Fabrizio Miccoli

Fabrizio Miccoli (born on June 27 1979) is an Italy football (soccer) striker who currently is playing for Serie A team U.S. Città di Palermo. Despite being born in Nardò, Province of Lecce, he has always lived in San Donato di Lecce, also in Lecce.

Club career

Miccoli started his professional career for Serie C1 team Casarano Calcio. Successively, after a spell at Serie B side Ternana Calcio, Miccoli, owned by Juventus F.C., was loaned to Serie A side Perugia Calcio for the 2002–03 season. Miccoli showed great qualities during the season, scoring great goals and showing excellent technical ability. He was dubbed the Romario of the Salento and bomber tascabile (pocket bomber), due to his small stature and his technical ability. His efforts helped Perugia reach an UEFA Intertoto Cup spot. For his efforts, he received an Italy national football team call-up during the season and Juventus recalled him back for the following season.

Fabrizio Miccoli played six UEFA Champions League games for Juventus, and scored one goal. He also scored seven goals in Serie A for Juventus. However, he did not get much of chance and the next season, half of Miccoli's registration rights was sold to newly promoted ACF Fiorentina. Once in Florence, Miccoli showed his good qualities once again, helping Fiorentina to salvation on the last day of the season, scoring a goal to send Brescia Calcio to Serie B. At the end of the season there was a blind auction between Fiorentina and Juventus to decide his ownership, and Juventus won it. Therefore, Miccoli had to return to Turin, but he was sent on loan to S.L. Benfica.

Miccoli scored two goals for Benfica in six UEFA Champions League appearances. He also became a fan favorite when he scored a magnificent scissors kick goal against Liverpool F.C. during that competition, sending Benfica to the quarterfinals. In July 2006, his loan to Benfica was confirmed. At Benfica, Miccoli attracted attention from other clubs such as A.S. Roma, F.C. Internazionale Milano, Blackburn Rovers F.C. and Deportivo La Coruna but opted to stay one more year in Lisbon with Benfica.

On July 5 2007, U.S. Città di Palermo announced on their official website to have signed Miccoli with a 3-year agreement. He returned to Italian football in the Serie A 2007-08, and took part in the rosaneros third UEFA Cup 2007-08. He scored a total eight goals in his first season with the Sicilian club, including the winning goal in the Sicilian derby against Calcio Catania, despite a number of injuries which prevented him from playing continuously in the season.

International career

Fabrizio Miccoli made his Italy national football team debut against Portugal national football team in February 2003, creating the only goal for Bernardo Corradi. On 30 March 2004, Miccoli scored directly from a corner kick in another friendly match versus Portugal.
He was subsequently featured in 2004 UEFA European Football Championship qualifying and received another call-up in a friendly against Finland national football team in November 2004, which ended in a 1-0 win.

Personal life

Miccoli is currently married to Flaviana, a girl he met first when he was 17 and she was 14. Together they have a daughter, Suami, named after the Hindi language word for love, and born on March 2003. His second child, a son named Diego, was born on June 2008.