Samuele Dalla Bona

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Sam Dalla Bona
Personal information
Full name Samuele Dalla Bona
Date of birth February 6, 1981 (age 26)
Place of birth    San Donà di Piave, Italy
Height 185 cm
Nickname Sam
Lady Oscar
Playing position midfielder
Club information
Current club S.S.C. Napoli
Youth clubs
1996-98
1998-99
Atalanta
Chelsea
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1999-02
2002-06
2003-04
2004-05
2005-06
2006-
Chelsea
A.C. Milan
Bologna (on loan)
Lecce (on loan)
Sampdoria (on loan)
Napoli
55 (6)
4 (0)
18 (3)
36 (6)
29 (0)
19 (2)[1]   
National team2
2002-03
1999-00
1996-98
1996
Italy U21
Italy U18
Italy U16
Italy U15
9 (0)
10 (2)
21 (?)
7 (0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of July 2005.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 08:38, 25 February 2006 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Samuele Dalla Bona (born February 6, 1981 in San Donà di Piave, Venice) commonly referred to as Sam Dalla Bona is an Italian footballer who currently plays for S.S.C. Napoli.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Dalla Bona was viewed as highly promising from very early on in his career, appearing for the Italian nation side's under 15 squad while in the Atalanta youth set-up.

[edit] Chelsea

By the time he was 17 years-old, he was captain of the under 18 national side, and was signed by English football club Chelsea in October 1998. Dalla Bona's move to London saw the FIGC amended the legislation regarding the sale of their young players.[2]

The young midfielder was brought into the youth and reserve team squads at Chelsea first, gaining a reputation for prolific goalscoring with 16 reserve team goals, winning the club golden boot in 1998-99.[3] In the same season, he was voted Chelsea's young player of the year.

He made his senior team debut for the club against Feyenoord in the Champions League a year later. With the departure of older midfielders Dennis Wise and Gustavo Poyet in 2001 and some impressive performances, Dalla Bona got an extended run in the side, making 32 appearances in that season and scoring 2 goals. He also played during some of the matches in Chelsea's 2001-02 FA Cup run; the team were eventual runners-up to Arsenal, though Dalla Bona didn't play in the final.

The following season, he refused to sign a contract extension and was subsequently placed on the transfer list.

[edit] A.C. Milan

Dalla Bona had decided to move back to his home nation of Italy. Numerous clubs were interested in the player, including his home town club Venezia who had a £5 million offer accepted[4] but Dalla Bona decided his future lied elsewhere and turned down the opertunity.

He moved to A.C. Milan for around £1million in July 2002,[5] having played 73 games for Chelsea in all competitions and scored 6 goals. Dalla Bona made his Serie A debut on 6 October 2002 as Milan defeated Torino 6-0. During his first season at Milan, he received Champions League and Coppa Italia winners medals along with the rest of the squad.

Facing competition from a star-studded AC Milan midfield containing the likes of Gennaro Gattuso, Clarence Seedorf and Andrea Pirlo, Dalla Bona's opportunities at the club were limited and he spent various seasons on loan at different clubs in Italy. The first of which was a year long loan at Bologna.[6] The following season he was loaned to Lecce[7] having made just a handful of appearances for Milan and in 2005 he was loaned to Sampdoria for a season.[8]

[edit] Napoli

At the end of the championship he returned to A.C. Milan but after a few weeks he was bought by S.S.C. Napoli, in the Italian Serie B league. Dalla Bona has had a positive start at Napoli, with the club performing well in Serie B. His contributions to the team included a particually stunning goal, a left footed volley from outside the box against Treviso.

[edit] Honours

[edit] References

[edit] External links

S.S.C. Napoli - Current Squad

1 Iezzo | 2 Grava | 3 Montesanto | 4 Montervino | 5 Gatti | 6 Maldonado | 7 Trotta | 8 Inácio Piá | 9 Sosa | 11 Calaiò | 12 Del Giudice | 14 Garics | 17 Capparella | 18 Bogliacino | 19 Savini | 20 De Zerbi | 21 Amodio | 22 Gianello | 23 Giubilato | 24 Dalla Bona | 25 Vitale | 26 Domizzi | 28 P.Cannavaro | 29 Bucchi |  Rullo | Coach: Reja

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