Benito Carbone (born 14 August 1971) is an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager and former professional player. Since August 2024, he is the head coach of

Inter Milan 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 Association football, football List of football ...

's under-18 side. As a player, he was played as a forward, winger or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, notably playing in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

, Aston Villa, Bradford City, Derby County and

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, and in

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 ...

for

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 ...

, Napoli,

and

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 also played for Reggina, Casertana, Ascoli, Como, Catanzaro,

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 ...

and

Pavia Pavia ( , ; ; ; ; ) is a town and comune of south-western Lombardy, in Northern Italy, south of Milan on the lower Ticino (river), Ticino near its confluence with the Po (river), Po. It has a population of c. 73,086. The city was a major polit ...

. In 2006, he spent time on loan in the A-League with

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club, commonly known as Sydney FC, is a professional association football, soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. They compete in the top-tier men's league in Australia, the A-League Men. Established in 2004, ...

. He also represented Italy under-21 for eight times during his playing career.

Club career

Torino

Carbone started his career at

, who discovered him at a youth tournament while he played for A.S. Scilla Calcio, an amateur youth team of

Scilla ''Scilla'' () is a genus of about 30 to 80 species of bulb-forming perennial plant, perennial herbaceous plants in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Scilloideae. Sometimes called the squills in English, they are native to woodlands, subalpine ...

. He made his debut in

with Torino on 15 January 1989 against

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

and played a further three games that season. In that season, Torino were relegated 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 ...

, and the following season, he played five games in the Italian second division without scoring any goals. He was sent on loan to Reggina the following season, also in

, where he played 31 games and scored five goals. In the 1991–92 season, always in the lower division, he was loaned to Casertana (31 matches with four goals scored). The following season moved to Ascoli and played a total of 28 games, scoring six goals. Carbone returned to Turin in the 1993–94 season. He made 28 appearances in the league and scored three goals. In the summer of 1994, he was purchased by Roma, but a few days later was involved in a transfer with Napoli that brought Daniel Fonseca to the ''Giallorossi''. Carbone was valued at 7.5 billion lire. With Napoli, he played 29 games and scored four goals in the league, plus five games and three goals in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, wearing the number 10 shirt.

Internazionale

In the summer of 1995, he transferred to Inter for 6 billion lire. In Milan, he played 31 games, scoring just two goals. He spent much of the following season, from 1996 to 1997, on the bench under Roy Hodgson.

Sheffield Wednesday

Carbone signed for English

side

for £3 million in October 1996. At Wednesday, Carbone played alongside his compatriot

Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a Forward (association football), forward. He primari ...

; Carbone has spoken fondly of playing alongside the Italian striker. Carbone became the club's highest goalscorer for the 1998–99 season, scoring nine goals, and was voted the fans' favourite player and player of the season. After a contract dispute with Wednesday at the start of the 1999–2000 season, he was linked with a move away from the club.

Aston Villa

He joined Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee and played for a season at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

; his most memorable moment came when he scored a hat-trick against Leeds United in a 3–2 win in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, including a spectacular long-range strike from 35 yards; the day before the match, Villa manager John Gregory had refused to let the homesick Italian return to his homeland, insisting he would feel better after scoring against Leeds. This, added to his strikes against Darlington and Everton, meant he contributed five goals in Villa's cup run that season. Carbone started in the

final alongside strike partner Dion Dublin in a 1–0 loss to Chelsea in the 2000 final, with Chelsea winning the match 1–0 after a goal by Roberto Di Matteo; Carbone nearly scored when his goal-bound shot was cleared off the line by Frank Leboeuf. Carbone earned an

runners-up medal. At the start of the 2000–01 season, several clubs, including Fiorentina, Napoli,

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

, Everton, Coventry City and Bradford City, showed an interest in Carbone's services. Carbone was especially strongly linked with a move to Fiorentina to return to

as a replacement for playmaker Rui Costa, who was linked with leaving the club.

