Claudio Sclosa (born 28 February 1961, in

Latisana Latisana ( fur, Tisane, locally ) is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Udine, in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region of north-eastern Italy, on the Tagliamento river. History The city was probably a Roman post station (''Mansio Apicilia'') o ...

), is a retired

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 ...

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 ...

, who played as a

holding midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

in clubs such as

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) 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 ...

and

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

Career

Coming through the youth ranks of then top club

, Sclosa initially had difficulties getting regular match practice at the club. He therefore spent two years at smaller clubs

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 ...

and

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 ...

, before returning to Torino in 1984. Despite being a regular fixture in the clubs' second-place finishing season in 1984–85, Sclosa was sold to Bari a year later. Sclosa played one season at Bari, before moving to

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' 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 its leaning tower, the ...

, where he scored almost half of his 17 professional football league goals. His strong form at Pisa impressed newcomers

, who bought him to the club in the summer of 1988. Sclosa had his longest stay at a club in Lazio, playing for the club through six seasons. When the team was a midfield club, Sclosa was good enough to be a regular fixture in the starting line-up, but when the club bought stars such as

Paul Gascoigne Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally tale ...

Thomas Doll Thomas Jens Uwe Doll (born 9 April 1966) is a German professional football manager and a former football player who is the current Manager of Persija Jakarta. He played as an attacking midfielder for F.C. Hansa Rostock, BFC Dynamo, Hamburger S ...

and

Roberto Di Matteo Roberto Di Matteo (; born 29 May 1970) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. During his playing career as a midfielder, he played for Swiss clubs Schaffhausen, Zürich and Aarau before joining Lazio of Italy and Che ...

, getting playtime was a tough task. Aged 33, Sclosa left Lazio in 1994, embarking on a switch to

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

, where he spent an injury-plagued season, with the club almost being relegated. Sclosa then moved on to

Pistoiese Unione Sportiva Pistoiese 1921 is an Italian association football club, based in Pistoia, Tuscany. Currently, Pistoiese plays in Serie D. Originally founded on 21 April 1921 and later restored after bankruptcy, the team plays their home games ...

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named 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 been ...

, where he played a final season before hanging up his boots aged 35. A few years after his retirement Sclosa became a licensed football

agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuran ...

References

Sources

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sclosa, Claudio 1961 births Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football midfielders SSC Bari players Bologna FC 1909 players Como 1907 players US Cremonese players SS Lazio players Pisa SC players FC Pistoiese SSD players Torino FC players Italian sports agents Living people People from Latisana Footballers from the Province of Udine