Daniele De Rossi

Not to be confused with Daniel Rossi (footballer).
Daniele De Rossi

De Rossi playing for Italy in 2012
Personal information
Full nameDaniele De Rossi[1]
Date of birth24 July 1983
Place of birthRome, Italy
Height1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Playing positionMidfielder
Club information
Current team
Roma
Number16
Youth career
1997–2000Ostia Mare
2000–2001Roma
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2001–Roma359(36)
National team‡
2001Italy U193(2)
2002Italy U204(0)
2003–2004Italy U2116(3)
2004–Italy100(16)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 29 April 2015.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 November 2014

Daniele De Rossi, Ufficiale OMRI[3][4] (Italian pronunciation: [daˈnjɛle de ˈrossi]; born 24 July 1983) is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Roma and the Italy national team as a defensive midfielder.

De Rossi made his professional debut with Roma during the 2001-02 season, and made his Serie A debut the following year. With the club, he has won the Coppa Italia twice and the 2007 Supercoppa Italiana. He was named Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in 2006 and the Italian Footballer of the Year in 2009.

De Rossi has represented Italy at under-19, under-20, under-21, and senior levels, and also represented Italy at the 2004 Olympics, winning a bronze medal. Since his senior international debut in 2004, he has earned 100 caps. With 16 goals, he is the highest scoring midfielder for Italy. He was part of the 2006 FIFA World Cup winning-squad and has also participated at Euro 2008, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, Euro 2012 (finishing in second place), the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (finishing in third place), and the 2014 FIFA World Cup. De Rossi was named in the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament for his performances. In 2009, the French sports magazine L'Équipe named De Rossi as the 8th best midfielder in the world.[5]

Club career

De Rossi with Roma

De Rossi joined the youth system of Roma from Ostia Mare, where he had played as a striker in 2000. He made his first-team debut on 10 October 2001 against Belgian side Anderlecht in the Champions League. He made his Serie A debut on 25 January 2003 against Como. His first Serie A start, along with his first goal, came on 10 May 2003 against Torino.

In March 2006, De Rossi was praised by referee Mauro Bergonzi for fair play.[6] Roma were trailing 1–0 in a Serie A match against Messina, when De Rossi scored a goal with his hand, Bergonzi did not see the incident and allowed the equaliser to stand. However, De Rossi immediately told the referee that he had pushed the ball in with his hand leading to the goal being disallowed. Roma went on to win 2–1.

In the 2006–07 season, De Rossi scored from 40 yards against Fiorentina with Sébastien Frey in goal. This was the first of three goals of the night for Roma. He also scored the lone Roma goal in the UEFA Champions League quarter-final against Manchester United in the 2006–07 season.

In February 2012, De Rossi signed a new five-year contract with Roma. He became the highest paid Italian footballer in the Serie A at €10 million (gross) per annum.[7][8] Roma previous record for Italian players was Francesco Totti (€8.9 million in 2009–10 season).

He finished 2011–12 season with 32 appearance and four goals. In the 2012–13 season he played just 25 matches. Zdenek Zeman often criticized De Rossi's performances and he received less playing time under Zeman. After Andreazzoli's arrival he started playing regularly. He did not manage to score any goals.

Roma started the 2013–14 season with ten wins in the first ten Serie A games. He scored the first goal of the season for Roma against Livorno. In the game against Napoli De Rossi played a crucial role, making a goal line clearance in the first half when the score was still 0–0. Roma went on to win through two Miralem Pjanic goals.[9] He captained Roma after Totti was sidelined through a hamstring injury as they played three successive draws against Torino, Sassuolo and Cagliari, and slipped to second place, a point behind Juventus. De Rossi admitted that he wasn't sure whether Roma could seriously challenge for the Scudetto in the long run, believing that both Juventus and Napoli have stronger squads with greater depth.[10][11] He also stated in an interview that he was close to joining Manchester United in the summer, but the transfer didn't happen because it was too late in the window. He also mentioned that he was happy that he stayed at Roma for now, believing moving to United wouldn't have been the best idea at the current time, due to Roma's solid start. [12]

De Rossi was unceremoniously sent off in the first game after the winter break against league leaders Juventus, as Roma suffered their first defeat of the season in a 3–0 drubbing. The defeat left them in second place, eight points behind the Bianconeri.[13]

International career

De Rossi playing for Italy

De Rossi played 16 matches for the Italy national under-21 football team and was a regular on the squad that won the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. In the same year, he won a bronze medal with the Italy national football team at the Athens Olympics. A few weeks after returning from Greece, De Rossi earned his first cap in the senior squad, scoring on his debut in the 2006 World Cup qualifying game against Norway (2–1), at the age of 21, in 2004. De Rossi is the highest scoring midfielder for the Italian national side, with 16 goals in 100 international appearances; he is also the 6th most capped player for the Italian national team.