Bradford City

Bradford City, who had just escaped relegation from the Premiership the previous season, and were aiming to establish themselves in the top flight, made the best offer to Carbone, and he joined the Yorkshire club on a free transfer. The club also signed Stan Collymore to play alongside him. Despite some disillusionment over his wages, Carbone scored some memorable goals and endeared himself to the Valley Parade faithful. Bradford City were relegated and, although he played the start of the following season with them as well as pledging his future to them, he later moved on loan to first Derby County, where he scored once against former club Aston Villa, and then

, where he again scored once in the league against Aston Villa. In 2002, Bradford chairman Geoffrey Richmond informed him that the club would fold if they continued to pay his £40,000-a-week wages. Carbone revealed in later years that he did not want to be known as the man who made Bradford City fold, and he gave up £3.2 million.

Later career

Carbone left Bradford and returned to Italy with Como and played for

from 2003 to 2005. At Parma, Carbone revitalised his career under the leadership of Cesare Prandelli. Parma were in financial trouble and had to sell star players during the season, such as Adrian Mutu, Adriano and Hidetoshi Nakata. During the 2003–04 season, Carbone and Alberto Gilardino became the main two strikers at the club. After a one-year stint with

, Carbone signed a four-game guest contract with the Australian team

as a potential replacement for Dwight Yorke, who was the club's previous marquee player. He capped his debut against Adelaide United with two assists and a goal. After his debut many believed he would be better than Yorke, but during his third guest game he pulled a hamstring muscle that sidelined him for at least seven weeks. Carbone failed to reach an agreement with Sydney for a long-term contract, ending his short-lived career with Sydney. In 2014, Carbone revealed his disappointment in the injury which ended his spell at the club, and he revealed that he would one day like to return to the club as a manager. Upon returning to Italy, Carbone joined northern side

in August 2007, where he was appointed captain. In his first season back in the lower leagues, Carbone scored five goals in 29 appearances, as Pavia finished fourth from bottom. In total, he scored 31 goals in all competitions for the club, and his goals helped Pavia avoid relegation. Carbone was often accused of being a mercenary due to his frequent transfers between clubs. He was, however, very popular with the fans of his clubs, particularly at

and Bradford City. He also waived much of the money owed to him—approximately £3.32 million—after he had moved to Como, which helped them survive going into administration in 2002.

International career

Carbone was never capped for Italy at senior level, although he represented the under-18 side in 1989, scoring four goals in seven appearances, and he made eight appearances with the under-21 side between 1989 and 1994, scoring three goals; he was a member of the team that won the 1994 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, notably scoring the decisive penalty in the semi-final shoot-out against hosts

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. In total he made 15 appearances for the Italian youth squads, scoring seven goals.

Managerial career

Pavia

After his retirement, Carbone accepted to stay at

as youth coach, guiding the ''Berretti'' under-19 team. In March 2011, he was then promoted as head coach to replace Gianluca Andrissi. He guided Pavia to a safe place in the 2010–11 Lega Pro Prima Divisione standings, leading the club out of the relegation zone in his two months in charge of the first team. At Pavia, Carbone was given the nickname '

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven Fantasy literature, fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young Magician (fantasy), wizard, Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, and his friends ...

' with Pavia fans believing Carbone had worked 'magic' both as a player and Manager to help them avoid relegation.

Varese

After impressing as

manager, On 16 June 2011 he was surprisingly announced as new head coach of

club

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

, replacing local hero Giuseppe Sannino, who left to become new boss of

club

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 ...

, after guiding the club from

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione 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 ...

to a spot in the promotion playoffs during his last season in charge. Joining Carbone as part of Carbone's management team at Varese was ex- Internazionale player Mauro Milanese, who joined the club as Sporting Director. On 1 October 2011, he was sacked and replaced by Rolando Maran.

