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player. He is the head coach of Serie A club Inter Milan. The younger brother of Filippo Inzaghi, Simone ...

, Antonio Langella and

Riccardo Zampagna Riccardo Zampagna (born 15 November 1974) is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker. Playing career After spending most of his career in the lower leagues ( Serie C1, Serie C2 and D, from 2000 in the second tier), Zampagna final ...

. Floccari scored his first goal against league champions

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a form ...

and after Zampagna's bust-up with coach

Luigi Delneri Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written as Del Neri, is an Italian football manager and a former player. After a playing career as a midfielder including for several Serie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, a ...

(which resulted in the striker's departure to

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza, commonly referred to as Vicenza, is an Italian football club based in Vicenza, Veneto. Founded in 1902 as Associazione del Calcio in Vicenza, they became Lanerossi Vicenza in 1953, then Vicenza Calcio from 1990 to 2018, a year whi ...

), Floccari's first-team opportunities increased, and he closed out the 2007–08 season with eight league goals. In 2008–09, Floccari improved yet again, scoring twelve league goals as Atalanta comfortably finished in mid table.

Return to Genoa

On 1 July 2009, Floccari returned to Genoa, the club he left in 2003, for €9.1 million. He scored on debut in a 4–1 win over

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 ...

and scored his first goal in the

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 ...

against

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

. Having scored four league goals, Floccari was struggling to find space in the Genoa attack with coach Gian Piero Gasperini preferring the likes of

Giuseppe Sculli Giuseppe Sculli (born 23 March 1981) is a retired Italian footballer who played in several positions; primarily a striker, he could play anywhere along the front-line, and also played as a winger, as a second striker, and even as a right-sid ...

and

Raffaele Palladino Raffaele Palladino (; born 17 April 1984) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who is head coach of club Monza. Club career On 3 July 2008, Palladino was signed by Genoa in co-ownership deal, priced €5million (for 50% ...

. That transfer windows also saw a three-men three-way swap formed, which Floccari moved to Lazio to replace

Goran Pandev Goran Pandev ( mk, Горан Пандев, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. After establishing himself at Lazio, Pandev moved to Inter Milan in early 2010. While playing for the ''Ne ...

who left for Inter on free transfer, and Genoa got

David Suazo Óscar David Suazo Velázquez (born 5 November 1979) is a Honduran retired professional footballer turned coach who played as a striker. Suazo played more than 300 league games and scored over 980 league goals in Italy during a span of 7 yea ...

from Inter. The three strikers all had an unsuccessful days in the first half of the season.

Lazio

As a result, Floccari sealed a loan move to struggling

, for €500,000. He made his debut after just one training session and scored twice in a 4–1 win over Livorno. Following that, Floccari made a surprising impact on the team, and was one of the key players in guiding the club to 12th in the league, well clear of the relegation zone. He missed a vital penalty in the defeat against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

in the vital derby, but made up for it by scoring the winner against former club Genoa seven days later, a result that all but granted Lazio's Serie A status for

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...

. At the end of season Lazio signed him permanently for a €8.5 million transfer fee having agreed a four-year contract.Genoa CFC Report and Accounts on 31 December 2010

Parma

On 31 August 2011, Floccari was loaned to

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, music, art, prosciutto (ham), cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 inhabitants, Parma is the second mos ...

for €1.5 million.

Return to Lazio

Sassuolo

On 30 January 2014, Floccari was sold to fellow Serie A club

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label= Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known f ...

for €2 million.

Bologna

On 11 January 2016, Floccari officially joined Serie A club

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

for an undisclosed fee. He missed three weeks of the 2016–17 season through injury.

SPAL

On 19 January 2017, Floccari signed a one-year deal with Serie B side

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly known as S.P.A.L. (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. The team plays in Serie B, the second tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in 1907, sinc ...

. Two days later, he made his debut for the club in a 2–0 league win over Benevento. Floccari's first goal in a SPAL shirt came in stoppage time to seal the victory for the home side, after defender

Francesco Vicari Francesco Vicari (born 3 August 1994) is an Italian association football, footballer who plays for club S.S.C. Bari, Bari. Club career Born in Rome, Lazio region, Vicari was a player of the reserve team of Apulian club A.S. Taranto Calcio, Tara ...

gave them the lead just before the break. On 13 April 2019, he scored the winner in a shock 2–1 victory over reigning champions Juventus.

International career

In October 2010, he was called up for the first and only time by new national team coach Cesare Prandelli for the

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

qualifiers against

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

and

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

, as a replacement for the injured

Alberto Gilardino Alberto Gilardino (; born 5 July 1982) is an Italian professional football manager and a former player who played as a striker. He is currently in charge as caretaker of Genoa, a club he was contracted with on July 2022 as a youth coach. A p ...

; he didn't make an appearance in either game. Floccari married former Miss San Marino Maria Elisa Canti, and has Sammarinese citizenship, so is eligible for the

San Marino national football team The San Marino national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio di San Marino) represents San Marino in men's international association football competitions. The team is controlled by the San Marino Football Federation and represents the sma ...

Career statistics

Club

:¹ 1 match in 2002–03 playoffs :² 2 matches in 2003–04 playoffs :³ Not included match in Coppa Italia Lega Pro and regional cups :⁴ Note 1, 2 and 3

Honours

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 ...

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

References

External links

Atalanta B.C. Official Player Profile

Career profile (from La Gazzetta dello Sport)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Floccari, Sergio 1981 births Living people People from Vibo Valentia Italian footballers Sammarinese footballers Sammarinese people of Italian descent Association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Rimini F.C. 1912 players A.C.R. Messina players Atalanta B.C. players Genoa C.F.C. players Calcio Montebelluna players S.S. Lazio players Parma Calcio 1913 players U.S. Sassuolo Calcio players Bologna F.C. 1909 players S.P.A.L. players Avezzano Calcio players Sportspeople from the Province of Vibo Valentia Footballers from Calabria