Danilo D'Ambrosio

Danilo D'Ambrosio

D'Ambrosio playing for Inter Milan in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Danilo D'Ambrosio
Date of birth	(1988-09-09) 9 September 1988
Place of birth	Naples, Italy
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position	Full back
Club information
Current team	Internazionale
Number	33
Youth career
2004–2005	Salernitana
2005–2008	Fiorentina
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
2008	Potenza	10	(0)
2008–2010	Juve Stabia	48	(3)
2010–2014	Torino	119	(10)
2014–	Internazionale	21	(0)
National team‡
2004	Italy U16	5	(2)
2004	Italy U17	3	(0)
2010	Italy U21	3	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17 January 2015. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 7 September 2010

Danilo D'Ambrosio (born 9 September 1988) is an Italian footballer who plays as a full back for Serie A club Internazionale. D'Ambrosio is a quick, energetic, offensive fullback, who is physically strong, and who also possesses stamina, and reliable technical ability. He primarily plays on the right, but is also capable of playing on the left due to his tactical versatility. He has also been used as a wide midfielder in a 3-5-2 formation.^[1]

Club career

Early career

Born in Naples, D'Ambrosio began playing for local Campania side Salernitana. However, the club went bankrupt and he, along with his brother Dario, joined the Fiorentina youth team in 2005.^[2] He was part of the Fiorentina primavera until 2007, but on 8 January 2008 he was sold to Serie C1 side Potenza in a co-ownership agreement. He made his professional debut on 20 January 2008 in Potenza-Juve Stabia 2-1, collecting 10 appearances during the season.

Juve Stabia

On 11 July 2008 he joined Lega Pro side Juve Stabia in another co-ownership deal, making his debut for Le vespe on 31 August 2008 against Taranto.^[3][4] He became a starter for Juve Stabia in his first season, who decided to purchase his remaining contract from Fiorentina.^[5] He spent the next season mostly playing as a right midfielder, even scoring his first goal in Juve Stabia-Barletta 4-1.^[6]

Torino

On 12 January 2010 he was signed by Torino in a co-ownership agreement.^[7] He made his Serie B debut on 16 January 2010 during Torino-Grosseto (4-1). He was a regular for Torino during the season, scoring his first goal for the granata on 20 March 2010 in Modena-Torino (0-2). Torino purchased his remaining half from Juve Stabia in June 2010.

The following season he was also a starter for new coach Franco Lerda. He scored the first brace of his career in Torino-Modena (3-2), his only goals of the season. On 15 December 2010 he renewed his contract with Torino until 2014.^[8] However, his season characterised by negative performances and Torino's failure to reach the playoffs made him the object of much criticism.^[9]

New head coach Giampiero Ventura decided to focus on Danilo for the 2011–12 season, playing him as right back with Matteo Darmian. On 2 November 2011, he scored the winning goal against Reggina.^[10] He repeated this on 11 February 2012, scoring against Nocerina 3-1.^[11] Throughout the season he contributed 26 appearances and 3 goals with Torino being promoted.

He made his Serie A debut on 26 August 2012 against Siena 0-0, but did not start until 26 September against Udinese (0-0).^[12][13] He scored his first goal in Serie A during a 5-1 win away to Atalanta.^[14] In December 2012 he became Torino's vice-captain after Angelo Ogbonna suffered an injury. He was voted Torino's revelation of the year by the readers of Toro.it.^[15]

D'Ambrosio covered as a left back in the 2013-14 season, scoring against Milan (2-2) on 14 September 2013. He scored again the following week away to Bologna, won 2-1 by Torino.^[16] On 13 December 2013, Torino chairman Urbano Cairo confirmed that D'Ambrosio would be leaving the club after turning down a contract extension.^[17] The former vice-captain concluded his experience at Torino with 119 appearances and 10 goals.

Inter Milan

2013–14 season

On 28 January 2014 Sky Sports reported that D'Ambrosio would join Inter Milan for €1.5 million plus youngster Matteo Colombi. Two days later, Inter confirmed the deal on their website.^[18] Three days after that, he made his debut for Nerazzurri in Derby d'Italia against Juventus in Juventus Stadium where Inter lost the match 3–1.^[19] On 15 March 2014, D'Ambrosio started his first match with Inter, defating Hellas Verona 2–0 at the Stadio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi.^[20] Following that result, he secure a place at starting lineup. D'Ambrosio was an unused substitute in Javier Zanetti's last competitive match at the San Siro, in which Inter defeated Lazio 4–1 to secure a place in Europa League play-off for next season.^[21] D'Ambrosio finished his first season with Inter having played eleven matches, three of which in their entirety.

2014–15 season

D'Ambrosio scored his first competitive goal for the club on his European debut, in a 3–0 away win over Stjarnan in the first leg of Europa League play-off.^[22] With a 6–0 victory in the second leg, Inter advanced to the group stage 9–0 on aggregate.^[23]

On 18 September, in the first Europa League group match against Ukrainian side Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, he scored the only goal of the match.^[24] D'Ambrosio described his goal as "the most important of his career".^[25] He scored again in the second group match on 2 October, opening a 2–0 home victory over Azerbaijani side FK Qarabag.^[26]

International career

On 11 August 2010, D'Ambrosio made his debut with the Italy U-21 team in a friendly match against Denmark.

Personal life

He has a twin brother, Dario, who also plays as a defender, for Lecce. Both grew up in Caivano in a football school, Sporting Caivano 94.

In April 2014, D'Ambrosio joined Twitter and with his first post claimed that for every follower he received, he would make a donation of €0.50 to the "Aiutare I Bambini" charity which gives aid to needy children in his home region of Campania. He eventually donated €11,500.^[27]

References

External links

• Profile at Torino (Italian)
• Profile at AIC.Football.it (Italian)

Inter Milan – current squad 1 Handanović 2 Jonathan 5 Juan Jesus 6 Andreolli 8 Palacio 9 Icardi 10 Kovačić 11 Podolski 13 Guarín 14 Campagnaro 15 Vidić 17 Kuzmanović 18 Medel 20 Obi 21 Santon 22 Dodô 23 Ranocchia (c) 26 Felipe 27 Gnoukouri 28 Pușcaș 29 Camara 30 Carrizo 33 D'Ambrosio 46 Berni 54 Donkor 55 Nagatomo 77 Brozović 88 Hernanes 91 Shaqiri 93 Dimarco 96 Palazzi 97 Bonazzoli Manager: Mancini