Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Italy
Men's Football
Bronze	2004 Athens	Team Competition

Simone Del Nero, (born August 4, 1981 in Carrara, Massa-Carrara) is an Italian footballer who plays as a left midfielder. He currently plays in Serie A with Lazio, after joining on a free five-year deal from Serie B club Brescia.

[edit] Career

[edit] Club career

Having grown up in the youth system of Empoli, Del Nero played just four senior games in two years for the Tuscans before moving to Brescia. Upon joining the Rondinelle, Del Nero at first played with the youth team, developing as a player under the guidance of youth coach and former professional, Luciano De Paola.

Del Nero made fleeting appearances for the senior side, before a disappointing stint on loan with Scottish outfit Livingston. He returned to Brescia for the 2002-03 season, where he made three appearances before another loan spell, this time to Sicily with Palermo, at the time in Serie B. However, Del Nero did not play a game with the rosanero and returned back north at the season's end.

Del Nero had a breakout year in 2003-04, the first in which he established himself as a regular and consistently played in the senior side. In 2004-05, he remained a regular, but did not manage to save his team from relegation.

Del Nero was one of the most talented young players at Brescia with his former coach, Mario Somma, a great admirer. He remained a regular under Rolando Maran and Zdeněk Zeman in his last two years at the club, 2005-06 and 2006-07, both of which were spent in Serie B.

In the summer of 2007, Del Nero was available on a free transfer as he was out-of-contract at Brescia and was quickly signed to a five year deal by giants Lazio, who were preparing for a return to the UEFA Champions League, having just finished third in Serie A.^[1]

Lazio were drawn to face Romanian champions Dinamo Bucureşti in the Champions League qualifiers and, in the second leg, Del Nero proved decisive. Having only managed a disappointing 1-1 draw in Rome, the biancocelesti travelled to Bucharest needing a win and Del Nero won an early penalty for the first goal before setting up the second, with Lazio going on to win 3-1 and qualify for the group stage. Unfortunately for the Ligurian, he did not take any part in the group phase, and only managed five Serie A appearances due to injury. At the end of the 2007-08 season, Del Nero underwent an operation in Finland for plantar fasciitis.^[2]

That surgery had kept him out for much of the 2008-09 season as well, but he made a return to action on December 14, 2008, playing the first half of Lazio's draw against Udinese.^[3] Del Nero went on to make a handful more appearances towards the end of the season, including a substitute appearance in the 2009 Coppa Italia Final, which Lazio won on penalties.^[4] The Coppa was Del Nero's first title with the Roman club.

[edit] International career

Del Nero was apart of the Italy U-21 side which emerged victorious in the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship and also won a bronze medal with the Italian Olympic team at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Del Nero has never been called up to the senior Italian national team.

[edit] Honours

[edit] Lazio

• Coppa Italia: 1 (2008-09)
• Supercoppa Italiana: 1 (2009)

[edit] Italy

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship: 1 (2004)

• Olympic Bronze: 2004 Summer Olympics

[edit] National honours

• 5th Class/Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana
  – September 27, 2004. An initiative of the President of the Italian Republic.^[5]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official Lazio profile (Italian)

v • d • e Italy squad – 2004 Olympic Bronze Medalists 1 Pelizzoli • 2 Chiellini • 3 Moretti • 4 Ferrari • 5 Bonera • 6 De Rossi • 7 Pinzi • 8 Palombo • 9 Gilardino • 10 Pirlo • 11 Sculli • 12 Gasbarroni • 13 Barzagli • 14 Bovo • 15 Donadel • 16 Del Nero • 17 Mesto • 18 Amelia • Coach: Gentile

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