Lorenzo De Silvestri

Lorenzo De Silvestri
Personal information
Date of birth23 May 1988
Place of birthRome, Italy
Height1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing positionRight back
Club information
Current team
Sampdoria
Number29
Youth career
Lazio
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2006–2009Lazio47(0)
2009–2014Fiorentina74(2)
2012–2014Sampdoria (loan)59(4)
2014–Sampdoria4(0)
National team
2003–2004Italy U-1618(1)
2003–2005Italy U-1718(3)
2005Italy U-182(0)
2005–2007Italy U-1910(0)
2006Italy U-201(0)
2007–2010Italy U-21[1]11(0)
2008Olympic Italy6[2](0)
2010–Italy2(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 September 2014.

† Appearances (Goals).

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 6 December 2013

Lorenzo De Silvestri (born 23 May 1988 in Rome) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Sampdoria. He is an offensive fullback with an imposing physique.

Club career

Lazio

A product of the highly successful Lazio youth system, De Silvestri was promoted to the senior team during the 2006–07 season, during which he made his first two league appearances.

His first senior appearance was a match in the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2005 at the age of 17. His debut in Italian competition came a year later, during a 4–0 Coppa Italia victory over Rende, scoring the fourth goal of the match.

De Silvestri then made his Serie A debut coming on as a substitute, in a 1–0 home loss to Fiorentina, on 22 April 2007. He then made his first start in the penultimate match of the season at the Stadio Olimpico against Parma.

During the 2007–08 season, De Silvestri established himself as a regular in the Lazio side with several impressive performances as an attacking right back. He made 24 league appearances, as well as six in the UEFA Champions League, three as a starter and three as a substitute. As a 19-year old home grown player, and a boyhood Lazio fan, De Silvestri also became a fans' favourite, with many considering him a potential successor of former Lazio captain Alessandro Nesta.

In 2007, he signed a contract renewal with the club believed to be worth around €350,000, keeping him at Formello until 2010. On 19 November 2007, English football magazine World Soccer included De Silvestri in their list of the 50 most promising talents. He and Andrea Russotto were the only Italians to make the list.[3]

On 19 December 2007, just over a year after his debut goal against Rende, De Silvestri scored again in the Coppa Italia, this time against Napoli. He dedicated his goal to his close friend and fellow Lazio fan Gabriele Sandri, who was shot dead by a policeman at a service area near Arezzo. Since making his debut, De Silvestri has continued to improve the technical and tactical aspects of his game under the guidance of manager Delio Rossi. However a number of disagreement between De Silvestri and his club arose, most notably regarding difficult talks regarding the extension to his contract with Lazio. He also endured a frustrating 2008–09 season playing deputy to new signing Stephan Lichtsteiner and started in only 13 league matches. Due to the contract wrangles and his failure to dislodge Lichtsteiner, led to him being put on sale during the 2009 summer transfer window.

Fiorentina

De Silvestri in a Fiorentina jersey

On 26 August 2009 ACF Fiorentina signed the right-back from S.S. Lazio on a five-year deal, he was presented to the press in Florence on 27 August; on successve declarations, De Silvestri stated he had reluctantly decided to leave his favourite club due to his strained relationship with president Claudio Lotito.[4] After an injury that prevented him from appearing in the early weeks of the season, De Silvestri became a regular under head coach Cesare Prandelli and completed the 2009–10 campaign with a total 27 appearances. Under new Fiorentina boss Siniša Mihajlović, De Silvestri was originally confirmed as a regular, but successively lost his place as a starter in favour of Gianluca Comotto after the poor performance the team. However, he re-took the starting position (right back) after the winter break. He also played the last matches before the winter break as starting left back to replace the unavailable Manuel Pasqual.

Sampdoria

On 16 July 2012 De Silvestri was officially loaned to Sampdoria for the 2012–13 season, with Sampdoria having the option to sign him in full following the season.[5] He made his début as a second-half substitute for Gianni Munari against Napoli on 30 September 2012. On 8 May 2013, De Silvestri scored his first goal for Sampdoria by opening the scores in the 1–1 draw against Catania. Following the end of the season, his loan spell was extended for a further season on 12 July 2013.[6] On 18 June 2014, the loan deal was renewed for free with option to buy.[7]

International career

De Silvestri made his international debut at the U-16 level in June 2003, the team was mainly consist of born 1987 players aiming for 2004 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship.

He made his U-21 debut on 11 September 2007 against Albania. He was the youngest player in the squad for the 2008 Toulon Tournament and the Olympics. Although he played in several of the 2009 European Championship qualifiers, he did not make the 23-man squad for the tournament. After the tournament, he became first-choice and was appointed captain. He was suspended in the playoffs against Belarus in 2011 season.

On 7 September 2010 he made his debut with the Italy national team in a qualification match against Faroe Islands. Italy won the game with 5–0. De Silvestri played the full 90 minutes.[8]

Honours

Lazio
Italy U-21

References

  1. FIGC Archive missed the following games: BIH and Hungary
  2. 4 in Toulon Tournament 2 in Olympic
  3. Il Baby d'Oro – Corriere dello Sport
  4. "Acquisito De Silvestri" (in Italian). Viola Channel. 26 August 2009.
  5. "COLPO SAMP: DALLA FIORENTINA ARRIVA LORENZO DE SILVESTRI" (in Italian). U.C. Sampdoria. 16 July 2012.
  6. "De Silvestri alla Sampdoria" (in Italian). ACF Fiorentina. 12 July 2013.
  7. "UFFICIALE: ESERCITATA L'OPZIONE PER L'ACQUISIZIONE DI LORENZO DE SILVESTRI" (in Italian). U.C. Sampdoria. 18 June 2014.
  8. http://int.soccerway.com/matches/2010/09/07/europe/european-championship-qualification/italy/faroe-islands/918137/

External links