Patrizia Panico (; born 8 February 1975) is an Italian former

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 is the current manager of Italy U16. A prolific goalscorer, Panico is a longstanding member of the Italy women's national team; she won over 185

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for Italy, and also served as her national side's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

. She is a veteran of Italy's

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years, is the main competition in women's association football between national teams of the UEFA confederation. The competition is the women's equivalent ...

campaigns and played at the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

. In a club career that spanned more than two decades, Panico won ten '' Scudetti'' and collected five

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 ...

winner's medals with her various clubs. She was Serie A's top scorer on 14 occasions (an Italian record for her category) and spent part of 2010 in America, representing

Women's Professional Soccer Women's Professional Soccer (WPS) was the top-level professional women's soccer league in the United States. It began play on March 29, 2009. The league was composed of seven teams for its first two seasons and fielded six teams for the 2011 sea ...

(WPS) club

Sky Blue FC NJ/NY Gotham FC is a professional women's soccer team based in Harrison, New Jersey. Founded in 2006 as Jersey Sky Blue, the team was known as Sky Blue FC from 2008 until 2020. A founding member of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) in 2013 ...

. Panico is nicknamed "The Scorpion" due to her deadly goalscoring instincts.

Club career

In addition to Torres, Panico played for SS Lazio, Torino CF, Modena Amadio, ACF Milan and ASD Bardolino, as well as

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(WPS). She was the Serie A's top scorer for ten seasons. At Modena in 1997–98 Panico won her first Serie A title. She played alongside

Carolina Morace Carolina Morace (; born 5 February 1964) is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker and is the current head coach of Lazio Women. She played for the Italian national team and for various clubs in women's Serie A. She was the top ...

and came to be seen as the

heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...

to Morace's title as Italy's best female player. In the months before the professional

Women's United Soccer Association The Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA) was the world's first Women's association football, women's soccer league in which all the players were paid as professionals. Founded in February 2000 in sports, 2000, the league began its first se ...

(WUSA) began play in 2001, Panico was pursued by

Philadelphia Charge The Philadelphia Charge was an American women's professional soccer team that played in the Women's United Soccer Association. The team played at Villanova Stadium on the campus of Villanova University near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. History ...

. She had agreed terms but the move was eventually derailed by

red tape Red tape is an idiom referring to regulations or conformity to formal rules or standards which are claimed to be excessive, rigid or redundant, or to bureaucracy claimed to hinder or prevent action or decision-making. It is usually applied to g ...

International career

Panico made her senior international debut on 8 April 1996, in Italy's 4–1

1997 UEFA Women's Championship qualification The qualification for the UEFA Women's Euro 1997 was held between September 17, 1995 & September 29, 1996. The first-placed of the group stage qualified directly. The second-placed and the third-placed teams played in two playoff matches for four o ...

win over

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

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 ...

. She started the match and scored Italy's first goal after five minutes of play.

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation ( it, Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio; FIGC), known colloquially as ''Federcalcio'', is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It ...

(FIGC
sources
list Panico's debut as Italy's earlier 4–1 win over Portugal at the

1995 Algarve Cup The 1995 Algarve Cup was the second edition of the Algarve Cup, an invitational women's association football tournament. It took place between 14 and 19 March 1995 in Portugal with Sweden winning the event defeating Denmark, 1-0, in the final game ...

. This is contradicted b
RSSSF
and Panico'
official website
Panico was selected for the

final tournament Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

in Norway. She scored in a 2–2 group stage draw with

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

, as Italy reached the final which they lost 2–0 to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. At the

in the United States, Panico gave Italy the lead in their first game against Germany. The match at the Rose Bowl in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. I ...

finished 1–1. The Italians were eliminated after a 2–0 defeat by

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in their next game, but recovered to beat

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

2–0. Panico scored the first goal and was hailed as "one of the world's most explosive players" by

CNN Sports Illustrated CNN/Sports Illustrated (CNN/SI) was a 24-hour sports news network. It was created by Time Warner, merging together its CNN and ''Sports Illustrated'' brands and related resources. It was launched on December 12, 1996. Other news networks like E ...

