Manuel Pasqual

Manuel Pasqual

Pasqual playing for Fiorentina in 2007
Personal information
Date of birth	(1982-03-13) 13 March 1982
Place of birth	San Donà di Piave, Italy
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Left back
Club information
Current team	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	283	(7)
National team
2006–	Italy	9	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 26 April 2015. † Appearances (Goals).

Manuel Pasqual (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmanuel pasˈkwal]; born 13 March 1982) is a footballer for Fiorentina of Serie A and the Italy national football team. He is a left-back, who is well known for his crossing ability;^[1][2] he is also capable of playing as a wide mid-fielder or as fullback on the left in a 3-5-2 formation.^[3][1] Pasqual is a dead ball specialist and often takes free-kicks as well as corners for the Viola, providing several assists from his curling set pieces and crosses.^[2]

Club career

Early career

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.

Fiorentina

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.^[4]

At Fiorentina, Pasqual became known for his powerful left foot and foraging runs. 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.^[5] He extended his contract again in November 2011.^[6]

Since the 2012-13 season, Pasqual has been Fiorentina's team captain.^[7]

International career

Pasqual's performances earned him a national team call up by then 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 1 March 2006. Italy sensationally won the match by 4–1, with Pasqual coming on in the last minute as a substitute for Mauro Camoranesi.^[8] He has also attracted the attention of Italy's new coach after the 2006 World Cup triumph, Roberto Donadoni, who succeeded Marcello 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. On 10 September 2013, he was capped by Italy coach Cesare Prandelli in a 2014 World Cup qualifier against Czech Republic. He was named in Prandelli's 30-man provisional squad for the tournament on 13 May 2014,^[9] but was cut from the final 23-man squad named on 1 June.^[10]

Career statistics

References

External links

• Profile at ACF Fiorentina official site
• Manuel Pasqual Profile at FootballDatabase
• http://www.tuttocalciatori.net/Pasqual_Manuel