Carl Valeri
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Carl Valeri (born August 14, 1984) is an Australian football (soccer) midfielder who currently plays for Grosetto in the Italian Serie C1, on loan from Serie A club Internazionale.
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[edit] Early Life
Valeri is the son of former Australian National Soccer League player Walter Valeri and his family is of Italian heritage. He grew up in Canberra and trained at the Australian Institute of Sport on a football (soccer) scholarship.
[edit] Club Career
In 2003, Valeri was signed as a teenager by Inter Milan. He was loaned out to various clubs in Italy to gain further experience, including Grosseto, and both football clubs now own 50 per cent of his contract until June 2007, when a decision will be made about his club future.
[edit] International Career
Valeri has played for Australia at all international youth levels; Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23. He captained the Australian Under-17 team, the 'Joeys', at the 2001 World Youth Championships and competed with the Under-23 squad, the 'Olyroos', at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
After being an unused substitute in an Asian Cup qualifier against Bahrain in 2006, the 22 year old received his second call up to the senior Australian national team in March 2007, as a replacement for the injured Vince Grella. He made his international debut on March 24, 2007 in a friendly game against China, which Australia won 2-0. This made him the 501st player to be capped for Australia.
Current Socceroo coach Graham Arnold has described Valeri as a key "player of the future" and possible successor to Grella. This lead to certain sections of the Australian media dubbing him "Mini Vinnie."