. On 11 November 1999 Panico scored a notable

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against Germany in a 4–4

2001 UEFA Women's Championship qualification The qualification for the UEFA Women's Euro 2001 was held between August 21, 1999 & November 28, 2000. The first-placed of the group stage qualified directly. The second-placed and the third-placed teams played in two playoff matches for four othe ...

draw. At the

, player of the match Panico scored twice in Italy's opening 2–1 win over Denmark at the Waldstadion in

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

. The Italians narrowly failed to qualify from the group after a 1–1 draw with

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and a 2–0 defeat by

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Four years later, Panico was included in the squad for

UEFA Women's Euro 2005 The 2005 UEFA Women's Championship, also referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2005, was a football tournament for women held from 5 June to 19 June 2005 in Lancashire, England and Cheshire, England. The UEFA Women's Championship is a regular tournament ...

North West England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, administrative counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of ...

. She played in the Italians' 4–0 defeat to perennial champions Germany, which intersected defeats to France and Norway and preceded another first round exit. At

UEFA Women's Euro 2009 The 2009 UEFA Women's Championship, or just Women's Euro 2009, was played in Finland between 23 August and 10 September 2009. The host was appointed on 11 July 2006, in a UEFA Executive Committee meeting in Berlin and the Finnish proposal won over ...

in Finland, Panico played in all four games and added two goals as the Italians went out to Germany in the quarter-finals. Four years later, national

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Antonio Cabrini Antonio Cabrini (; born 8 October 1957) is an Italian professional football manager and a former player. He played left-back, mainly with Juventus. He won the 1982 FIFA World Cup with the Italy national team. Cabrini was nicknamed ''Bell'Ant ...

named Panico in his selection for

UEFA Women's Euro 2013 The 2013 UEFA Women's Championship, commonly referred to as Women's Euro 2013, was the 11th European Championship for List of women's national association football teams#UEFA, women's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament ...

in Sweden. At 38, Panico entered her fifth European finals and admitted it was likely to be her last. She was left disappointed by another defeat by the Germans in the quarter-final at

Myresjöhus Arena The Visma Arena or Växjö Arena is a football stadium in Växjö, Sweden and the home of Superettan club Östers IF. The stadium is a part of a large redevelopment of the area formerly known as Värendsvallen into Arenastaden, which also inclu ...

Växjö Växjö ( ) is a city and the seat of Växjö Municipality, Kronoberg County, Sweden. It had 70,489 inhabitants (2019) out of a municipal population of 95,995 (2021). It is the administrative, cultural, and industrial centre of Kronoberg County ...

. On 2 October 2010, he scored 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 ...

for the

FIFA Women's World Cup qualification FIFA Women's World Cup qualification is the process a national women's association football team goes through to qualify for the FIFA Women's World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are held within the six FIFA continental zones (Africa, Asia, North ...

at the Stadion Yuri Gagarin in

Chernihiv Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within ...

Honours

Modena *

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 Coppa ...

: 1998 * Italian Women's Super Cup: 1998 Lazio * Serie A: 2002 *

Italian Women's Cup The Italian Women's Cup (Italian: Coppa Italia di calcio femminile) is the national women's football cup competition in Italy and was first held in 1971. List of finals See also *Coppa Italia, men's edition Notes References External lin ...

: 1999, 2003 Bardolino * Italian Women's Cup: 2007, 2009 * Italian Women's Super Cup: 2007, 2008 AGSM Verona * Serie A: 2007, 2008, 2009, 2015 Torres * Serie A: 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 * Italian Women's Cup: 2011 * Italian Women's Super Cup: 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 Individual *

Italian Football Hall of Fame The Italian Football Hall of Fame ( it, Hall of Fame del calcio italiano) is the hall of fame for association football players that have had a significant impact on Italian football. It is housed at the '' Museo del Calcio'' in Coverciano, Ital ...

: 2015 *

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

top scorer: 2007–08 (9 goals) *

top scorer: 2010–11 (29 goals), 2011–12 (26 goals), 2012–13 (35 goals), 2013–14 (43 goals), 2014–15 (34 goals)

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Panico, Patrizia 1975 births Living people Italian women's footballers Italy women's international footballers Footballers from Rome FIFA Century Club Torres Calcio Femminile players Serie A (women's football) players S.S. Lazio Women 2015 players A.S.D. AGSM Verona F.C. players Sky Blue FC (WPS) players Women's Professional Soccer players Women's association football forwards 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup players Fiorentina Women's F.C. players ACF Milan players Torino Women A.S.D. players