Massimo Oddo

Massimo Oddo

Oddo playing for Milan in 2007
Personal information
Full nameMassimo Oddo
Date of birth14 June 1976
Place of birthCittà Sant'Angelo, Italy
Height1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing positionRight back
Youth career
1992–1993Renato Curi Angolana
1993–1995Milan
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
1992–1993Renato Curi Angolana3(0)
1993–1999Milan0(0)
1995–1996→ Fiorenzuola (loan)19(0)
1996→ Monza (loan)4(0)
1996–1997→ Prato (loan)16(0)
1997–1998→ Lecco (loan)20(1)
1998–1999→ Monza (loan)30(5)
1999–2000Napoli36(1)
2000–2002Verona64(9)
2002–2007Lazio135(17)
2007–2012Milan56(2)
2008–2009→ Bayern Munich (loan)18(0)
2011–2012→ Lecce (loan)27(1)
Total428(36)
National team
2002–2008Italy34(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (Goals).

Massimo Oddo, Ufficiale OMRI,[1] (born 14 June 1976) is a retired Italian professional footballer. He was part of the Italian squad that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Oddo was primarily deployed as an offensive fullback, or on occasion as a wide-midfielder, due to his stamina and crossing ability. In his later career, he was deployed in a more defensive role as a centreback.[2][3] Despite being a defender, Oddo was known for his ability on set pieces and penalties.[4]

Club career

Oddo playing for U.S. Lecce in April 2012

He started his career at Renato Curi Angolana of CND, and moved to A.C. Milan youth team in 1993. After spending two years on the bench, in hope of more playing opportunities he moved to Serie C team Fiorenzuola on loan. It was followed by other three Serie C groups (Monza, Prato, Lecco). He returned to promoted, Serie B team Monza in 1998, and left a year later for Napoli (in a co-ownership deal). He made his debut in Serie A when Milan finally sold him to Hellas Verona in 2000. After two successful seasons with Verona, S.S. Lazio got hold of Oddo.

At Lazio he had the opportunity to play in the UEFA Champions League in the season 2003–04 and the UEFA Cup competition in the seasons 2002–03 and 2004–05. The team made it to the semi finals in 2003. Moreover, his third season with Lazio earned him the Italian Cup winner title. He became the captain of Lazio for the first half of the 2006–2007 season following the departure of Fabio Liverani to Fiorentina.

On 23 January 2007, it was announced that Milan and Lazio had reached an accord for Oddo's transfer to the Rossoneri, after a long period of negotiation. The overall price was €10.75 million (cash plus Pasquale Foggia, who had been on loan at the club since the start of the season) and Oddo waived some of his wage, made the deal worth €12 million in total,[5][6] He signed a contract until 30 June 2011.[7] Months later, Oddo was the starting right back in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final and helped Milan gain their seventh European Cup in a 2–1 win over Liverpool, as well as the club's fifth UEFA Super Cup in August when they had to face 2007 UEFA Cup winners, Sevilla.

Since arrival of Gianluca Zambrotta, Oddo had to compete with Zambrotta on the right back position, On 28 August 2008, Oddo moved to Bayern Munich on a one-year loan with the option of making the move permanent, however, at the end of the 2008/2009 season, the German club confirmed that it would not take that option, and he has since returned to Milan, with Zambrotta moved to left back and Oddo competed with Ignazio Abate for the right back position.

On 21 July 2010, he added one more year to his current contract to last until 30 June 2012.[8] a day after, Zambrotta also signed a new deal.

After being mostly frozen out of the Milan squad during the starting part of the 2010–11 season, he made his season debut against S.S.C. Napoli after an early first half head injury to left back Luca Antonini, furthermore he provided two assists, one to Robinho for the opening goal and another for Zlatan Ibrahimović.

On 31 August 2011, Oddo joined Lecce on a season-long loan.[9]

Following the 2011–12 season, Oddo put an end to his career saying "I leave football. When you reach a certain age, you face a crossroad".

