Emiliano Moretti (; born 11 June 1981) is an Italian former professional

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 a

centre back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He began his career at Lodigiani and was signed by

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

in 1998. In March 2001 he made his debut 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 ...

under

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for h ...

, before spending periods at

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 ...

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

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, ...

and

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 ...

. In 2004, he was signed by Spaniards

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, where he won the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

in 2007–08. In 2009, he returned to Italy where he spent four seasons with

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 ...

. In August 2013, he was signed 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 ...

, where he remained until his retirement in 2019, having collected over 600 career appearances at club level. Internationally, Moretti represented Italy at under-16 and under-20 youth levels. He was also part of the under-21 team that won the

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 ...

and a bronze medal at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad (), and officially branded as Athens 2004 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 13 to 29 August 2004 in Athens, Greece. The Games saw 10,625 athletes ...

. On 18 November 2014, at the age of 33, he became the oldest player to debut for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

, playing as a starter in a friendly against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. In total, he collected 2 appearances for Italy at senior level between 2014 and 2015.

Club career

Early career

Moretti started his career with local club Lodigiani, and in 1998 transferred to

. He made his Serie A debut in March 2001, and was a member of the team that won the 2001

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

. In the 2001–02 season, he played in 27 matches. Right before the Fiorentina

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the deb ...

, Moretti moved to

in June 2002 for a fee of €2.6 million, and was loaned to

to help them avoid relegation. In 2003,

signed Moretti for €1.8 million (part of Stephen Appiah's €2 million loan), loaning him to Serie A team

. In 2004, with Parma facing financial problems and

Claudio Ranieri Claudio Ranieri (; born 20 October 1951) is an Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is the head coach of Serie A club AS Roma, Roma but will leave on 30 June 2025, followin ...

becoming head coach of

, the left defender was traded to Valencia.

Valencia

In the summer of 2004 he was transferred outright to Spanish club Valencia, who had already purchased fellow Italians

Bernardo Corradi Bernardo Corradi (; born 30 March 1976) is an Italian former association football, football coach and former player. A forward (association football), forward, he played top-division football for several teams in Italy, Spain, and England, and ...

, Marco Di Vaio and

Stefano Fiore Stefano Fiore (; born 17 April 1975) is an Italian Association football, football manager and former player, who played as an attacking midfielder or on the winger (association football), right wing. He was in charge as manager technical area of ...

. On 27 August, while remaining on the bench, he was part of the team that won the

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

, beating Porto 2–1.

would use Moretti predominantly at left-back, and, despite a difficult start due to competition with

Fábio Aurélio Fábio Aurélio Rodrigues (born 24 September 1979) is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played for Grêmio, São Paulo, Valencia and Liverpool. He played as either a left back or left winger and represented Brazil at under-17 and ...

and compatriot

Amedeo Carboni Amedeo Carboni (; born 6 April 1965) is an Italian former footballer who played as a left-back. In a professional career which spanned 22 years and saw him appear in nearly 700 official games, he played mainly for Roma (seven seasons) and Valen ...

, would soon earn the starting spot. He scored his first goal for Valencia on 28 November 2004 in the Primera División in a 2–0 home win against

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest of the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain, and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, seventh largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. The capital of the island, Palma, Majorca, Palma, i ...

. In the Champions League he played 4 games against

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 ...

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

and

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, with 29 appearances during the season. The following season, he was a starter, making 33 appearances and a decisive contribution to the achievement of a third-place finish. At the beginning of the following season, on 6 November 2006, in the match against

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as RCD Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. The club competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spa ...

, Moretti was seriously injured, damaging his lateral ligament of the knee, forcing him to the sidelines for more than three months. Despite the injury, the season remained one of the most important on a personal level and as a team, which reached the quarter-finals of the Champions League, defeated only by Chelsea. Moretti ended the year with 34 total appearances. The 2007–08 season was not as positive, which concluded with Valencia tenth. Moretti remained a protagonist of the side, leading to Valencia's victory on 16 April 2008 in the

2008 Copa del Rey final The 2008 Copa del Rey final was the 106th final of the Spanish cup competition, the Copa del Rey. The final was played at Vicente Calderón in Madrid, on 16 April 2008. The match was won by Valencia, who beat Getafe 3–1, winning the tournament ...

