Andrea Caracciolo (; born 18 September 1981) is an Italian football director and former player, currently director of football of

Lumezzane Lumezzane (Brescian: ; locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. With a population of 22,255 () it is one of the largest towns in the province of Brescia. It is situated in the Gobbia Valley, which is a side va ...

. A striker, Caracciolo was also a full

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

international, having made two senior appearances between 2004 and 2006.

Biography

Born in

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard language, Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the List of cities in Italy, second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 ...

to a Southern family and raised in Cesano Boscone, Caracciolo has a diploma in electrical engineering. Caracciolo's family practiced football: his father, originally from

Reggio Calabria Reggio di Calabria ( scn, label= Southern Calabrian, Riggiu; el, label= Calabrian Greek, Ρήγι, Rìji), usually referred to as Reggio Calabria, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, is the largest city in Calabria. It has an estimated pop ...

, was a midfielder in various Lombard teams; his brother Vincenzo played in Varese, whereas his uncle Fortunato was awarded as the best player in an edition of the Viareggio Tournament. He is nicknamed ''Airone'' (

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

for "

heron The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...

") for his characteristic way of cheering. He is married to Gloriana Falletta and has two twin children, Beatrice and Riccardo, born on 5 October 2011.

Club career

Early years

Caracciolo first football appearances were for Sancolombano of Italian

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

(amateur league); later playing for

Como Como (, ; lmo, Còmm, label=Comasco , or ; lat, Novum Comum; rm, Com; french: Côme) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Its proximity to Lake Como and to the Alps has m ...

and

Pro Vercelli Football Club Pro Vercelli 1892, commonly referred to as Pro Vercelli, is an Italian football club based in Vercelli, Piedmont. The club is mostly renowned as one of the most successful teams in the early football era of Italy, with seven natio ...

, both in professional leagues, before being signed by

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Ise ...

in June 2001, in co-ownership deal for lire 470 million (€242,735).

Brescia

Caracciolo made his Serie A debut on 6 January 2002, against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 1 ...

. In June 2002, Brescia bought him outright. During the

2002–03 Serie A The 2002–03 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 101st season of top-tier Italian football, the 71st in a round-robin tournament. It was composed by 18 teams, for the 15th consecutive time from season 1988–89. ...

season he played for

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and par ...

, before returning to Brescia, scoring 12 goals at the end of the 2003–04 season.

Palermo

After the relegation of

, he was signed by

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

on 1 July 2005, for €9 million.,US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2007 with €3 million being converted to the signing of Davide Possanzini.US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2006 He soon became

Luca Toni Luca Toni (; born 26 May 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. A prolific goalscorer, Toni scored over 300 goals throughout his career, and is one of the top-five highest scoring Italians in all competition ...

's replacement, who left for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

. In the 2005–06 season, Caracciolo played 35 games, scoring 9 goals. In the next season, Caracciolo has limited chance since the arrival of

Amauri Amauri Carvalho de Oliveira (born 3 June 1980), known as Amauri, is an Italian former footballer who played as a striker. His previous clubs include Bellinzona, Parma, Napoli, Piacenza, Empoli, Messina, Chievo, Palermo, Juventus, Fiorentina ...

and

David Di Michele David Di Michele (; born 6 January 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player in the role of striker, last in charge as head coach of Serie C club Turris. Throughout his playing career, he played for several Italian clubs, and also ...

. He scored only 5 goals in 27 matches, and made 17 starts.

Sampdoria

In June 2007 was sold to

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s ...

in a co-ownership bid, for €4.25 million. as their centre forward

Emiliano Bonazzoli Emiliano Bonazzoli (; born 20 January 1979) is a former Italian footballer who played as a striker. Club career Bonazzoli started his career at Brescia. He played his first professional match on 15 May 1997 against Lecce, which his only matc ...

is recovering from injury, Francesco Flachi, Fabio Bazzani and

Fabio Quagliarella Fabio Quagliarella (; born 31 January 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Sampdoria, whom he captains. Throughout his career, Quagliarella has played for eight different Italian clubs, winning thre ...

all left the club. That month also saw Caracciolo replaced Quagliarella, Quagliarella replaced Vincenzo Iaquinta and

Fabrizio Miccoli Fabrizio Miccoli (; born on 27 June 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored 103 goals in 259 matches in Serie A across nine seasons, representing Perugia, Juventus, Fiorentina and Palermo, also spend ...

replaced Caracciolo. Moreover, Sampdoria and Palermo formed numbers of swap deal in 2006 summer transfer windows, made there was a net debt of about €2.2 million from Palermo to Sampdoria on 30 June 2007 (without counting Caracciolo; or exactly €3.5 million ca in July 2006);, made the signing of Caracciolo again involved little cash. He faced competition from Claudio Bellucci,

Antonio Cassano Antonio Cassano (; born 12 July 1982) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A talented and technically gifted player, he was usually deployed as a supporting forward, but could also play as an attacking midfie ...

and fit again Bonazzoli, which he made only 6 starts.

Return to Brescia

On 31 January 2008 Caracciolo agreed to return to

in a permanent transfer, for €7.05 million, with Sampdoria received half of the transfer fee (€3.55 million)US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2008 Yet, instead of receiving cash, Sampdoria signed

Morris Donati Morris may refer to: Places Australia *St Morris, South Australia, place in South Australia Canada * Morris Township, Ontario, now part of the municipality of Morris-Turnberry * Rural Municipality of Morris, Manitoba ** Morris, Mani ...

and

Mattia Mustacchio Mattia Mustacchio (born 17 May 1989) is an Italian footballer who plays for club Pro Vercelli as a forward. Club career Mustacchio and Morris Donati were signed by Sampdoria on 31 January 2008 in co-ownership deal, for €700,000 and €30 ...

in co-ownership deal for €300,000 and €700,000 respectively and rested of the credit was used for signing Marius Stankevičius (€3M) in early July.UC Sampdoria Report and Accounts on 31 December 2008

Genoa & Novara

2011–12 Serie A The 2011–12 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM after its headline sponsors) was the 110th season of top-tier Italian football, the 80th in a round-robin tournament, and the second since its organization under a league committee separate from ...

, Caracciolo had half his rights bought by Genoa C.F.C. for €1.5 million in another co-ownership deal, which the club was searching for a reliable centre forward for years; Genoa also failed to sign

Antonio Floro Flores Antonio Mariano Floro Flores (born 18 June 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker and current head coach of Casertana's U17 team. Career Early career Floro Flores was born in Naples and started his career a ...

early in June and sell

Sergio Floccari Sergio Floccari (; born 12 November 1981) is a former Italian footballer who plays as a striker. Club career Early career Floccari began playing football as a junior with the local side of his town, Nicotera, before moving into the youth syste ...

after the expire of loan. Caracciolo also re-joined former Como owner

Enrico Preziosi Enrico Preziosi is an Italian entrepreneur. He runs a number of businesses and is most famous for have been the chairman ( it, presidente) of football club Genoa. Toys Preziosi is the chairman ( it, presidente) of the board of directors of Gioc ...

, who signed former players of Genoa or Como in recent seasons, likes

Abdoulay Konko Abdoulaye Konko Faye (born 9 March 1984) is a French football coach and former player who played as a right-back. He is a youth coach at Genoa. Playing career Juventus A youth product of Juventus, Konko was loaned to Crotone with Giovanni B ...

(January 2011),

Cesare Bovo Cesare Bovo (born 14 January 1983) is an Italian retired professional footballer who played as a centre back. Club career Early career Bovo grew up playing in the A.S. Roma youth system, while in the 2001–02 season he only played a game ...

(2011). However Caracciolo failed to meet the demand of the management team.

Novara

In January 2012 Genoa signed Italian internationals

Alberto Gilardino Alberto Gilardino (; born 5 July 1982) is an Italian professional football manager and a former player who played as a striker. He is currently in charge as caretaker of Genoa, a club he was contracted with on July 2022 as a youth coach. A pr ...

and

Rodrigo Palacio Rodrigo Sebastián Palacio Alcalde (; born 5 February 1982) is a Argentine basketball player and former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is the son of José Ramón Palacio, a historic player of Club Olimpo during the 1980s. ...

was recovered. It made Caracciolo no room in starting eleven. Caracciolo was loaned to Serie A struggler Novara (18th at that time), replacing the left of

Riccardo Meggiorini Riccardo Meggiorini (born 4 September 1985) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for an amateur side San Giovanni Lupatoto. Club career Early career Meggiorini took his first steps as a footballer at age eight, in a sma ...

. He scored his first goal on 12 February, marking the winner in a 1–0 shock exploit at Stadio San Siro against

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

. In June 2012, Genoa sold back the 50% registration rights back to Brescia for €200,000.

Second return to Brescia

Caracciolo became a member of Brescia in

2012–13 Serie B The 2012–13 Serie B (known as the Serie bwin for sponsorship reasons) is the 81st season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams will contest the league: 16 of which returning from the 2011–12 season, 4 of which promoted from Le ...

. On 22 November 2014, he scored a hat-trick of penalties in a 3–3 home draw against Carpi, match valid for 15th week of

2014–15 Serie B The 2014–15 Serie B was the 83rd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 14 of which returning from the 2013–14 season, 5 of which promoted from Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A. Th ...

Later years

On 2018, after his contract with Brescia ended, he signed for

Serie C The Serie C () 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 body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega ...

club FeralpiSalò. On 28 July 2020 he signed a 2-year contract with

International career

Caracciolo played for the Italy U-21 team, with whom he won a European U-21 Championship in

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 ...

. He also earned a call-up to the

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

squad. Under manager

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and ...

, Caracciolo made his senior international debut for the

Italian national team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIG ...

in a friendly match against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

on 17 November 2004, held in Messina, coming on as a second-half substitute for

; Italy won the match 1–0. On 16 August 2006 he was recalled to the ''Azzurri'' squad by new coach

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and he later became a pillar of the powerho ...

for a friendly game against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

held in Livorno, replacing

Cristiano Lucarelli Cristiano Lucarelli (; born 4 October 1975) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a striker from 1992 until 2012. He was most recently the manager of Serie B club Ternana. Club career Lucarelli was born in Livorno, It ...

in the 65th minute of the 2–0 defeat.

Post-playing career

On 12 April 2022, during a press conference,

confirmed Caracciolo's retirement from active football in order to accept an offer as the club's new director of football with immediate effect.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

Caracciolo's profile from Sampdoria official website

FIGC profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caracciolo, Andrea 1981 births Living people Footballers from Milan Italian footballers Italy international footballers A.C. Perugia Calcio players Brescia Calcio players Palermo F.C. players F.C. Pro Vercelli 1892 players U.C. Sampdoria players Genoa C.F.C. players Novara F.C. players FeralpiSalò players F.C. Lumezzane V.G.Z. A.S.D. players Association football forwards Italy under-21 international footballers Italy youth international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players