| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | March 13, 1982 | ||
| Place of birth | San Donà di Piave, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Playing position | Left back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Fiorentina | ||
| Number | 23 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1999–2000 | Derthona | 15 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Pordenone | 30 | (1) |
| 2001–2002 | Treviso | 2 | (0) |
| 2002–2005 | Arezzo | 108 | (3) |
| 2005– | Fiorentina | 168 | (3) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006 | Italy | 2 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of May 17, 2010. † Appearances (Goals). |
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Manuel Pasqual (born March 13, 1982) is a footballer for ACF Fiorentina of Serie A and the Italy national football team. He is a left-back, who is well known for assisting his teammates from his accurate crosses. He is also a dead ball specialist and often takes free-kicks as well as corners for the Viola.
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After a couple of seasons playing for lowly-placed Serie D teams such as Derthona and Pordenone, Pasqual joined Serie C1's A.C. Arezzo in January 2002, having previously played for Treviso, at that point also a team in Serie C1. Pasqual became a key player at Arezzo, and one of the main catalysts for promotion into Serie B. Pasqual played one more remarkable season for Arezzo.
Pasqual joined Fiorentina on 4 July 2005 in joint-ownership. He made his Serie A debut on 18 September 2005 against Udinese, a game which finished 4–2. His good form in his first Serie A season made him earned a call up from Marcello Lippi. Fiorentina making a full bid for his services in June 2006.[1]
At Fiorentina, Pasqual is known for his powerful left foot, dropping accurate balls and crosses. After a disappointing dip in form during the 2007–2008 season, Pasqual was highly linked with the likes of Juventus and Napoli, and was almost certain to leave with the arrival of Juan Vargas. However Vargas' disappointing form in defense allowed him to move forward, and Pasqual made a grand return in the 2008–2009 season silencing many of his critics with his performances and even scoring his first goal in over two years.
In July 2009, Pasqual signed a new 3-year contract with Fiorentina.[2] He extended his contract again in November 2011.[3]
He is currently a regular for the viola, and his performances earned him a national team call up by Italy coach Marcello Lippi, who capped him for a friendly match against Germany, played at his club's home stadium in Florence, the Stadio Artemio Franchi, on March 1, 2006. Italy sensationally won the match by 4 goals to 1, but Pasqual only entered the game in the last few minutes. He has also attracted the attention of Italy's new coach after the 2006 World Cup triumph, Roberto Donadoni, who succeeded Marcelo Lippi, called him up for Italy's Euro 2008 qualification matches against Lithuania and France in September and matches against Ukraine and Georgia in October.
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