Alessandro Rosina (; born 31 January 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger.

Club career

Early career

Born in Belvedere Marittimo, Rosina resided until the age of 9 in the nearby town of Bonifati (the town of origin of his maternal family), he starting his career at local Cittadella del Capo football youth team at the age of 5, where he caught the eye of

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

and

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

scouts. His father, however, decided to let him join

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. He was subsequently brought up in the club's youth system. Rosina spent the 2001–02 season playing for the Parma Primavera team. He was promoted to the first team the next season, making his professional debut on 16 February 2003 against Juventus as a substitute for

Hidetoshi Nakata is a Japanese former professional Association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Considered one of the best talents to come from an Asian Football Confederation (AFC) country in the early late 1990s and early 2000s, Nakata became ...

. In two and a half years at the club, he made 25 league appearances. Rosina was a member of the B squad in the

2003–04 UEFA Cup The 2003–04 UEFA Cup was won by Valencia in the final against Marseille. It wrapped up a league and UEFA Cup double for Valencia. Porto could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League and a ...

. Following a tactical change to the team's formation, Rosina found first-team opportunities hard to come by. In January 2005 he was loaned to

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

, where he had a hugely successful spell. After the end of the loan he was bought by

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, then in

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 ...

Torino

Rosina was regarded as a revelation since his arrival at the Turin club. He became the driving force behind Torino's 2005–06 promotion campaign, making 42 appearances, scoring twelve times, as the club clinched a spot in the Italian top flight the following season. In two subsequent

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 ...

seasons, he dragged the team to survival from relegation, averaging a goal every three games as well as providing several assists. As a result, he earned the captain's armband in January 2008 and became a popular figure amongst Torino fans. He was nicknamed ''Rosinaldo'', a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of his last name and

Ronaldo Ronaldo is a Portuguese given name equivalent to the English Ronald. It became a common name in all Portuguese-speaking countries, also prevalent in other Romance countries. People Notable people known as Ronaldo include: Association footballe ...

's name, due to his Brazilian-style flair. He stayed loyal to Torino despite awakening the interest of Italian powerhouses, signing a contract extension until 2011 in 2007. The 2008–2009 season was a major setback for Torino, as Rosina was unable to prevent the club from suffering relegation.

Zenit

On 31 July 2009, Rosina was sold to

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club Zenit St. Petersburg for a fee in the region of €7 million, signing a 4-year contract with ''Sine-Belo-Golubyye''.

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

, then-manager of Zenit who planned to quit the club at the end of the year to become

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

coach, declared himself unhappy with the acquisition of Rosina and

Sergei Kornilenko Sergei Aleksandrovich Kornilenko (; ; born 14 June 1983) is a Belarusian professional football coach and a former player who played as a striker. In Belarus, both Belarusian and Russian languages are official. Thus his name, usually transliter ...

, labelling them newly appointed sporting director Igor Korneev's creatures, as the Dutch gaffer wished to sign two top-class forwards, namely

Goran Pandev Goran Pandev (, ; born 27 July 1983) is a Macedonian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Known for his goal-scoring ability, consistency, and intelligence, he is regarded as one of the best Macedonian footballers of all time. ...

and

Paolo Guerrero José Paolo Guerrero González (; born 1 January 1984) is a Peruvian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker for Peruvian Primera División club Club Alianza Lima, Alianza Li ...

, instead. Nevertheless, Rosina made his debut on 5 August 2009 against

FC Nizhny Novgorod FC Pari Nizhny Novgorod (), also known as FC Pari NN or simply Nizhny Novgorod is a Russian professional association football, football club from Nizhny Novgorod, founded in 2015. It made its debut in the Russian Premier League in the 2021–22 ...

in Russian Cup, also scoring his first Zenit goal, and played full 90 minutes in subsequent league game against Tom. As Zenit lost to

Tom Tom or TOM may refer to: * Tom (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name. Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Tom'' (1973 film), or ''The Bad Bunch'', a blaxploitation film * ''Tom'' (2002 film) ...

at home, Advocaat was replaced at the helm by former Zenit player

Anatoli Davydov Anatoli Viktorovich Davydov (; born 13 November 1953) is a Russian professional Association football, football coach and a former player. He is the director of the academy for FC Zenit Saint Petersburg, Zenit St. Petersburg. Career Davydov mad ...

, who soon afterwards brought in another offensive midfielder, controversial

Vladimir Bystrov Vladimir Sergeyevich Bystrov (, born 31 January 1984) is a Russian former footballer who played as a right winger. Career FC Zenit Saint Petersburg Bystrov began his career in youth club Smena. In 2001, he transferred to Zenit. On 8 May 200 ...

