Giuseppe "Joe" Funicello (born 19 April 1987 in

Agropoli Agropoli is a town and ''comune'' located in the Cilento area of the province of Salerno, Campania, Italy. It is situated at the start of the Cilentan Coast, on the Tyrrhenian Sea. History Pre-medieval period The promontory on which Agropoli ...

) is a former

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

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 ...

player who is currently the manager of Romanian

Liga III The Liga 3, most often spelled as Liga III, is the third level of the Romanian football league system. It was founded in 1936 and was called Divizia C until 2006. An exception was the seasons 1992–93 to 1996–97, in which the league was call ...

club

FC Olimpia Satu Mare Fotbal Club Olimpia MCMXXI Satu Mare, commonly known as Olimpia Satu Mare, Olimpia MCMXXI or simply as Olimpia, is a Romanian professional football (soccer), football football team, club from Satu Mare, Satu Mare County, Romania, founded on 5 Ma ...

Career

Youth

Funicello grew up in

Norwalk, Connecticut Norwalk is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The city, part of the New York metropolitan area, New York Metropolitan Area, is the List of municipalities of Connecticut by population, sixth-most populous city in Connecticut ...

, and attended Norwalk High School, where he was local newspaper The Hour's 2004 All-Area MVP. He turned down chances to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

, instead travelling to Europe to pursue a professional career.

Professional

Funicello played for the youth team at

Salernitana 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 ...

in Italy, but was not offered a full professional contract by the team, and returned to the United States to consider his options. He briefly trialled with both the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

and the

Atlanta Silverbacks The Atlanta Silverbacks FC were an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1998 as Atlanta Ruckus, the club played in many leagues over the years before folding after the 2015 season. The team played its home game ...

in the

USL First Division The USL First Division (USL-1) was a professional men's soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It was organized by the United Soccer League as its premier league for men from 1996 to 2010, above the USL Second ...

, and played for the

Brooklyn Knights Brooklyn Knights were an American association football, soccer club based in New York City. Founded in 1999, the Knights currently field youth teams in the United Soccer Leagues Super-20 League and Super Y-League. The team also previously field ...

in the

USL Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

, before returning to Europe again in the fall of 2007. Funicello played a handful of games for English team Ashford Town (Middlesex), had a trial with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, and played some more for Corinthian-Casuals in the

Isthmian League Division One South The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

, until being signed by the

Real Maryland Monarchs Real Maryland F.C., commonly known as the Real Maryland Monarchs, was an American soccer team based in Rockville, Maryland, United States. Founded in 2007, the team played in the USL Premier Development League (PDL), the fourth tier of the Americ ...

in the

USL Second Division The USL Second Division (commonly referred to as USL-2) was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, operated by United Soccer Leagues (USL). It was at the third tier of soccer in the United States, behind Major League Soccer ...

in the summer of 2009. Funicello signed with

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic club Thor Akureyri in April 2010, after an extended trial period. He played in 13 games for Thor, before being transferred to IFK Mariehamn. Funicello was transferred to

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''), winning their first title in 2016. The club is managed by Gary Williams, and it plays ...

on 31 August 2010. He signed a one-year extension with IFK Mariehamn after helping them stay in the Veikkausliiga. After a disagreement with current IFK Mariehamn manager Pekka Lyyski, Funicello was transferred to VPS. Funicello expressed his and his teammates horrible relationship with Lyyski. It was the 3rd most read article in Finnish newspaper. Funicello's time was short lived at VPS as he tore ligaments in his ankle in his first week of training with his new club. Resulting in him missing the rest of the regular season. He went on to sign with his former club

Þór Thor (from ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, and fertility. Beside ...

in Iceland helping them advance to 2nd round of the UEFA Europa League, and gain promotion back to the Pepsi Deild. He transferred to FF Jaro on 31 August 2013. Funicello was named head coach of Icelandic club IF Vestri in February 2016. Funicello was temporarily an assistant coach at

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Liga de Fútbol de Primera División (Liga FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Uni ...

club

Limón Limón (), also known as Puerto Limón, is the capital city of both the province and canton of the same name. One of Costa Rica's seven "middle cities" (i.e., main cities outside of San José's Greater Metropolitan Area), Limón has a populat ...

in early 2021. On the 19th of January 2024, he was named head coach of Romanian

club

Personal life

Funicello is the founder and head coach of a player development program and now third division team based in Costa Rica called SoccerViza, which mainly aims to assist players in getting identified by professional clubs and scouts, with previous program alumni including former USYNT captain Tyler Turner and

Zac Lubin Zac Lubin (born August 19, 1989) is an American former professional soccer player. Career College and amateur Lubin spent his entire college career at Saint Martin's University. He made a total of 67 appearances for the Saints and finished with ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Funicello, Giuseppe 1987 births Living people American men's soccer players Italian men's footballers Brooklyn Knights players Corinthian-Casuals F.C. players US Salernitana 1919 players Real Maryland F.C. players Ashford Town (Middlesex) F.C. players IFK Mariehamn players Veikkausliiga players Expatriate men's footballers in Finland USL League Two players USL Second Division players Þór Akureyri players Expatriate men's footballers in Iceland Men's association football defenders Vestri (football club) Men's association football midfielders Norwalk High School (Connecticut) alumni Footballers from the Province of Salerno FC Olimpia Satu Mare managers 21st-century Italian sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England