Alberto Aquilani (born 7 July 1984) is an Italian footballer who plays for Premier League club Liverpool and the Italian national team. He is a central midfielder, noted for his exceptional passing range, play making abilities, and rocket shot from distance.

Aquilani began his career at Roma, and after a brief loan period at Triestina returned to the Serie A club. Aquilani became a regular in the Roma side during the 2005–06 season, though the following he suffered a thigh injury and was ruled out for several months. He moved to Liverpool for the start of the 2009–10 season, in a deal that could rise to around £21.4 million.

Internationally, Aquilani has represented Italia at Euro 2008. He made his international debut in November 2006 in a 1–1 draw against Turkey.

[edit] Club career

[edit] Roma

In 2001, when he was 16, Chelsea and Arsenal offered him lucrative contracts but he declined the offer because it was his dream to play for his boyhood club Roma.^[1]

He made his debut in Serie A at aged 18, with then manager Fabio Capello on 10 May 2003 against Torino. He was loaned to Serie B club Triestina for the 2003-04 season, where he could play as a starter and gain experience.

Returning to Roma in 2004-05, he broke into the starting 11. In the 2005-06 season, he scored the second goal in the derby victory played on 26 February 2006; a victory in which Roma broke the record for most consecutive wins in Serie A.^[2] (Later broken by Internazionale in 2006-07 season).

In the following season he was expected to be one of the best players for Roma. He was awarded the no.8 shirt previously worn by Matteo Ferrari. Unfortunately an injury forced him to stay away from the game for several months.^[3][4] Aquilani returned to the field in May 2007 and featured in three games toward the end of the season, including the last two.

He also played in the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid, where he had an excellent game.^{[citation needed]} He scored two long range goals in the first two matches of the 2007-08 season against Palermo and Siena^{[citation needed]}. Although he was injured in October 2007^[5] he came back to squad in January 2008.

Aquilani was injured on 22 October 2008 against Chelsea.^[6] He came back to the field on 11 January 2009 against Milan but picked up another injury in February 2009.^[7] Although he played against Arsenal as a last minute substitute on 11 March 2009,^[8] he did not play in the rest of the season.

On 26 May 2009 Aquilani signed a new contract with Roma until 2013, added three more years to previous deal.^[9][10]

[edit] Liverpool

On 5 August 2009, Liverpool announced that they had agreed a deal with AS Roma for the transfer of Aquilani, subject to a medical.^[11][12] The club subsequently announced that the player had passed the medical and signed a 5 year contract on 7 August 2009.^[13] Roma revealed that the fee was 20 million euro (£17 Million) plus sporting bonus.^[14] He was handed the number 4 shirt, last worn by Sami Hyypiä who joined Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the 2008-09 season. There was a significant delay before Aquilani made his first appearance in a Liverpool shirt, however, due to injury and illness.

Aquilani made his Liverpool reserves début with a 15 minutes substitute appearance in a 2-0 win against Sunderland reserves on 21 October 2009.^[15]

Aquilani's first team career at Liverpool finally started when he was named in the squad to face Arsenal in which Liverpool were defeated 2-1 Carling Cup on 28 October 2009. He came on in the 77th minute as a substitute for Damien Plessis.^[16]. He made his long awaited Premier league debut on 9 November 2009, as a late substitute against Birmingham City in a 2-2 draw.^[17] He then made a 30 second appearance against Hungarian club Debrecen on the 24th November which Liverpool won 1-0 thanks to a goal from David N'Gog

[edit] International career

At youth level, he was capped for Italy at 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Football Championship qualifying. He won 2003 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship with Italy and scored 1 goal. He was then promoted to the U21 team and took part in 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship qualifying, but was not selected to the final tournament due to injuries.^[18]

Aquilani won his first cap for Italy on 15 November 2006 for a friendly against Turkey.^[19] He played as a regular during the 2007 U-21 Championship held in the Netherlands, scoring 2 goals, and being named in the "UEFA Team of the Tournament". Italy finished 5th and qualified for Football at the 2008 Summer Olympics.

He was named to the 23-man roster for Euro 2008, his first major international tournament. He came on as a sub in Italy's third game of the tournament, which was a 2-0 victory over rivals France. He started Italy's quarter-final match against Spain due to the suspensions to Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso where Italy lost 4-2 in a shootout after a 0-0 tie through 120 minutes.^[20]

He scored his first goal with the Azzurri during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification match against Montenegro on 15 October 2008, a tally he doubled later in the same match.^[21]

[edit] Honours

Roma

• Italy Cup: 2006–07, 2007–08
• Italian Super Cup: 2007

[edit] Career statistics

This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2009)

Correct as of 28 October 2009.

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

[edit] International goals

Updated to games played 15 October 2008

Goal	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	15 October 2008	Lecce, Italy	Montenegro	1–0	2–1	FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualification
2.	15 October 2008	Lecce, Italy	Montenegro	2–1	2–1	FIFA World Cup 2010 Qualification

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• FIFA.com Profile
• FIGC National Team Archive (Italian)
• Profile at AS Roma (Italian)
• Liverpoolfc.tv profile
• Alberto Aquilani career stats at Soccerbase
• Alberto Aquilani at National-Football-Teams.com
• ESPN Profile

v • d • e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 2008 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Grosso • 4 Chiellini • 5 Gamberini • 6 Barzagli • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Toni • 10 De Rossi • 11 Di Natale • 12 Borriello • 13 Ambrosini • 14 Amelia • 15 Quagliarella • 16 Camoranesi • 17 De Sanctis • 18 Cassano • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Perrotta • 21 Pirlo • 22 Aquilani • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Donadoni