. Despite finding little playing time through tough competition, Rosina had impressed on occasions, achieving a total of two goals and two assists in nine

RFPL The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Football in Russia#League system, Russian footba ...

games out of remaining fourteen. 2010 preseason saw another head coach change, as fellow Italian

Luciano Spalletti Luciano Spalletti (; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian Association football, football Association football manager, manager and former association footballer, player. He was most recently the manager of the Italy national football team, Italian n ...

took reign. However, with

Danny Danny is a masculine given name. It is related to and short for the male name Daniel.🖾🖾 People *Danny Altmann, British immunologist * Danny Antonucci, Canadian animator, director, producer, and writer * Danny Baker (born 1957), English j ...

having recovered from cruciate ligaments injury, Rosina again found himself on the bench at the start of the season. Being used mainly as a substitute, he managed to contribute with a vital assist against archrivals Spartak Moscow, finding

Nicolas Lombaerts Nicolas Robert Christian Lombaerts (born 20 March 1985) is a Belgian professional football coach and a former centre-back. Career Club Brugge Lombaerts joined Club Brugge at young age where he went through all youth ranks. He claimed various lea ...

' head with a perfect cross in a game that finished 1–1. As Spalletti settled to a counterattacking 4–3–3 or 4–2–3–1 formation with two wingers, and established internationals Danny,

Konstantin Zyryanov Konstantin Georgiyevich Zyryanov (; born 5 October 1977) is a Russian football manager and a former player of Komi descent. Club career Early career and Amkar Perm Zyryanov started to play football in local club Zvezda Perm. His professional ...

and

Danko Lazović Danko Lazović ( sr-Cyrl, Данко Лазовић, , ; born 17 May 1983) is a Serbian football administrator and former player who played as a forward. He represented the Serbia national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Early and personal ...

all being options on the left, left-footed Rosina was mainly used in the rotation on the right as a backup for Bystrov. He scored after coming on as a substitute in 6–1 trashing of Saturn in September, rounding the keeper and scoring in the empty net. On 29 January 2011, before the start of Russian Premier League 2011–12 season, Rosina was loaned to

side

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

until July 2011.

Cesena

Rosina made his debut for Cesena on 2 February 2011 against

Catania Catania (, , , Sicilian and ) is the second-largest municipality on Sicily, after Palermo, both by area and by population. Despite being the second city of the island, Catania is the center of the most densely populated Sicilian conurbation, wh ...

, coming on as a substitute in the 81st minute for

Emanuele Giaccherini Emanuele Giaccherini (; born 5 May 1985) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder. He began his career at A.C. Cesena, Cesena, and after loans at ...

. He scored his first goal for Cesena on 20 February 2011 against

, firing home the opener in the 31st minute. Rosina struggled with his fitness during his time on loan and amassed only 9 league appearances for Serie A newcomers.

Return to Zenit

After his loan deal with Cesena came to an end, Rosina returned to Zenit and was subsequently registered for Russian Premier League football. On 14 August he was included in the starting line-up against Amkar and put off a dynamic performance, but due to below-par passing and general lack of end product he was substituted even before the break. Despite this, Zenit head coach Luciano Spalletti praised Rosina for his footballing attitude and determination to fight for a place in the team, promising him a squad role for the remainder of the season. Rosina had to fight off competition from Lazović,

Aleksei Ionov Aleksei Sergeyevich Ionov (; born 18 February 1989) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a winger. He could play on the left flank or the right. Club career He started playing football at the age of six. Later he gradua ...

Szabolcs Huszti Szabolcs Huszti (; born 18 April 1983) is a Hungarian professional football coach and a former player. He is the de facto manager of Fehérvár, even though Gábor Toldi formally holds that position. He was well known for his dribbling, pace, p ...

as well as recovering Bystrov. In April, he won his second

title.

Return to Italy

On 31 August 2012, Rosina was sold to

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

. He spent two seasons with the club, until its bankruptcy in July 2014. On 23 July 2014, he signed with

club

International career

Rosina was a member of the Italy U-21 team from 2004 to 2007. On 17 October 2007, Rosina made his Italy national team debut against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

in an international friendly match.

Honours

Club

Zenit St. Petersburg *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

* Russian Cup:

International

Italy U-21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Individual

* UEFA European Under-21 Championship Team of the Tournament:

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosina, Alessandro 1984 births Italian men's footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Living people Footballers from the Province of Cosenza Parma Calcio 1913 players Hellas Verona FC players Torino FC players AC Cesena players Siena FC SSD players Catania FC players FC Zenit Saint Petersburg players SSC Bari players US Salernitana 1919 players Serie A players Serie B players Russian Premier League players Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Men's association football midfielders Men's association football wingers 21st-century Italian sportsmen