Ferdinando Sforzini (born 4 December 1984) is an Italian former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. He is a product of the famous

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

youth academy. During his stay in Grosseto, Sforzini was given the nickname ''Nandogoal'' and also ''taglia gole utthroat', nicknamed for his traditional goal celebration.

Career

Early career

A tall

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, Sforzini started his career off with the youth system of

and was loaned out to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

from Napoli's youth system in 2002. Ferdinando Sforzini graduated from Lazio youth system in 2003 and immediately sold, to

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

. At Sassuolo he impressed, scoring 10 goals in 29 appearances in 2004–05

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

season.

Udinese

After impressing with

U.S. Sassuolo Calcio Unione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio, commonly referred to as Sassuolo (), is an Italian professional football club based in Sassuolo, Emilia-Romagna. Their colours are black and green, hence the nickname ''Neroverdi'' (literally "black and greens", ...

, he was transferred to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football league system, Italian fo ...

in June 2005. Ferdinandos Sforzini remained at Udine for 2 months, but loaned out to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

in order to gain more experience in August 2005. In his season with

, Ferdinando Sforzini managed 5 goals in 35

appearances, which mainly as a substitutes player, but also made 16 league starts. For the 2006–2007 season, Udinese opted to again loan out the player in July 2006, however this time, it was to

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, another

club. With Modena, Ferdinandos Sforzini scored 5 goals again, in 30 league appearances (started 17 times). On 1 July 2006 Sforzini returned to Udinese, however, he again was loaned out soon later. In July 2007, Ferdinandos Sforzini transferred to

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...

for yet another Serie B season. With the club, Ferdinandos Sforzini made 14 league appearances (half of them as starting XI) in his six-month stay, scoring 2 goals. For the second half of the 2007–2008 season, Udinese loaned out the 23-year-old Sforzini to

Ravenna Ravenna ( ; , also ; ) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire during the 5th century until its Fall of Rome, collapse in 476, after which ...

, a club struggling to avoid relegation from the

. In the latter half of the season, Ferdinandos Sforzini scored an impressive 9 goals in 21 league appearances for

Ravenna Calcio Ravenna Football Club is an Italian association football club, based in Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna. It currently plays in Serie D after relegation from Serie C in the 2020–21 season. The club was founded in 1913. History Foundation The club ...

, but it was not enough to save them from relegation. Ferdinandos Sforzini was again loaned out into the Serie B – this time with

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

. In his six-month loan period with Grosseto, Sforzini was a regular starter at the start of season, appearing 18 times (10 of them as starter) and scoring 3 goals in Serie B. In January 2009, he swapped places with Alessandro Pellicori of

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

. With relegation frightening Avellino Sforzini impressed, hitting good form and scoring 7 goals in just 12

appearances. After hitting good form with Avellino, Sforzini returned to Udinese on 1 July 2009, and received the call-up to the pre-season camp. But he was loaned out again, this time to Serie B champion A.S. Bari, the

newcomer. He was the starting forward along with Vitaly Kutuzov in the opening match of Serie A, a shocking 1–1 draw with defending champion

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

. But in the next Serie A match the coach

Giampiero Ventura Gian Piero Ventura (; born 14 January 1948) is an Italian football manager. His playing career as a midfielder was spent in the lower leagues, having not made the grade at Sampdoria, where he began his coaching career with the youth team in 197 ...

preferred

Riccardo Meggiorini Riccardo Meggiorini (born 4 September 1985) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Club career Early career Meggiorini took his first steps as a footballer at ...

as starting forward to partner with Kutuzov. Sforzini was further hit by left leg injury soon after, At first he would be rested a month but hit by flu in November. Sforzini then trained separately for ongoing injury. After Kutuzov's out of season injury, Bari signed

José Ignacio Castillo José Ignacio Castillo Álvarez (born 11 April 1975) is an Argentine former professional footballer who played as a striker. Career Serie D A prolific striker, nicknamed ''Nacho'', he moved in Italy in 2001 to join Serie D club Brindisi, of ...

, and Sforzini was call-up by Ventura several time to as an extra cover for their starting forwards Barreto, Meggiorini and Castillo. He played his return match on 30 January 2010, substituted Castillo at the second half. He made a further 5 Serie A appearances as substitute. On 1 July 2010, Sforzini returned to Udinese again, and played for Udinese B team (composite of players that pending loan) in pre-season friendlies.

