Daniel Sartori Bessa (born 14 January 1993) is a Brazilian

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 plays as a

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 ...

for Emirati club

Al-Ittihad Al-Ittihad may refer to: Sports Football Men Teams * Al-Ittihad Club (Jeddah), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia * Al Ittihad SCSC (Tripoli), Tripoli, Libya * Al Ittihad Gheryan, Gharyan, Libya * Al Ittihad Misurata SC, Misurata, Libya * Al Ittihad SC ...

. He was called up to the

Italy national under-18 football team The Italian national under-18 football team represents Italy in international football at an under-18 age level and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (''Federazione Italiana Gioco Calcio''), the governing body for football in Italy ...

Club career

Early career

Bessa started his career in Brazil with

Clube Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded ...

. He also played

futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

with Coritiba Futsal in 2004.

Internazionale

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, ...

noticed Bessa when he was playing for

Atletico Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

's youth team and brought him to Italy in 2008. 2012 was his breakthrough year in the Primavera, being a main reason for Inter winning the NextGen Series, scoring three goals in the tournament and having assisted

Samuele Longo Samuele Longo (born 12 January 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Spanish club Antequera. Club career Early career Born in Valdobbiadene, Province of Treviso, Veneto, Longo started his career at Treviso FBC ...

's goal in the final. Unfortunately, an eye injury made him unavailable for newly appointed first team coach, former primavera coach

Andrea Stramaccioni Andrea Stramaccioni (; born 9 January 1976) is an Italian Manager (association football), football manager and former player who last managed Qatari club Al-Gharafa SC, Al Gharafa. A football coach with experiences as a youth coach of A.S. Roma ...

. He was back in time for the Primavera playoffs. He suffered a knee injury in the final versus

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 ...

which kept him out for the rest of the year. In November 2012, Bessa's contract with Inter was renewed.

Vicenza (loan)

On 31 January 2013, Bessa was loaned to

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza S.p.A. (acronym for ''Lanerossi Vicenza''), better known as Vicenza or Lanerossi, is an Italian football club based in the city of Vicenza. It plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian football league. Founded on 9 March ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut for Vicenza on 9 March 2013 in a match against

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

, coming on as a substitute. Having not played regularly for over half a year due to injury, an unfit Bessa didn't get many minutes for a relegation-battling Vicenza side.

Olhanense (loan)

On 15 July 2013, Bessa, along with fellow Inter player

Vid Belec Vid Belec (; born 6 June 1990) is a Slovenian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Cypriot First Division club APOEL. Club career Internazionale Signed by Internazionale along with Rene Krhin at the age of 16, Belec spent three ...

, completed a loan to

Sporting Clube Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association First Division, the fifth tier of P ...

. He made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

debut on 17 August 2013 against Vitoria de Guimaraes. On 27 November, Olhanense coach Paulo Alves announced that Bessa, who had only managed 13 minutes of playing time all season, wasn't part of his plans.

Sparta Rotterdam (loan)

On 22 January 2014, Bessa started training with

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

team

Sparta Rotterdam Sparta Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club based in Rotterdam. Established on 1 April 1888, Sparta Rotterdam is the oldest professional football team in the Netherlands. Sparta currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top flig ...

. After some injury problems he finally made his Eerste Divisie debut on 9 March, coming on as a substitute in the 54th minute against

Jong FC Twente Jong FC Twente (English: Young FC Twente) are the reserve team of FC Twente, a team from Enschede which played in the Eerste Divisie from 2013 to 2015. Staff * Head coach: Michel Jansen Michel Jansen (born 3 March 1966) is a Dutch footbal ...

Bologna (loan)

On 27 August 2014, Bessa was loaned to

side

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. He made his debut as a 74th-minute substitute in the Serie B match against

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

on 21 September. On 13 December 2014, he scored his first Serie B goal against

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

. On 9 June 2015, Bologna were promoted to Serie A, after a 1–1 draw with

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 ...

in the promotion playoffs. Bessa finished the season with 30 appearances, 1 goal and 3 assists, with 2 being from corners.

Como (loan)

On 6 August 2015, Bessa was signed by

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

Verona

On 12 August 2016, after representing Inter in pre-season, Bessa joined

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 ...

on a temporary deal, with an obligation to sign him outright. According to Inter and ''fcinter1908.it'', Bessa was sold for €1.2 million transfer fee.

Genoa (loan)

On 31 January 2018, Bessa was signed by

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

on loan until 30 June 2019.

UAE

On 16 July 2022, Bessa joined

Al-Ittihad Kalba Kalba Football Club (Arabic: نادي كلباء الرياضي الثقافي), more colloquially abbreviated as Al-Ittihad, is a professional football club founded in 1972 and based in the city of Kalba, in the Emirate of Sharjah in the United ...

in the United Arab Emirates on a two-year contract.

Playing style

Bessa is a traditional

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

, whose playing style closely resembles that of a classic number 10; he has been compared to a both

Wesley Sneijder Wesley Sneijder (; born 9 June 1984) is a Dutch former professional footballer. Noted for his playmaking ability, he was considered one of the best midfielders in the world during his prime. A product of the Ajax Youth Academy, Sneijder started ...

and

Xavi Xavi () is a Catalan given name, usually used as a nickname for Xavier. Notable people with the name include: Football * Xavi Hernández (born 1980), Spanish football manager and former player * Xavi Andorrà (born 1985), Andorran footballe ...

. Bessa is a technically gifted player and excels at playing behind the strikers. He has a low center of gravity but also has the strength and ability to shield off defenders and protect the ball. Due to his eye for goal, he often alternates between playing as a central

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. ...

and as a

second striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

in a 4–4–1–1 formation, a role which is colloquially known as playing "in the hole", and in which he was deployed in the NextGen series. He has also been used in more advanced positions on occasion, as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, and his playing style in this role has occasionally been compared with that of

Wayne Rooney Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player who was most recently the head coach of EFL Championship club Plymouth Argyle F.C., Pl ...

. Bessa also has the ability to play in deeper midfield roles, and move up with the play as he dictates it in midfield with his passing, but is also known to be involved more directly in his team's attacking moves. Although he is not known for his speed, his awareness and vision have been highlighted as his best qualities; he has also been noted for his ball control and

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills.

Career statistics

Honours

; Inter Primavera * NextGen series (1): 2011–12 * League Champion (1): 2011–12

References

External links

*
Voetbal International profile

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bessa, Daniel Living people 1993 births Footballers from São Paulo Men's association football midfielders Brazilian men's footballers Brazilian people of Italian descent Brazilian people of Venetian descent Inter Milan players LR Vicenza players S.C. Olhanense players Sparta Rotterdam players Como 1907 players Hellas Verona FC players Genoa CFC players Goiás Esporte Clube players Kalba FC players Serie A players Serie B players Primeira Liga players Eerste Divisie players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players UAE Pro League players Brazilian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the United Arab Emirates Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Arab Emirates 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen