Tranquillo Barnetta (; born 22 May 1985) is a Swiss 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

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 was usually deployed out wide as a left winger but could also play in the centre as an

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, 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 #Cent ...

, or even in a more withdrawn role as a

central 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 ...

. Barnetta was known for his "extreme pace, mobility and creativity". Prior to moving to MLS, Barnetta played football for several Swiss and German clubs. At international level, he has amassed 75 caps for the Swiss national team, representing his nation in three

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament ha ...

s, and two UEFA European Football Championships.

Playing career

Club

St. Gallen

Barnetta started his career with his hometown team, St. Gallen for the 2002–2003 season. During his first professional season, he earned 30 appearances and scored 5 goals.

Bayer Leverkusen

Barnetta's debut season in Switzerland was noticed abroad and was soon snapped up by German side Bayer Leverkusen in January 2004. During his first season at Bayer, he had a loan spell at

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), Hannover, HSV or simply 96, is a German professional football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years betwe ...

, returning to Bayer in March 2005. After a good showing at the World Cup in Germany, Barnetta became a regular in the Bayer squad. The 2008–09 season was one to forget for him, after Bayer finished two places lower than the previous season and his goals tally dropped slightly. During the summer transfer window, he was linked with a move away from Bayer as his place in the squad seemed under threat from loanee Toni Kroos. Barnetta regained his good form in the 2009–10 season, scoring a brace in only his second league game of the season and contributing to Bayer's unbeaten run for the entire first half of the season.

Schalke 04/Eintracht Frankfurt

On 2 July 2012, after his contract ran out at Bayer Leverkusen, Schalke 04 confirmed that Barnetta signed a three-year professional contract with them until 30 June 2015, and in preparation for the Gelsenkirchen club's participation in the Champions League. The transfer was reported as a free transfer by Schalke's sport and communications manager

Horst Heldt Horst Heldt (born 9 December 1969) is a German football executive and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the former general manager of 1. FC Köln. Playing career Heldt was born in Königswinter. He played at 1. FC Köln from 199 ...

. Barnetta was assigned a number 27 shirt, previously worn by

Ciprian Deac Ciprian Ioan Deac (; born 16 February 1986) is a Romanian professional footballer who plays as a winger or an attacking midfielder for Liga I club CFR Cluj. After starting out at Unirea Dej, he spent most of his professional career at CFR Cluj, ...

. In the 2013–14 season, Barnetta had a season long

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

spell at

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The team is currently playing in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the Germa ...

, returning to Schalke 04 in June 2014 whom he signed for at the end of the 2011–12 season. On 23 September 2014, Barnetta scored his first goal for Schalke in his second league match of the 2014–15 season.

Philadelphia Union

On 29 July 2015, Barnetta signed with the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 201 ...

. Integrating with the Union, who were midway through their

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

, Barnetta netted his first goal on 20 September, in a home win against the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establi ...

. After a full preseason with the Union, Barnetta led the team as the attacking playmaker during the 2016 season. Registering 5 goals and 4 assists, he helped lead Philadelphia's return to the

MLS Cup Playoffs The MLS Cup Playoffs is the annual postseason elimination tournament of Major League Soccer. The final match of the tournament is the MLS Cup, the league's championship game. Under the current format adopted for the 2019 season, 14 teams qualif ...

for the first time since 2011. Prior to the conclusion of the 2016 campaign, the Union announced Barnetta would return to Switzerland to rejoin

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the Swiss Super League. History Founde ...

. Barnetta cited he wanted to contribute to his hometown club in front of friends and family while he still had the fitness to do so meaningfully. He finished his Philadelphia career with 45 appearances and 6 goals.

Return to St. Gallen

Barnetta signed a contract with St. Gallen on 14 November 2016, starting from 1 January 2017. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Barnetta decided to retire.

International

Barnetta is a former youth international and was in the Swiss U-17

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

that won the 2002 U-17 European Championships along with future senior teammates

Philippe Senderos Philippe Sylvain Senderos (born 14 February 1985) is a Swiss retired professional footballer who played as a defender. Senderos began his career at Servette, before moving to England as a teenager with Arsenal. He made 116 appearances over se ...

and

Reto Ziegler Reto Pirmin Ziegler (born 16 January 1986) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Swiss Super League club Sion. Ziegler has played top-flight football in seven different countries. He earned 35 international caps for ...

. He has been a member of the

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

national team and was first called up to the squad for the Euro 2004 but did not make an appearance. Barnetta was called up to the squad after

Johann Lonfat Johann Lonfat (born 11 September 1973) is a Swiss former professional footballer. A midfielder, he played in the centre or on the right. Career Lonfat was born in Martigny, Switzerland. During his career, Lonfat represented Martigny-Sports (1 ...

was injured and

Davide Chiumiento Davide Chiumiento (born 22 November 1984) is a Swiss former footballer who played as a midfielder. Early life Chiumiento was born in Switzerland but spent most of his childhood abroad. His father, Gerardo Chiumiento, was a power tool salesman ...

had turned down a call up as the first choice replacement. At the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Germany 2006, was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the ...

, he scored the second goal in Switzerland's group stage win over

Togo Togo (), officially the Togolese Republic (french: République togolaise), is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to the west, Benin to the east and Burkina Faso to the north. It extends south to the Gulf of Guinea, where its c ...

, but missed a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the shootout against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, which Switzerland lost 3–0. On 4 July, Barnetta was shortlisted for the tournament's Best Young Player award. He was ever present in

2010 World Cup , image = 2010 FIFA World Cup.svg , size = 200px , caption = ''Ke Nako. (Tswana and Sotho for "It's time") Celebrate Africa's Humanity'It's time. Celebrate Africa's Humanity'' (English)''Dis tyd. Vier Afrika se mensd ...

qualifying as the Swiss secured a place by finishing top of their group. On 4 June 2011, Barnetta scored two free kicks in quick succession against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Barnetta was called up to represent Switzerland at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Brazil, but he didn't play any matches.

Playing style

Known for his "extreme pace, mobility and creativity" on the left flank,

FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...

's official website describes Barnetta as a "primarily a creative footballer", who also "covers ground and closes down opponents on the football pitch with the sort tireless energy and dogged determination one might expect from a tigerish

". Barnetta is regarded for bringing "drive, skill and maturity" to the Swiss national team.

Personal life

Barnetta was born in St. Gallen. Both his parents are of Italian descent and he holds both Swiss and Italian citizenship.

Career statistics

Club

International

:Source:

International goals

References

External links

*
barnettafan.ch
– Tranquillo Barnetta's official fanshop * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnetta, Tranquillo 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from St. Gallen (city) Swiss people of Italian descent Association football midfielders Swiss men's footballers Swiss expatriate footballers FC St. Gallen players Hannover 96 players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players FC Schalke 04 players Eintracht Frankfurt players Philadelphia Union players Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate soccer players in the United States UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players Switzerland international footballers Switzerland youth international footballers Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in the United States