Simone Barone (; born 30 April 1978) is an Italian football manager and former player, 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 played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, before coming to prominence with Palermo. At international level, he was part of the Italian side that won the

2006 FIFA 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 th ...

, and represented the national side on 16 occasions between 2004 and 2006, scoring once.

Club career

Barone started his career making his first team debut on 4 May 1997 for

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 ...

, against

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 ...

. He then played for

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

of Serie C1 in 1998,

Alzano Virescit Virtus CiseranoBergamo 1909 is an football in Italy, Italian association football club from Ciserano, Lombardy. It was born in 2019 as a merger of ''Ciserano Calcio'' and ''Virtus Bergamo'', itself a direct heir of ''Alzano Virescit'', a club th ...

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 ...

in 1999. In summer 2000, he joined

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona, which competes in the second ...

in a co-ownership deal, where he played for 2 seasons. He was loaned back to Parma in the 2002–03 season, then bought back permanently in 2003, with Amauri moved to Chievo. On 16 July 2004, he transferred to Palermo for €5M. He signed a 4-year contract. He was the regular of the team, and the team qualified for 2006–07 UEFA Cup (after the Calciopoli trials). On 5 August 2006, Simone moved to Serie A newcomer

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

after the club signed

Mark Bresciano Mark Bresciano ( ; ; born 11 February 1980) is an Australian former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder. Born in Melbourne, Bresciano played youth football for Bulleen Lions, before moving into the National Soccer League w ...

and Fábio Simplício from Parma. He played 3 seasons for the Serie A struggler and left the club after relegated in 2009. On 6 August 2009, he was signed by Serie A side Cagliari. He was mainly used as a substitute, however, only playing 5 times as a starter, as a right midfielder on each occasion.

International career

Barone debuted for the

Italy national football 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 ...

on 18 February 2004, in a 2–2 friendly tie against

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

in Palermo. Stefano Bettarini and

Sergio Volpi Sergio Volpi (; born 2 February 1974) is an Italian former footballer who played as a midfielder. Volpi was capped twice for the Italy senior side at international level, and spent over ten seasons in Serie A throughout his career. Club career ...

also received their first call-up and made their debut under manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...

during the match. He was part of Italy's

squad, under Marcello Lippi, appearing two times as a substitute as Italy went on to win the tournament. In Italy's final group match of the competition, a 2–0 win against the

on 22 June, Barone helped to win back possession in midfield before laying the ball off to Simone Perrotta, who subsequently set up Filippo Inzaghi with a one on one opportunity with a throughball after the striker had managed to beat the offside trap; Inzaghi went on to score after rounding Czech goalkeeper

Petr Čech Petr Čech (; born 20 May 1982) is a Czech former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He also plays semi-professional ice hockey as a goaltender for Chelmsford Chieftains. Described by numerous players, pundits and managers as ...

, while Barone also followed Inzaghi's run to provide him with an additional attacking option across goal. This play is such iconic in Italian culture that, as Inzaghi completely ignored Barone’s 50-metre run, youngsters use the expression “utile come la corsa di Barone” (Italian for “as useful as Barone’s run”) to indicate something superfluous or unnecessary. He later also appeared in Italy's 3–0 win over

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 ...

in the quarter-finals of the tournament. In total, Barone made 16 appearances for Italy between 2004 and 2006, scoring his only international goal on 9 February 2005, in a 2–0 friendly home win over

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

, in Cagliari, at the stadio Sant'Elia.

Style of play

A versatile, consistent, energetic, and hard-working player, Barone was primarily deployed as a central or right sided midfielder, although he was capable of playing in any midfield position, and was also deployed as a

defensive 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 boundari ...

, due to his stamina, tactical intelligence, positional sense, and decision-making, as well as his ability to break down opposition plays and subsequently start attacking moves with his passing.

Managerial career

In late June 2016, Barone was appointed assistant manager for

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

club

Delhi Dynamos Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

, under his former international teammate Gianluca Zambrotta. In the 2017–18 season, he was appointed manager for the Juventus academy. He took over the

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 ...

Primavera team for the 2018–19 season. On 7 July 2021, he was hired as a head coach of Correggese in

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 ...

. However, he left the club before the league season started.

Career statistics

International

International goal

Honours

International

Italy *

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 ...

: 2006

Orders

CONI The Italian National Olympic Committee ( it, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano, CONI), founded in 1914 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is responsible for the development and management of sports activity in Italy. ...

: Golden Collar of Sports Merit: ''Collare d'Oro al Merito Sportivo'': 2006 :* ITA OMRI 2001 Uff BAR

4th Class / Officer: '' Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana'': 2006

References

External links

FIGC

Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport (2006–07)

Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport (2007–08)

Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport (2009–10)

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barone, Simone Living people 1978 births People from Nocera Inferiore Footballers from Campania Association football midfielders Italian footballers Italy international footballers 2006 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup-winning players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Parma Calcio 1913 players Calcio Padova players A.C. ChievoVerona players Palermo F.C. players Torino F.C. players Cagliari Calcio players U.S. Livorno 1915 players Virtus Bergamo Alzano Seriate 1909 players Officers of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Italian football managers Sportspeople from the Province of Salerno