Ignazio Abate (; born 12 November 1986) is an Italian professional

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 ...

coach and a former full-back. Although naturally a winger, he could also play as a wide midfielder, wing-back, and on rare occasions, as a

centre-back 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 ...

. As a player, Abate was renowned for his stamina, quick sprints, and ability to make attacking runs down the right flank. In his prime, he was considered one of the fastest players in the top leagues of European football. Abate started playing football with

amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...

club Rescaldina, before joining Milan's youth system in 1999 and making his professional debut for the club in December 2003. From 2004 to 2009, he spent five years on various loan spells with several Italian clubs, before going back to Milan. During the 2010–11 Serie A season, Abate contributed to Milan winning their 18th Scudetto as a first-choice in the right full-back position. After ten consecutive seasons with Milan and 306 competitive appearances for the team, Abate became a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

in July 2019 and announced his retirement as a player in 2020. In 2021, he returned to the club as a youth coach. Abate has represented the Italy national team and the Italy U21 national team, and also played for the Italian U19 national team and the Italian U20 national team. Prior to starring for the senior team, he represented his country in the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

and 2009 European U-21 Championship. He made his senior international debut in November 2011, in a

friendly match An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, scrimmage, demonstration, training match, pre-season game, warmup match, or preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sport, sporting event whose prize money and impact on th ...

against

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, and has since then represented the country in

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

, winning a runners-up medal, at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourn ...

, winning a bronze medal, and at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. Nearly two years after his debut, Abate scored his first international goal against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in November 2013.

Early years

Abate was born in

Sant'Agata de' Goti Sant'Agata de' Goti is a ''comune'' (municipality) and former Catholic bishopric in the Province of Benevento in the Italian region Campania, located about northeast of Naples and about west of Benevento near the Monte Taburno. History Sant' ...

, the son of former Italian

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

Beniamino Abate, now a coach with the Milan youth academy.

Club career

Early career

Abate started playing football with

club Rescaldina, before joining

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

in 1999. During the 2003–04 season, he made his professional debut, playing in a

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 ...

game against Sampdoria on 3 December. He made his debut, in European competitions, in a Champions League group-stage game versus Celta Vigo on 9 December. In that match, he set the record as the youngest Milan player to ever play in 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 ...

, at 17 years and 27 days.

Various loan spells (2004–2007)

For the 2004–05 season, he was loaned out to

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

, where he made 29 appearances and scored 2 goals. Initially set to spend the 2005–06 season on loan at Serie A side Sampdoria, his proposed loan to the ''Blucerchiati'' was terminated by his parent club, who then loaned him to

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 ...

side

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

, where he made 13 appearances. The following campaign was more successful for the young winger, who made 38 appearances during his loan spell at

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 ...

Serie A debut (2007–2009)

In the 2007–08 season, Abate eventually 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, after being acquired by

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

in a co-ownership deal, for

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900,000. That year, he also scored his first goal in Serie A, in a match against

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 27 April 2008. Following Empoli's relegation, Milan fully purchased him for €2 million as well as Luca Antonini for €2.75M (and sold Nicola Pozzi and Lino Marzoratti for €4.75M total fee) only to send him to

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 ...

in another co-ownership deal, for

2 million. Despite an early

injury Injury is physiological damage to the living tissue of any organism, whether in humans, in other animals, or in plants. Injuries can be caused in many ways, including mechanically with penetration by sharp objects such as teeth or with ...

, he had a good

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, featuring in 25 games and scoring 1

goal A goal or objective is an idea of the future or desired result that a person or a group of people envision, plan, and commit to achieve. People endeavour to reach goals within a finite time by setting deadlines. A goal is roughly similar to ...

Back to AC Milan

On 24 June 2009, Milan reclaimed Abate for

2.55 million and this time he was included in the team squad for the upcoming 2009–10 season. After serving mainly as a reserve

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 ...

in the first few games, he later started to be employed as the regular

right 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 ...

by Milan head coach, Leonardo. He made 36 appearances in his first season back at Milan. Due to his good performances, on 11 February 2010 he was offered and signed an extension to his

contract A contract is an agreement that specifies certain legally enforceable rights and obligations pertaining to two or more parties. A contract typically involves consent to transfer of goods, services, money, or promise to transfer any of thos ...

until 2014. New coach Allegri kept him in the same position for the 2010–11 season. His

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 and speed in the

right wing Right-wing politics is the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that view certain social orders and Social stratification, hierarchies as inevitable, natural, normal, or desirable, typically supporting this position b ...

allowed him to outrun opponent

defenders Defender(s) or The Defender(s) may refer to: * Defense (military) * Defense (sports) ** Defender (association football) Arts and entertainment Film, television, and theatre Film * ''The Defender'' (1989 film), a Canadian documentary * ''The D ...

, while his crossing into the centre also resulted in goals regularly. His solid defensive play also lent a hand in winning Milan their 18th Scudetto and the

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 ...

. He made 37 appearances in total in his second season back at Milan. The following season, Abate was again the starting right back at Milan, making 40 appearances in all competitions. On 25 September 2013, Abate scored his first Milan goal after nearly a decade since his debut, a 92-minute equalizer in a 3–3 away draw against

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 the 2014–15 season, Abate captained Milan for the first time in his career, the first time in a 2–0 loss to

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

on 2 November 2014. Abate made his 200th Milan appearance on 9 May 2015 in a 2–1 win over Roma. On 11 June 2015, Milan announced Abate had signed a contract extension to keep him at the club until 2019. Abate played as a regularly starting right-back in the 2015–16 season. One notable moment for him occurred on 22 February 2016, when he made an excellent sliding tackle on

Lorenzo Insigne Lorenzo Insigne (; born 4 June 1991) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward or Midfielder#Winger, winger for Major League Soccer club Toronto FC. Insigne began his pro ...

on the right wing, preventing him from scoring a second goal in a 1–1 away draw against Napoli. In late March 2017, after initially being sidelined for Milan's following fixtures against Chievo,

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 ...

, and

, Abate was ruled out for the remainder of the 2016–17 season, due to requiring surgery after suffering "blunt force trauma" to his left eye, after being hit by a ball in the face during a match against

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

on 26 February. In late 2018, Abate temporarily assumed the role of a centre-back in the wake of an unexpected severe injury crisis that struck the team's defence. In this role, he was praised for his performances by the club's coach,

Gennaro Gattuso Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italians, Italian professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who is currently the Manager (association football), head coach of the Italy na ...

, and various Italian media outlets alike. On 19 May 2019, Abate made his final home appearance for Milan in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

at the

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 ...

stadium. During the match, the Milan Ultras of the ''Curva Sud'' saluted him by holding up a banner with the message "10 years of commitment and humility. You've gained the respect of the Ultras. Thank you Ignazio." Abate cried after seeing the message. His final appearance for the club came a week later, in a 3–2 away win over SPAL on 26 May.

International career

After playing at various levels of youth international football for Italy, at under-19 and under-20 level, Abate made his debut with the Italian under-21 side in a friendly against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, coming off the bench during the second half, on 12 December 2006. With the Olympic national team coached by Casiraghi, he won the 2008 Toulon Tournament, in which he played four games and scored a goal against the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He also took part in the

in Beijing. He then participated in the 2009 European U-21 Championship held in Sweden, making two appearances as Italy reached the semi-finals. Abate made his senior international debut for

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

in November 2011, in a friendly match against

. Abate was a member of the Italian squad that reached the

final. Abate also took part in the

for Italy, making three appearances in the group stage before suffering an injury which kept him out of the semi-finals, as Italy went on to win a bronze medal. Nearly two years after his debut, Abate scored his first international goal in a friendly match against

in November 2013, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He was part of Cesare Prandelli's 23-man Italy squad for the

held in Brazil, making one appearance throughout the tournament, in Italy's 1–0 defeat against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

in their second group match, as Italy were eliminated in the group stage. AC Milan players warming up

Managerial career

On 2 July 2021, Abate was appointed as AC Milan's under-16 side coach. In the 2021–22 season, he led Milan U16 to reach the league final, then lost to Roma. On 5 July 2022, Milan announced Abate's promotion as coach of the under-19 side. On 21 June 2024, Abate took on his first head coaching role, becoming the new manager of

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

club Ternana. On 6 February 2025 Ternana sacked Abate, only to rehire him the following day. He was sacked once again on 1 April 2025, following a 1–4 loss against Lucchese, despite the team being in second place in the league only behind

Virtus Entella Virtus Entella, commonly referred to as Entella, is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in Chiavari, Liguria. Founded in 1914, the club currently competes in the . Entella will play in Serie B 2025/26 after winning ...

Personal life

Abate and his wife Valentina have three sons, Matteo (born 19 November 2011), Andrea (born 14 May 2013) and Benjamin (born 23 February 2018). The couple got married on 18 June 2015.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Abate goal.''

Honours

AC Milan *

: 2010–11 *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Italy U-21 *

Toulon Tournament The Maurice Revello Tournament (officially French: the ''Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello''), previously known as the Toulon Tournament, is a Association football, football tournament, which traditionally features invit ...

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 ...

Italy *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

runner-up:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

Profile
at AIC website * * *
Profile
at

FIGC The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages and coordinates the Italian football l ...

website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Abate, Ignazio 1986 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Benevento Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AC Milan players SSC Napoli players UC Sampdoria players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players Modena FC 2018 players Empoli FC players Torino FC players Serie A players Serie B players Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Italy Italy men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players AC Milan non-playing staff Ternana Calcio managers Serie C managers 21st-century Italian sportsmen