, playing all the matches from the initial stage to the final. The following season, he was still a starter in the Spanish side, which reached the first knockout round of 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 ...

, which concludes the year sixth place in the Primera División. Moretti disputed 32 games.

Genoa

After 172 appearances and 4 goals with the Spanish club, he returned to Italy to play for

, engaged in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. The transfer fee was €3.5 million, according to Genoa. He made his debut for Genoa on 23 August 2009, a 3–2 victory at home against

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 ...

. A week later he scored his first goal in red and blue colours against

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

. His first season with the ''Grifoni'' finished with 37 appearances and 1 goal in total. The following year, he only made 18 appearances under

Gian Piero Gasperini Gian Piero Gasperini (born 26 January 1958) is an Italian professional football manager and former professional footballer who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Roma. After starting his managerial career at Crotone, he had spells in ch ...

, while the team finished the season in tenth place. The 2011–12 season is even more difficult for the team, and despite 27 appearances and a goal (against Inter Milan), Genoa finished in fourth last position. He was confirmed part of the Genoa defence for the 2012–13 season, contributing 33 total appearances. On 5 May 2013, he celebrated his hundredth appearances in

with the shirt of Genoa, on the occasion of a match ending 4–1 against

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 ...

Torino

After being close to a renewal with Genoa, on 11 July 2013 he was signed by

on a free transfer, on a two-year contract. He made his competitive debut for the ''Granata'' on 17 August, in

against

. He scored his first official goal for Torino on 24 December in a 4–1 win 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 ...

. At the end of the season he extended his contract until 2016. On 25 January 2015, he scored a goal in the 94th minute in which Torino defeated

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

after 27 years. It was his second goal for Torino. On 30 August, he scored his first goal of the 2015–16 season, the equaliser in a 3–1 home win against

. On 25 November, his contract was renewed until 2017. On 2 April 2017, he scored his first goal of the 2016–17 season in a 2–2 home draw against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

. On 5 April, his contract was renewed until 2018. On 26 May 2019, he made his last appearance for Torino and of his football career, coming on as a substitute for

Armando Izzo Armando Izzo (; born 2 March 1992) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Monza. He previously played for the Italy national team. Club career Early career Izzo started playing football at the age of 13 ...

, and helped Torino beat

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 ...

3–1 at home, after which he retired from professional football; in total, he collected over 600 career appearances at club level

International career

Moretti was in Italy's squad in the

1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship The 1998 UEFA European Under-16 Championship was the 16th edition of UEFA's UEFA European Under-17 Championship, European Under-16 Football Championship. Scotland hosted the championship, during 26 April – 8 May 1998. Players born on or after 1 ...

, which the ''Azzurrini'' lost to Republic of Ireland in the final. With the under-21, he won the

and a bronze medal at the

football tournament. On 9 November 2014, he was called up to the senior

national team A national sports team (commonly known as a national team or a national side) is a team that represents a nation, rather than a particular club or region, in an international sport. The term is most commonly associated with team sports, for exa ...

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

ahead of a

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

match against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

and a friendly against

. On 18 November, he was deployed as a starter in

during a 1–0 win against

, becoming, at 33 years, 5 months and 7 days, the oldest player to debut for Italy. He made his second and final appearance for Italy a 1–1 friendly draw against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in Turin on 31 March 2015.

Style of play

A naturally left-footed defender, Moretti was originally an attacking

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, but throughout his career he has often been used as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

. He is noted for his physicality, good positional sense, excellent technique, and ability in the air.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Fiorentina *

: 2000–01 Juventus *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

: 2002–03 Valencia *

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 ...

: 2007–08 Italy U21 *

* Olympic bronze:

Orders :*

5th Class / Knight: ''

Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republic, it is awarded for ...

'': 2004

References

External links

* *
FIGC

Stats. at Voetbal International
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Moretti, Emiliano Living people 1981 births Footballers from Rome Men's association football fullbacks Italian men's footballers AS Lodigiani players ACF Fiorentina players Juventus FC players Modena FC 2018 players Parma Calcio 1913 players Bologna FC 1909 players Genoa CFC players Torino FC players Valencia CF players Serie A players Serie C players La Liga players Olympic bronze medalists for Italy Olympic footballers for Italy Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Italian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Italy men's international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 21st-century Italian sportsmen