Saint-Christophe Vallée d'Aoste

On 29 October 2012, after being sacked by

, he was installed as the new coach of Saint-Christophe Vallée d'Aoste in

in place of the sacked Giovanni Zichella. Saint-Christophe Vallée d'Aoste were bottom of the table before Carbone took charge, and he led them up the table. Carbone eventually resigned as Saint-Christophe Vallée d'Aoste head coach due to restrictions placed upon him.

Pursuing a career in England

After leaving Saint-Christophe Vallée d'Aoste, Carbone, who was a highly rated young manager, revealed he had turned down three to four job offers to manage in Italy due to him wanting to pursue a management career in England. Carbone had also revealed that current Italy national football team manager Cesare Prandelli had endorsed Carbone to become a top manager. After being linked with the managerial vacancy at

in December 2013, Carbone proclaimed that he wanted to manage the club. On 10 January 2014, Carbone appeared on

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programme ''The Fantasy Football Club'', presented by his ex- Aston Villa teammate Paul Merson, and revealed that he was still interested in the role. However, the club appointed caretaker manager Stuart Gray as full-time manager on 25 January, after a string of impressive results.

Leeds United role

In April 2014, Massimo Cellino announced he was giving Carbone the opportunity to help rebuild the academy at Leeds United, and Carbone joined the youth team set up at Thorp Arch as a sporting director. On 14 May 2014, Carbone announced on his official

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page that his job title was "Special Consultant to the board of directors for sport matters including Facilities & Academy." The club confirmed Carbone's position at the club in a statement on the club's official website on 15 May, they confirmed that Carbone "will be involved with all football matters, including both the first team and the academy." On 11 July, owner Massimo Cellino revealed Carbone would also manage Leeds' Under 21 team. Cellino announced Carbone's departure in an August 2014 press interview, citing "family reasons."

Ternana

On 14 August 2016, Carbone was appointed manager of Ternana. Hired as a replacement to Christian Panucci, he resigned in January 2017, after a negative string of results that left Ternana in second-to-last place in the league.

Crotone

On 8 December 2017, Carbone was appointed as assistant manager at Crotone.

Later years

In 2020, he joined Gianni De Biasi's coaching staff in charge of the Azerbaijan national football team. On 1 August 2024, he was unveiled as the new Under-18 coach of

Style of play

A quick, mobile, talented, and creative supporting forward with an eye for goal, Carbone was known primarily for his technical skills, his use of feints, and for his ability to provide assists for team-mates as an offensive playmaker. A versatile forward, although his preferred role was that of a second striker, he was capable of playing in several positions along the front line or in midfield, and was also deployed as a striker, as a winger, and as an attacking midfielder throughout his career. Despite his ability, he was also known to be inconsistent.

Trivia

When Carbone was at Napoli, due to his admiration for the number 10 shirt and also of his idols Diego Maradona and Roberto Baggio, Carbone had specially made shin pads for the rest of his career, which featured a picture of Maradona on the left shin pad, and a picture of Baggio on the right shin pad. On 8 July 2014, Carbone played in a team for his former club

vs a

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

Legends team for the 2014 Corazón Classic Match for charity.

Honours

Torino *

: 1989–90 Aston Villa *

runner-up: 1999–2000 Italy U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 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 ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

References

External links

Player Profile at sydneyfc.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Carbone, Benito 1971 births Living people People from Bagnara Calabra Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers AS Reggina 1914 players Casertana FC players Bradford City A.F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Aston Villa F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Middlesbrough F.C. players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players SSC Napoli players Parma Calcio 1913 players Torino FC players LR Vicenza players Inter Milan players Premier League players Sydney FC players A-League Men players AC Pavia 1911 SSD players Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Serie A players Serie B players Footballers from the Metropolitan City of Reggio Calabria US Catanzaro 1929 players Como 1907 players Italian football managers SSD Varese Calcio managers Emirates Club managers UAE Pro League managers Inter Milan non-playing staff Italian expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Italian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates Italian expatriate football managers Men's association football forwards Expatriate football managers in the United Arab Emirates