Francesco Dell'Anno (born 4 June 1967) 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 lea ...

who played as an attacking

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Playing career

A gifted

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

, Dell'Anno began his career at

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

and made his debut in the 1984–85 season, and his emergence was one of the few highlights of a dismal season for the ''Biancocelesti''. He moved on to Arezzo and Taranto before joining

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

in 1990. Dell'Anno spent three seasons with Udinese, earning considerable praise for his displays in midfield during this time. A move to

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. Since 1 ...

followed, but he was unable to command a regular place before moving to

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

. His career enjoyed a renaissance after a move to Ravenna, before ending his career at Ternana.

Personal life

While playing for Lazio, Dell'Anno was

engaged An engagement or betrothal is the period of time between the declaration of acceptance of a marriage proposal and the marriage itself (which is typically but not always commenced with a wedding). During this period, a couple is said to be ''fi ...

to the female Lazio footballer Eva Russo. The engagement broke off after four years.

References

1967 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Avellino Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players SS Lazio players Udinese Calcio players SS Arezzo players Taranto FC 1927 players Inter Milan players US Salernitana 1919 players Ravenna FC players Ternana Calcio players UEFA Europa League–winning players 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1960s-stub