Federico Julián Fazio (born 17 March 1987) is an Argentine 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

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 ...

. Fazio began his career at

Ferro Carril Oeste Club Ferro Carril Oeste, known simply as Ferro Carril Oeste or familiarly, Ferro, is an Argentine sports club from the neighbourhood of Caballito, Buenos Aires. Although many activities are hosted by the club, Ferro is mostly known for its assoc ...

, signing for

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

in 2007. He made 204 official appearances for the latter club in nine years and scored 15 goals, joining

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

in August 2014 and subsequently returning to Sevilla on loan; in August 2016, he moved to the Italian Serie A with

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 ...

. Fazio made his debut for

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in 2011, and represented the country at the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

Club career

Sevilla

Born in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

, Fazio started his career in the

Primera Nacional Primera Nacional (usually called simply Nacional B, (English "National B Division"), and known as Primera B Nacional until the 2019–20 season) is the second division of the Argentine football league system. The competition is made up of 38 teams ...

with

in 2005. He was bought by Spanish club

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

in late January 2007 and spent the vast majority of the remaining season with the reserves, which he helped to achieve promotion to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

. He made his first-team debut on 9 May 2007, as a substitute for Julien Escudé in a 2–0 home win against

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

in the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

of 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 ...

. Fazio started 2007–08 registered with both teams; however, due to the absences of Javi Navarro (knee, entire campaign missed) and Escudé ( pubis, less than half of possible games), he ended up playing an important part on a side that finished fifth in

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

. His first competitive start took place on 15 August 2007 in the 2–0 home victory over AEK Athens F.C. in the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

. Four days later, he played the full 90 minutes of a 5–3 defeat of

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 ...

at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (, ) is a retractable roof association football, football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a seating capacity of around 83,000 following its extensive renovation completed in late 2024, the stadium has the second-largest ...

to win the

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

. His first league appearance came on 25 August in the season opener, a 4–1 home win over

Getafe CF Getafe Club de Fútbol S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Getafe, a city in the Community of Madrid. They compete in La Liga, the top tier of the Football in Spain, Spanish football. The team has pla ...

. On 7 May 2008, Fazio scored his first goal for Sevilla in a 3–0 victory at

Racing de Santander Real Racing Club de Santander, S.A.D. (), also known as Racing de Santander () or simply Racing, is a football club based in Santander, Spain, Santander, Cantabria, Spain, that currently competes in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spani ...

. He added another in that match, and a third a week later in a 2–0 home win against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

; in both games, he played as a

defensive 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. ...

. In his

second year The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of ...

, they finished third but Fazio featured slightly less and saw time at both positions. He was mostly injured during the following season, making only ten league appearances (on 13 March 2010, he headed home in a 1–1 home draw against Deportivo). The

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns ended the league in fourth place, also winning the domestic cup, but he was not picked for the final of the latter competition itself. Still bothered with some physical problems in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, Fazio played the most he had in years, appearing in 19 matches – 17 starts – as Sevilla ranked fifth and qualified for the Europa League.

Tottenham Hotspur

Fazio signed for

on 26 August 2014 for a fee of £8 million, on a four-year contract. On 18 October he started on his

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 ...

debut at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, but was given a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

for denying

Sergio Agüero Sergio Leonel Agüero del Castillo (born 2 June 1988), also known as Kun Agüero, is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football)#Striker, striker. He is regarded as one of th ...

a goalscoring opportunity in the penalty area, in an eventual 4–1 defeat. On 6 November he met the same fate, after conceding a penalty with a foul on Jerónimo Barrales in the closing stages of a 2–1 away win over Asteras Tripolis F.C. in the Europa League group stage.

Sevilla return

On 31 January 2016, after only one competitive game in the first part of the season (a 1–2 home loss to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the League Cup) Fazio returned to Sevilla on a five-month loan. He was sent off after just 24 minutes on his debut for two bookable offences, in a 1–1 away draw with

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

. The decision to hand Fazio the number 16 shirt was controversial, as convention had previously been for only homegrown players to wear the number that

Antonio Puerta Antonio José Puerta Pérez (; 26 November 1984 – 28 August 2007) was a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who played solely for Sevilla FC, Sevilla. Mainly a Midfielder#Wide midfielder, left midfielder who could also oper ...

wore when he died playing for the team in 2007.

Roma

On 3 August 2016, Fazio was loaned to

AS Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: Help:IPA/Italian, ) is a professional Association football, football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier ...

, with the Italians having the possibility of buying outright at the end of the campaign for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

3.2 million. He made his

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 ...

debut 17 days later, playing ten minutes in a 4–0 home win over

Udinese Calcio Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional association football, football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football league system, Italian fo ...

. A permanent deal was agreed on 15 July 2017. Fazio tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

in November 2020. After the arrival of new manager

José Mourinho José Mário dos Santos Mourinho Félix (; born 26 January 1963) is a Portuguese professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player, who is currently the head coach of Süper Lig club Fenerba ...

, he did not receive any playing time and was ultimately made to train on his own; as a result, he took legal action against the club.

Salernitana

On 29 January 2022, shortly after initially rejecting an offer, Fazio signed a 2.5-year contract with

US Salernitana 1919 Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

International career

Fazio was an integral part of the Argentina under-20 team that won the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

. The following year, he helped the Olympic team win gold at the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in Beijing: he played twice in the tournament, as backup for

Nicolás Pareja Nicolás Martín Pareja (born 19 January 1984) is an Argentine former professional Association footballer, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, central defender. After starting out at Argentinos Juniors he went ...

and

Ezequiel Garay Ezequiel Marcelo Garay González (; born 10 October 1986) is an Argentine former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, central defender. He started his career with Newell's Ol ...

. On 1 June 2011, Fazio made his debut for the full side, appearing in a 4–1 friendly defeat in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He scored his first goal for his country in another exhibition game, opening an eventual 6–0 win in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

on 13 June 2017. Fazio was selected by manager Jorge Sampaoli for his

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

squad. He made his debut in the competition on 30 June, coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for

Marcos Rojo Faustino Marcos Alberto Rojo (born 20 March 1990) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Defender (association football), defender for Boca Juniors, where he is Captain (association football), captain. Rojo ...

in a 4–3 round-of-16 loss against

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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

''Argentina score listed first, score column indicates score after each Fazio goal.''

Honours

Sevilla B *

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

: 2006–07 Sevilla *

: 2009–10 *

UEFA 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 ...

: 2013–14 Tottenham Hotspur *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2014–15 Argentina U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

Argentina U23 *

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fazio, Federico 1987 births Living people Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent 21st-century Argentine sportsmen Argentine men's footballers Footballers from Buenos Aires Men's association football central defenders Men's association football midfielders Primera Nacional players Ferro Carril Oeste footballers La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Sevilla Atlético players Sevilla FC players Premier League players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Serie A players AS Roma players US Salernitana 1919 players UEFA Europa League–winning players Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Argentina men's international footballers 2018 FIFA World Cup players Olympic footballers for Argentina Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Argentina Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy