Giuseppe Rossini (born 23 August 1986) is a Belgian 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 striker.

Club career

Youth career

Rossini was born in

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

, Italy, but at age four he moved to

La Louvière La Louvière (; ) is a city and Municipalities of Belgium, municipality of Wallonia located in the Hainaut Province, province of Hainaut, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boussoit, Haine-Saint-Paul, Haine-Saint-Pie ...

with his family. Rossini started playing football at local club RFC Houdeng. After three years with the youth of

Charleroi Charleroi (, , ; ) is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It is the largest city in both Hainaut and Wallonia. The city is situated in the valley of the Sambre, in the south-west of Belgium, not ...

and another year at RFC Houdeng, he was discovered by a

Mons Mons commonly refers to: * Mons, Belgium, a city in Belgium * Mons pubis (mons Venus or mons veneris), in mammalian anatomy, the adipose tissue lying above the pubic bone * Mons (planetary nomenclature), a sizable extraterrestrial mountain * Batt ...

scouts, where he signed as a youth player.

Professional career

At a match against

Beveren Beveren () is a former municipality in the Belgian province of East Flanders which comprises the towns of Beveren, Doel, Haasdonk, Kallo, Kieldrecht, Melsele, Verrebroek and Vrasene. The port of the Waasland (Dutch: ''Waaslandhaven'') ...

's reserve team,

Utrecht Utrecht ( ; ; ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

scout,

Nol de Ruiter Nol de Ruiter (6 April 1940 – 21 May 2025) was a Dutch association football, football coach and player, who played as a defender (association football), defender. Playing career Born in Utrecht (city), Utrecht, De Ruiter played football for l ...

watched from the sideline. Shortly after, Rossini was signed by Utrecht from

the Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. After playing a year for the reserve side, he was promoted to the first team. There, he played between 2005 and 2008. He was mostly used as a substitute. In 2008, he was signed by

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

from his homeland. There, he played regularly, but like in Utrecht, he never managed to become a regular starter. In July 2010, he was picked up by

Kortrijk Kortrijk ( , ; or ''Kortrik''; ), sometimes known in English as Courtrai or Courtray ( ), is a Belgian City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region, Flemish Provinces of Belgium, province of We ...

, where he signed a contract until 2013. After scoring eight goals in 27 league matches for Kortrijk, Rossini signed with Belgian Pro League side, Zulte Waregem in May 2011. There, he also struggled to truly break through, finishing his only season with the club with 15 appearances in which he managed to score three goals. The season ended in a disappointing 13th place for the club. Rossini was, however, already sent on loan to Sint Truiden halfway through the season. The

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

-based club were in a dire financial situation after owner

Roland Duchâtelet Roland Duchâtelet (; born 14 November 1946) is a Belgian businessman and politician. He is owner of various football clubs. He is the founder of the social-liberal political party Vivant in Belgium. Business In 1990, he became involved in mi ...

had left the club. Sint-Truiden finished bottom of the league, and Rossini could not retain the club in the highest division with his three goals in nine appearances. In August 2012, Rossini returned to one of his first youth clubs, Charleroi. In his first season at the club, he competed for a spot in the starting lineup for the club from Pays Noir. He scored six goals in 22 games that season. However, as the second season progressed, he received less and less playing opportunities. He made 15 appearances that season and only managed to score once. In Rossini's third season with Charleroi, he was loaned out to second-tier

OH Leuven Oh, OH, or Oh! is an interjection, often proclaiming surprise (emotion), surprise. It may refer to: Arts and entertainment Music Albums * Oh! (Girls' Generation album), ''Oh!'' (Girls' Generation album), 2010 * Oh! (ScoLoHoFo album), ''Oh!'' (S ...

during the winter transfer window. His performances improved there, as he scored eight goals in 16 games with Leuven finishing in fifth place in the league standings which meant qualification to the promotion play-offs. Leuven eventually won promotion, and they returned to

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

after one season absence.

Post-professional career

After achieving promotion with Leuven, Rossini retired from professional football and moved to Luxembourg side Progrès Niederkorn. In his sole season there, he made only 15 appearances due to injuries, and scored 7 goals. After this, he returned to Belgium. In Belgium, he returned to

again; this time to play for lower-tier club

Olympic Charleroi Royal Olympic Club Charleroi, commonly referred to as Olympique Charleroi and abbreviated as ROCC, is a Belgian association football based in Charleroi, Hainaut. The club set to compete in the Challenger Pro League from 2025–26, the second t ...

. The 2016–17 was the first season after the league reforms of the summer of 2016, with Olympic Charleroi playing in the

Belgian Division 2 The Belgian Division 2, commonly referred to as simply Tweede Afdeling (in Dutch) or Division 2 (in French) is the fourth-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below ...

. They finished third and just missed out on promotion to the

Belgian National Division 1 The Belgian Division 1 is a semi-professional division and the third-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Challenger Pro League. It was created by the Ro ...

. Rossini was a regular starter, making 27 appearances and scoring nine goals. In the summer of 2017, Rossini left for Solières Sport, where he experienced a disappointing season; Solières finished ninth and Rossini only scored three goals in 22 games. Afterwards, he left for the

Belgian Provincial Leagues The Belgian Provincial leagues are the lower leagues for Belgian football. Until 2016, these were at levels 5-8 in the Belgian football league system however as part of the reform an extra level was created causing the provincial leagues to drop ...

, here he went for Jemeppe. The team finished second and won the league title of the regular season with two points, but lost in the final round of promotion play-offs. Rossini managed to score more than 20 times in the competition. At the end of the season, he left for fellow Provincial League club Tamines. With the club, he won promotion back to the fifth-tier

Belgian Division 3 The Belgian Division 3, commonly referred to as simply Derde Afdeling (in Dutch) or Division 3 (in French) is the fifth-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian Division 2. It was created by the Royal Be ...

, the division from which they had been relegated in the 2018–19 season.

References

External links

fc-utrecht.nl
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rossini, Giuseppe 1986 births Living people Footballers from Bari Belgian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Eredivisie players Belgian Pro League players Challenger Pro League players Belgian Third Division players FC Utrecht players K.V. Mechelen players K.V. Kortrijk players Royal Charleroi S.C. players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Sint-Truidense V.V. players Oud-Heverlee Leuven players FC Progrès Niederkorn players Olympic Charleroi players Italian emigrants to Belgium People of Apulian descent Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Luxembourg Expatriate men's footballers in Luxembourg 21st-century Belgian sportsmen