Massimo Maccarone

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Personal information
Massimo Maccarone
Full name	Massimo Maccarone
Date of birth	September 6, 1979 (age 27)
Place of birth	Galliate, Italy
Height	5 ft 11 in
Nickname	Mass, Macca, Simmi, Super Mac
Playing position	Forward
Youth clubs
1996-1998	AC Milan
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1997-1998 1998-1999 1999 1999-2000 2000-2002 2002-2007 2004-2005 2005 2007-	AC Milan → Modena (loan) → Varese (loan) Prato Empoli Middlesbrough → Parma (loan) → Siena (loan) Siena	00 0(0) 00 0(0) 03 0(0) 49 (24) 68 (26) 81 (18) 07 0(0) 17 0(6) 05 0(2)
National team
2000-2002 2002	Italy U21 Italy	15 0(11) 02 0(0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 5 march 2007. * Appearances (Goals)

Massimo Maccarone (born September 6, 1979 in Galliate, Province of Novara, Italy) is a striker who plays for Siena. He made headlines in March 2002 when he became the first Serie B player in twenty years to be picked for the Italian national side.

[edit] Biography

He started his career at A.C. Milan youth system. On 1998, he went on loan to Modena, but made not a single appearance. On 1999, he was transferred to Serie C team Prato, scoring 24 goals in 49 matches. In 2000, he transferred to Empoli F.C., helping the club get promoted to Serie A during the 2001-02 season. In the same period, he was the most brilliant player of the Italian U21 national team, which reached the semi-finals in the UEFA U-21 Championship 2002. As a result he was noticed by several teams and was signed by English Premiership team Middlesbrough. His transfer from Empoli in July 2002 cost Middlesbrough £8.15m (€12.7m) and he remains the club's record transfer signing.

Despite showing fine early form in his first few matches for Middlesbrough the remainder of his spell at the club was a struggle to justify his price tag and during the 2004-5 season he was loaned out to Serie A club Parma and later moved on to Siena.

The player returned to Middlesbrough for the 2005-06 season, and despite not being a regular first-team player, endeared himself to the Middlesbrough fans principally through his work-rate and attitude. Maccarone's spell at Middlesbrough is remembered for two last minute winners in key UEFA Cup ties in 2006. He scored against Basel in the second leg of the quarter final, a tie in which Middlesbrough overturned a three goal deficit to win 4-3 on aggregate. In the semi-final of the same competition he came on as a substitute, and scored twice in the aggregate 4-3 win over Steaua Bucharest.

Despite these heroics he made few appearances for Middlesbrough in the following season and in early 2007 Maccarone moved to Siena on a free transfer. His contract with Siena will keep him at the club until 2010. In February 2007 he made headlines by criticizing former Boro and then England manager Steve McClaren for his 'ineptitude', causing Boro chairman Steve Gibson to call him 'a fool'[1].

On February 11, 2007 he played his first Serie A match in his Siena return against Cagliari Calcio.^[1] Maccarone scored a brace in the 4-3 defeat by AC Milan on 17th February 2007 to register his first goals for Siena.