International career

Oddo made his national debut on 21 August 2002, in a 1–0 home defeat to Slovenia, replacing Matteo Brighi during the second half, as part of a reformed squad after the unsuccessful 2002 FIFA World Cup performance of the Azzurri, under Giovanni Trapattoni.[10]

He was a starter at seven Euro 2004 qualifying matches. During the main competition in Portugal, he made one appearance, playing as a substitute in Italy's final group game against Bulgaria (22 June 2004); during the match, he supplied an assist for Cassano's goal, which helped Italy win the match 2–1, although they were eliminated from the tournament in the first round on direct encounters, following a three-way five-point tie with Denmark and Sweden.[11] Subsequently, Oddo was a member of Italy's championship winning squad during the 2006 FIFA World Cup under Marcello Lippi, as back up to Gianluca Zambrotta, making one substitute appearance in Italy's 3–0 win over Ukraine in the quarter-finals of the tournament.[12]

Oddo scored his first and only international goal for Italy from the penalty spot in a Euro 2008 qualifying match on 7 October 2006 against Ukraine, under manager Roberto Donadoni, which ended in a 2–0 victory for the Italians.[13] Oddo made his 34th and final appearance for Italy in a 3–1 win over Portugal on 6 February 2008.[14]

Honours

Club

Lazio
Milan

International

Italy

Orders

Collar of Merit Sports: Collare d'Oro al Merito Sportivo: (2006)[15]
4th Class / Officer: Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: (2006)[16]

Personal life

Oddo's father, Francesco is a former footballer. After leaving school, he attended university to study law but left without graduating. Oddo did return to university in 2007 but he undertook a course in sport management.

He has two sons, Davide (born 30 November 2003) and Francesco (born 27 December 2008).[17] He is a trained barber and styled many of his Italy colleague's hair at the World Cup 2006, earning him the nickname the Barber of Berlino.

References

  1. ↑ "Oddo Sig. Massimo – Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana". quirinale.it (in Italian). Presidenza della Repubblica Italiana. 12 December 2006. Retrieved 27 September 2010.
  2. ↑ "Milan: emergenza difesa, centrale gioca Oddo" (in Italian). tuttomercatoweb.com. 24 April 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  3. ↑ "Si ritira Massimo Oddo, guascone del calcio italiano" (in Italian). intervistasportiva.co. 8 June 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  4. ↑ "Serie A, ecco tutti i cecchini" (in Italian). sportmediaset.mediaset.it. 6 September 2011. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  5. ↑ "Cessione Oddo" (PDF). SS Lazio (in Italian). 24 January 2007. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
  6. ↑ "Milan sign Oddo". WorldSoccer.com. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  7. ↑ "IT'S OFFICIAL". ACMilan.com. 24 January 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2010.
  8. ↑ "Oddo extends Milan contract". FIFA.com. AFP. 21 July 2010. Retrieved 21 July 2010.
  9. ↑ "AC MILAN OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE". ACMilan.com. 31 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  10. ↑ Alberto Costa (1 April 2009). "Da Materazzi a Pirlo, l' eterno Giuan ha battezzato l' Italia campione". archiviostorico.corriere.it (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Alberto Costa (23 June 2004). "Cassano, un gol vincente che fa piangere". archiviostorico.corriere.it/ (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "MASSIMO ODDO: LE PARTITE DISPUTATE CON LA MAGLIA DELL'ITALIA". www.italia1910.com (in Italian). Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  13. ↑ "UEFA Euro 2008, Storia: Italia-Ucraina (2–0)". it.uefa.com/ (in Italian). UEFA. 7 October 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  14. ↑ "Toni, Cannavaro e Quagliarella l'Italia supera il Portogallo". www.repubblica.it (in Italian). La Repubblica. 6 February 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Coni: Consegnati i Collari d’oro e diplomi d’onore ai campionissimi". coni.it (in Italian). 23 October 2006. Retrieved 25 January 2013.
  16. ↑ "Oddo Sig. Massimo – Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana". http://www.quirinale.it'' (in Italian). 12 December 2006. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  17. ↑ "Massimo Oddo". Official website.

External links