Daniele Adani (; born 10 July 1974) 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 ...

who played as a

central defender 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

Adani started his career in

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 ...

with Modena, making his first team debuts at the age of 18. In 1994, he transferred to top level's

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

but, after two gameless months, moved 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 ...

in November; subsequently, he followed the club's promotion and relegation between the first and second divisions, appearing in nearly 200 official matches. In 1999, Adani transferred to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

for 7 billion lire (€3.615 million), winning the

Italian Cup Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

in his second season. In 2002, the club faced bankruptcy, and the player signed for

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is t ...

on a free transfer. Though he was not regarded as member of the starting lineup, he would be in the starting lineup more times than expected, managing to score two goals during his two-season stint (in away wins against Empoli and

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic ...

); he also broke his nose while playing for the ''Nerazzurri'' and decided to play with a titanium mask, as

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left back and centre back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest defenders of a ...

had done previously. Adani also wore a similar non-metallic mask after he recovered, but dropped it shortly after. In 2004, Adani returned to Brescia, but left the club in March of the following year, along with

Roberto Guana Roberto Guana (born 21 January 1981) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Club career Roberto started his career at Brescia Calcio. He played his first Serie A match on 4 February 2001 against A.S. Bari. In M ...

. He joined

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region ** Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

shortly after, appearing in only three games as the Marche side managed to retain its top flight status. Before retiring from professional football at the age of 34, Adani played two years with Empoli, both in the first division, being regularly used in his first year as the club qualified to the

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay ...

, but only in six games in his second, as the Tuscany outfit dropped down a level. In 2009, Adani returned to football with amateurs Sammartinese, in

Seconda Categoria The Seconda Categoria is a level of football in Italy. It is the 8th level (since 2014-15) in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Seconda Categoria level progresses to their closest regional league in the ...

(9th level).

International career

Adani received five

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for

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in four years. His debut came on 15 November 2000, in a 1–0 friendly win with

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 ...

. On 27 March 2002, against the same opponent, in another exhibition match, Adani made his second appearance, in a 2–1 win at Elland Road, again as a second-half substitute.

Style of play

Regarded as a promising defender in his youth, Adani was known for his composure on the ball and versatility; although he was usually deployed as a man marking centre-back, he was capable of playing anywhere along the back line.

Coaching career

He obtained UEFA B coaching license in 2008. (third category of the license) In 2010, he got the A license, made him eligible to coach

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

team or as a vice-coach in higher divisions. On 19 July 2011, it was announced that he would be the vice-coach of

team

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a thr ...

, under

Silvio Baldini Silvio Baldini (born 11 September 1958 in Massa) is an Italian association football manager, last in charge of Serie B club Perugia. Career Early years Born in Massa but hailing from nearby Carrara, Baldini started his coaching career in 1984 ...

TV commentator

In 2010, he started working as a color commentator for

Sportitalia Sportitalia is an Italian terrestrial and satellite television channel owned by Italian Sport Communication, specialized in sports broadcasting 24 hours a day. Sports broadcast include soccer, basketball, tennis, cycling, volley, motoristic spo ...

. In 2012, he joined

Sky Sport (Italy) Sky Sport is a group of nine sports satellite TV channels in the Italian language produced and broadcast by Sky Italia. Channels The channel "Roma TV" is also included in the Sky Sport package. Sky Sport 24 Sky Sport 24 is a sports all-news ...

. After joining

Rai RAI – Radiotelevisione italiana (; commercially styled as Rai since 2000; known until 1954 as Radio Audizioni Italiane) is the national public broadcasting company of Italy, owned by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. RAI operates many ter ...

as a commentator, during

2022 World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first ...

quarter finals, Adani compared

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

with

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, saying that the Argentinian is capable of making wine from water.

Honours

Club

Fiorentina *

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 ...

: 2000–01

References

External links

Daniele Adani
at Inter.it
Daniele Adani
at FIGC.it * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Adani, Daniele 1974 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Reggio Emilia Italian footballers Italian football managers Association football defenders Serie A players Serie B players Modena F.C. players S.S. Lazio players Brescia Calcio players ACF Fiorentina players Inter Milan players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Empoli F.C. players Italy international footballers Footballers from Emilia-Romagna