CFR Cluj loan

On 25 August 2010, he was loaned to

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

n side

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

. He made his debut in

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

10 September 2010 against

Rapid București Rapid(s) or RAPID may refer to: Hydrological features * Rapids, sections of a river with turbulent water flow * Rapid Creek (Iowa River tributary), Iowa, United States * Rapid Creek (South Dakota), United States, namesake of Rapid City Sport ...

in a 2–0 defeat, replacing

Cristian Bud Cristian Ionuț Bud (; born 26 June 1985) is a Romanian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for CS Făurei. Career Early years In 2004, Bud began his career with his home ...

eight minutes from the end of the game. On 15 September made his debut in the Champions League in Cluj- Basel (2-1), replacing

Lacina Traoré Lacina Emeghara Traoré (born 20 May 1990) is an Ivorian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. He is nicknamed “The Big Tree”, due to his 1.98m frame, which puts him am ...

as a substitute Scored the first goal for Cluj on 27 October 2010 won the encounter against the Targu Mures (2-0 final), valid for the knockout stages of the Cupa României. However, after the sacking of Italian manager

Andrea Mandorlini Andrea Mandorlini (born 17 July 1960) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Playing career Mandorlini made his playing debut on 4 February 1979 with Torino. He left Torino in 1980 to join then-Serie B team Atalanta. Aft ...

in September 2010, Sforzini lost his place in the side and he returned to

at the start of the January window. During the 2011 January winter transfer market he was transferred to Italian

team U.S. Grosseto on loan with option to sign permanently.

Grosseto

After scoring 8 goals in 20 games on loan at U.S. Grosseto in

, Sforzini's move was made permanent leaving

after a 6-year spell at the club. His form in his 2 seasons in

was impressive, in his first season he scored 21 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions with 20 of those coming in

in the 2011/12 season. He finished 3rd top scorer in

behind

Ciro Immobile Ciro Immobile (born 20 February 1990) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş J.K., Beşiktaş. He is regarded as one of the best strikers in his generation. Im ...

(28 goals for

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

) and

Marco Sau Marco Sau (, ; born 3 November 1987) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker. Early life Sau has been nicknamed ''Pattolino'' (Duckling) since childhood. His idol growing up was the striker Gianfranco Zola, also from his n ...

(21 goals for

Juve Stabia Società Sportiva Juve Stabia is an Italian professional football club based in Castellammare di Stabia, Campania. Juve Stabia plays in Serie B, the second tier of Italian football system, following their promotion ahead of the 2024–25 seas ...

). On 10 August 2012, Grosseto were provisionally relegated, by the Disciplinary Commission set up for Scommessopoli scandal investigations, to

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into ...

because of their involvement in Scommessopoli scandal. Furthermore, the president of Grosseto was at the time suspended from all football activities for five years. However, on 22 August 2012, Grosseto and its president were acquitted by the Court of justice, eliminating the verdict of the first instance and so re-instated back to

for the following 2012/13 season. His start to the 2012/13 season saw him score 11 goals in his first 21

appearances before his form attracted interest of

club

in the January transfer window.

Pescara

On 31 January 2013, Sforzini transferred to

side

for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

400,000 plus

received

Gastón Brugman Gastón Brugman Duarte (born 7 September 1992) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Major League Soccer club Nashville SC Club career Early career Born in Rosario, Uruguay, Brugman began playing football in ...

and Danilo Soddimo on season long loan's from

as part of the transfer. In his first half season he made 10 appearances im

, without scoring a goal. He could not help Pescara escape from relegation to

. During the 2013–14 season, Sforzini scored just 2 goals in 20

games.

Latina

On 1 September 2014 he was signed by fellow Serie B club

U.S. Latina Calcio Latina Calcio 1932, commonly referred to as Latina, is an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Latina, Lazio, Latina, Lazio. They currently play in the . History The club was founded in 1932 as ''Unione Sportiva Latina Calcio'' and ...

Entella

On 2 February 2015 he was swapped with Gianluca Litteri of

Entella Éntella (Greek language, Greek: ), was an ancient city in the interior of Sicily, situated on the left bank of the river Hypsas (modern Belice), and nearly midway between the two seas, being about 40 km from the mouth of the Hypsas, and ...

Later career

In 2018–19, he was a regular for

, guiding the team to win the

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

title. After a mere ten days with

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club Cavese in August 2019, he rescinded on 30 August 2019 and joined

club

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

two weeks later. On 9 September 2020 he joined

club

Campobasso Campobasso (, ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in southern Italy, the capital of the region of Molise and of the province of Campobasso. It is located in the high basin of the Biferno river, surrounded by Sannio and Matese mountains. Campobas ...

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

La Gazzetta dello Sport 2006–07 Profile

La Gazzetta dello Sport 2007–08 Profile
*

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sforzini, Ferdinando 1984 births Living people Footballers from Tivoli, Lazio Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers SSC Napoli players SS Lazio players Udinese Calcio players Hellas Verona FC players Modena FC 2018 players LR Vicenza players Ravenna FC players US Grosseto 1912 players US Avellino 1912 players SSC Bari players CFR Cluj players Delfino Pescara 1936 players US Viterbese 1908 players Palermo FC players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Liga I players Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Men's association football forwards 21st-century Italian sportsmen