2006 World Cup

De Rossi was named in the Italian squad for the 2006 World Cup, producing a notable performance in Italy's opening win against Ghana, but also picking up a booking in the 10th minute. In the second group match against the United States, however, he received a straight red card after he elbowed Brian McBride in the face. McBride left the pitch bloodied, but returned after treatment, later receiving three stitches. The BBC stated that De Rossi had "disgraced himself with a sickening, needless elbow on Brian McBride."[14] De Rossi later apologised to McBride, who subsequently praised him as "classy" for approaching him after the match.[15] De Rossi was banned for four matches for the incident and fined CHF 10,000.[16]

After having been disqualified for four matches, De Rossi returned for Italy in the World Cup final against France, coming on as a substitute in the 61st minute, for Roma teammate Francesco Totti. In the penalty shoot-out at the end of the match (which finished 1–1 following extra time), De Rossi scored Italy's third penalty to help his country win the shootout and their fourth FIFA World Cup. De Rossi was the youngest player in Italy's 23-man squad for the 2006 World Cup at the age of 22.[17]

Euro 2008

De Rossi played in all of Italy's Euro 2008 qualifying games, scoring a goal against Georgia. He was also given the honour of wearing the number 10 shirt after Totti decided to retire after the World Cup final. He captained the team on three occasions: two friendly matches against South Africa on 17 October 2007 and Portugal on 6 February 2008, respectively, and in the Euro 2008 qualifier against the Faroe Islands. On 17 June, during UEFA Euro 2008, De Rossi scored on a freekick deflected off Thierry Henry's left boot in a 2–0 win over France. This was his 5th international goal and guaranteed Italy's progress to the quarter-finals. In the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Spain, his shot was saved by Iker Casillas as Italy lost the shoot-out 4–2. He scored his first double in the national team against Georgia on 10 September 2008.

2009 Confederations Cup

In the 2009 Confederations Cup on 15 June, De Rossi scored for Italy against the United States in the 71st minute with a low long-range strike. The goal put Italy 2–1 up after Giuseppe Rossi equalized Landon Donovan's opener in the first half. Italy went on to win the game 3–1 after Andrea Pirlo set up Rossi for his second of the game. Italy lost their following two games against Egypt and Brazil, and were eliminated following a 3-way 3 point tie in their group.

De Rossi is tipped by many to be Italy's next captain after Fabio Cannavaro, as De Rossi's dedication to international football is widely admired. An Italian fan favorite, he is noted to be a big game player, and plays a pivotal role in breaking down the opposition and being a box-to-box player. De Rossi has scored crucial goals for Italy in their 2008–09 World Cup Qualifying campaign. For Roma, De Rossi plays mainly as a defensive midfielder but for the Azzurri he gets farther forward with the presence of Gennaro Gattuso in the team as a holding midfielder, and, as a result, his goal ratio is much greater than at club level.

2010 World Cup

De Rossi scored Italy's first goal of the 2010 FIFA World Cup against Paraguay, making the score 1–1.[18] And in the second match against New Zealand he drew a foul in the penalty area, which led Italy to tie the game at 1–1 (also the final score).[19] The decision to give the penalty was roundly criticised, as was De Rossi for what many perceived to be blatant dive.[20][21][22] Ironically, De Rossi received the Man of the Match award for this game based on the fact that this was selected by a popular vote. The defending champions lost their final match and were eliminated in the first round finishing in last place in their group, without a victory.

Euro 2012

De Rossi (right) with Steven Gerrard of England in Italy's Euro 2012 quarter-final against England

Due to Barzagli's pre-tournament injury, De Rossi played as a central defender in a 3-man defence, alongside Chiellini and Bonucci, in Italy's 3-5-2 line-up against Spain and Croatia during the group matches in Euro 2012, receiving great reception for his work, whilst he was temporarily replaced by Thiago Motta and Riccardo Montolivo in midfield. He then played a more regular midfield-role against Ireland in the last group match, partnering with Claudio Marchisio and Andrea Pirlo. He continued to play as a midfielder against England in the quarter-final in which Italy went through after a penalty shootout. De Rossi also played the entire match beating Germany in the semi-finals, and Italy's 4–0 defeat to Spain in the final.[23] De Rossi was included in the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament for his performances.

