Francesco Coco

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Francesco Coco (born January 8, 1977 in Paternò) is a retired Italian football defender.

[edit] Club

Prior to joining Inter, Coco played for AC Milan (1993-97, 1998-99, 2000-02), Vicenza (on loan, 1997-98), Torino (on loan, 1999-2000), and Barcelona (on loan, 2001-02). He won two scudetti with Milan. In 2002, AC Milan and Inter exchanged Coco for Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf, in a deal worth 28 million euro. Coco was tipped to be the next great Italian left-back, but a serious injury hampered his form, and he has never managed to recover to his full potential. In 2005/06, he was loaned to Livorno, after rejecting a move to Newcastle United despite playing a friendly against Bray Wanderers. He played a decent season at Livorno, and after his loan deal he went back to Inter Milan. During the summer of 2006 he tried to find himself a new club, but in the end all negotiations failed. Coco was forced to stay at Inter against his will. Recently Coco has given lots of interviews stating the Nerazzurri made a mistake by letting him undergo back surgery in November 2003, telling him he would be out for no more than a month. In the end he had to recover for 2 years. In January 2007, he joined Manchester City on a trial but after 3 days the club told him he wasn't in their plans. Later the English newspapers started spreading rumours that Manchester City weren't interested in him anymore because he supposedly turned up at a training smoking a cigarette.^[1] After a loan to Torino F.C. for the 2006-2007 season, he went back to Inter for the first part of the summer but mutually rescinded his contract with the Milan-based club on September 7, 2007,^[2] later declaring his intention to quit football in order to pursue an acting career^[3] despite the interest of MLS sides New England Revolution and Red Bull New York.

He then accepted to appear to L'Isola dei Famosi, Italian celebrity adaptation of TV format Survivor, which he abandoned voluntarily days after the beginning of the show. He was recently linked with a move to Queens Park Rangers F.C. or Red Bull Salzburg.

[edit] National team

Coco played for the Italy U18 team in the intermediary round of 1995 European Under-18 Football Championship.

Coco played for Italy U21 team at the 1996 and 1998 UEFA U-21 Championship qualifying phases, playing also in the final round in the successful 2000 campaign. Also, Coco played for the victorious Italy U23 team at the 1997 Mediterranean Games.

Coco's full debut for the Italy was against Romania, on October 7, 2000, a 2002 World Cup qualifying match. He also played for Italy in 2002 FIFA World Cup, being last selected on September 2002. He achieved a total of 17 caps with the azzurri.

[edit] Off the field

• Coco is not only a football player but also a businessman. Together with his father Antonio, they own shops and has his own clothing label called "Urban 77". Coco is a celebrity in Italy, and is well known in the party and society scene in Italy. He also wrote the foreword for the recently published book "Mio marito è un calciatore" ("My husband is a footballer").

[edit] References

1. ^ "Fuma durante l'allenamento" Il Manchester City liquida Coco - Calcio - Sport - Repubblica.it
2. ^ Coco contract dissolved. Inter.it (2007-09-07). Retrieved on 2007-09-07.,
3. ^ Francesco goes to Hollywood. Football Italia (2007-09-07). Retrieved on 2007-09-08.

[edit] External links

• Francesco Coco
• FootballDatabase provides profile and stats on Francesco Coco
• Francesco Coco's clothing label
• Profile at UEFA.com
• (Italian) National Team stats. at FIGC official site

v • d • e Italy squad - 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Maldini • 4 Coco • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Zanetti • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Inzaghi • 10 Totti • 11 Doni • 12 Abbiati • 13 Nesta • 14 Di Biagio • 15 Iuliano • 16 Di Livio • 17 Tommasi • 18 Delvecchio • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Montella • 21 Vieri • 22 Toldo • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Trapattoni