2013 Confederations Cup

In June 2013 De Rossi was called up for 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, and he scored in a 4–3 win over Japan in Italy's second group game. The victory allowed Italy to progress to the semi-finals of the tournament for the first time in their history. Italy eventually finished the tournament in third place.[24]

2014 World Cup

De Rossi was included in Cesare Prandelli's final 23-man squad for the World Cup in Brazil, the only Roma player in the team.[25] In Italy's opening win against England, De Rossi had a dominant match in the Italian midfield, playing in front of the defence for the entire match.[26] He completed the most passes of any player, after Pirlo, completing 99 passes out of 105 attempts, finishing the match with a 94% pass completion rate. Italy dominated the possession, and with a 93.2 pass percentage, Italy also managed to record the highest pass accuracy percentage of any team in a World Cup match since Denmark in the 1966 World Cup, completing 561 of their 602 passes.[27] Italy lost their other two group matches, however, against Costa Rica and Uruguay, and were eliminated in the first round for the second consecutive World Cup, finishing third in their group. De Rossi also participated in the second group match against Costa Rica, but was unable to play in Italy's 1-0 loss against Uruguay due to injury.[28]

Euro 2016

On 4 September, under Italy's new manager Antonio Conte, De Rossi wore the captain's armband in a 2-0 friendly home win over the Netherlands, in Bari, also scoring a goal from a penalty.[29] On 16 November 2014, in a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Croatia at the San Siro stadium in Milan, De Rossi earned his 100th cap in a 1–1 draw.[30]

Style of play

De Rossi has been referred to as a "complete midfielder"[31] because of his tackling, vision, awareness, passing, strength, and goal scoring ability.[32] A tenacious and technical player, he has been praised for his leadership, ball skills, stamina, aerial ability, powerful long distance shooting, and set-piece taking. He is also an accurate penalty kick taker.[33] Despite his talent, he has occasionally been criticised for his aggression and a tendency to pick up unnecessary cards.[34] His adeptness at the box to box style of midfield play has led pundits to draw comparisons between De Rossi and world class box-to-box midfielders such as Lampard and Gerrard,[35][36] players whom De Rossi greatly admires.[37] He is considered to be one of the greatest Italian midfielders of his generation by pundits and managers.[35] De Rossi is a tactically intelligent and versatile player, who can play in various midfield positions, both in a defensive and attacking midfield role, or as a central midfielder[38] and as a deep-lying playmaker.[39] He has also played as a defender or as a sweeper on occasion.[40]

Personal life

De Rossi lining up with Italy at Euro 2012 final.

De Rossi was born in Rome. He is the son of Alberto De Rossi, former Roma player and Roma's Primavera coach. He married Tamara Pisnoli on 18 May 2006, the mother of his daughter Gaia and ex-dancer of Mediaset, Sarabanda. The couple separated in early 2009.

De Rossi made his debut for Roma wearing the number 27 shirt, which he wore for two seasons. He then switched to the number 4, which he also wore during the 2006 World Cup. With the birth of his daughter on 16 June 2005, he changed to number 16 during the 2005–2006 season.

De Rossi was chosen as Pringles spokesperson for UEFA's Euro 2008 football championship, along with other top European football players such as Thierry Henry, Fernando Torres, Alexander Frei, Philipp Lahm, and Michael Owen. He also appears in an Adidas Dream Big Commercial along with Steven Gerrard, Michael Ballack, and David Beckham.

De Rossi is featured on the cover of the Italian edition of EA Sports' FIFA 09 video game.[41] The picture on the cover is taken from De Rossi's emphatic goal-scoring celebration after scoring versus Internazionale in the Supercoppa Italiana in 2008.

Career statistics

Correct as of 4 April 2015.

Club career

Team Season Serie A Coppa Italia Europe1 Other
Tournaments2		 Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Roma 2001–02 - - 3 0 1 0 - - 4 0
2002–03 4 2 2 0 - - - - 6 2
2003–04 17 0 4 0 6 1 - - 27 1
2004–05 30 2 5 1 2 1 - - 37 4
2005–06 34 6 4 0 7 0 - - 45 6
2006–07 36 2 8 2 10 2 1 0 55 6
2007–08 34 5 6 0 10 0 1 1 51 6
2008–09 33 3 2 0 7 0 1 1 43 4
2009–10 33 7 4 1 12 3 - - 49 11
2010–11 28 2 4 0 7 1 1 0 40 3
2011–12 32 4 - - - - - - 32 4
2012–13 25 0 4 0 - - - - 29 0
2013–14 32 1 4 0 - - - - 36 1
2014–15 21 2 1 1 7 0 - - 29 3
Career Total 359 36 51 5 69 8 4 2 483 51

1European competitions include the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League
2Other tournaments include the Supercoppa Italiana

Competition statistics

International career

National Team Year International
Competitions		 Friendlies Total Goals per match
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Italy 2004 3 2 1 0 4 2 0.5
2005 5 0 5 0 10 0 0
2006 7 1 4 1 11 2 0.182
2007 5 0 1 0 6 0 0
2008 7 3 4 0 11 3 0.273
2009 8 1 1 0 9 1 0.111
2010 6 2 5 0 11 2 0.182
2011 4 0 4 0 8 0 0
2012 9 2 3 1 12 3 0.25
2013 5 1 4 1 9 2 0.222
Total 59 12 32 3 91 15 0.165

International goals

Honours

Club

Winner
Runners-up

International

De Rossi challenging Álvaro Arbeloa in the Euro 2012 Final
Winner
Runners-up

Individual

Records

Orders

See also

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 – List of Players" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  2. ↑ http://www.asromastore.it/eu-en/players/daniele-de-rossi
  3. ↑ FIFA.com
  4. ↑ AscotSportal.com
  5. ↑ "De Rossi ottavo miglior centrocampista al mondo". Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Serie A ref applauds honest De Rossi's helping hand". The Malaysia Star. 21 March 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  7. ↑ "prolungato il contratto economico per le prestazioni sportive del calciatore daniele de rossi" (PDF) (in Italian). AS Roma. 6 February 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012.
  8. ↑ "Report: Daniele De Rossi becomes highest paid Italian after Roma extension". goal.com. 7 February 2012. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  9. ↑ http://www.football-italia.net/40738/de-rossi-borriello-example
  10. ↑ Sky Sports http://www1.skysports.com/football/news/11861/9031369/roma-confirm-that-francesco-tottis-hamstring-injury-is-improving. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. ↑ http://www.sportsmole.co.uk/football/roma/news/de-rossi-no-complaints-over-cagliari-draw_120235.html
  12. ↑ http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jan/03/daniele-derossi-roma-suicide-manchester-united
  13. ↑ Yorke, Graeme (5 January 2014). "De Rossi and Castan sent off in the space of 60 seconds as Juventus crush sorry Roma... and Italian youngster does a Theo!". Daily Mail (London).
  14. ↑ "Italy 1–1 USA". BBC News. 17 June 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "De Rossi apologizes to McBride for elbow".
  16. ↑ "Italy's De Rossi gets four-match ban from FIFA". ESPN Soccernet. 23 June 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  17. ↑ Stevenson, Jonathan (9 July 2006). "Italy 1-1 France (aet)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 June 2014.
  18. ↑ "Italy v Paraguay". BBC Sport. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  19. ↑ The Guardian, 20 June 2010
  20. ↑
  21. ↑
  22. ↑
  23. ↑ McNulty, Phil (1 July 2012). "Soain 4-0 Italy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  24. ↑ "Italy 4-3 Japan". BBC Sport. 20 June 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  25. ↑ "World Cup 2014: Guide to England's Group D". BBC Sport. 30 May 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
  26. ↑ "England vs. Italy: 1-2, 2014 FIFA World Cup". Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  27. ↑ "Italy prove they are the pass masters as Azzurri rack up highest accuracy ever recorded in a World Cup game since 1966". Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  28. ↑ "Nazionale, niente Uruguay per De Rossi. In 10 mila all'allenamento".
  29. ↑ Alessandro Angeloni (5 September 2014). "E' un De Rossi da applausi, segna il gol numero 100 di un romanista in Nazionale". http://sport.ilmessaggero.it'' (in Italian). Il Messaggero. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
  30. ↑ "Italy cling on to hold Croatia". UEFA. 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2014.
  31. ↑ http://espnfc.com/news/story/_/id/1001024/man-city's-roberto-mancini:-no-swoop-for-roma's-daniele-de-rossi?cc=5901
  32. ↑ "Euro 2008: Italy midfielder Daniele De Rossi justifies Fabio Capello's faith". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  33. ↑ "Buon compleanno a Daniele De Rossi, che compie 31 anni!". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  34. ↑ "Roma, De Rossi recidivo: in arrivo la squalifica". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 "Baptista: "Voglio vincere in giallorosso. De Rossi e’ come Gerrard, alla Roma porterei Pato"". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  36. ↑ "Watch De Rossi, the Italian Frank Lampard". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  37. ↑ "Daniele De Rossi: It was a pleasure and honour to play against Steven Gerrard". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  38. ↑ "De Rossi: "Ero attaccante, rifiutai la Roma, poi la svolta"". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  39. ↑ "Di Biagio: “De Rossi regista Mossa vincente”". Retrieved 26 February 2015.
  40. ↑ "Gazzetta dello Sport – È un De Rossi alla Beckenbauer". Retrieved 11 August 2014.
  41. ↑ "FIFA 09 Cover Athletes Lineup". http://www.gamershell.com''. 27 September 2008. Retrieved 25 April 2015.
  42. ↑ "Calciatore – legaseriea.it" (in Italian). legaseriea.it. Retrieved 10 February 2012.
  43. ↑ http://uk.soccerway.com/players/daniele-de-rossi/71/matches/
  44. ↑ "Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana Sig. Daniele De Rossi".
  45. ↑ "Coni: Consegnati i Collari d’oro e diplomi d’onore ai campionissimi" (in Italian). Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano. 23 October 2006. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
  46. ↑ "Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana Sig. Daniele De Rossi".

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