Manuel Pasqual (; born 13 March 1982) is a retired Italian 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 ...

who played for the Italy national team. He is an offensive

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

who is well known for his

crossing Crossing may refer to: * ''Crossing'' (2008 film), a South Korean film * ''Crossing'' (album), a 1985 album by world music/jazz group Oregon * Crossing (architecture), the junction of the four arms of a cruciform church * Crossing (knot theory) ...

ability. He is also capable of playing as a

wide midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

or as wing-back on the left in a 3–5–2 formation. Pasqual is a

dead-ball Dead ball is a term in many ball sports in which the ball is deemed temporarily not playable, and no movement may be made with it or the players from their respective positions of significance. Depending on the sport, this event may be quite rout ...

specialist and often took free-kicks as well as corners for

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

, providing several assists from his

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

indirect set pieces and crosses.

Club career

Early career

After a couple of seasons playing for lowly-placed

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

teams such as Derthona and

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian and fur, Pordenon) is the main ''comune'' of Pordenone province of northeast Italy in the Friuli Venezia Giulia region. The name comes from Latin ''Portus Naonis'', meaning 'port on the Noncello (Latin ''Naon'') River'. H ...

, Pasqual joined

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1. Before the 1978 ...

Arezzo Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation o ...

in January 2002, having previously played for

Treviso Treviso ( , ; vec, Trevixo) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 84,669 inhabitants (as of September 2017). Some 3,000 live within the Veneti ...

, at that point also a team in Serie C1. Pasqual became a key player at Arezzo, and one of the main catalysts for promotion into

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named 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 been ...

. Pasqual played one more remarkable season for Arezzo.

Fiorentina

On 4 July 2005, Pasqual joined

in a joint-ownership deal. He made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Copp ...

debut on 18 September against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a foo ...

, a match which finished 4–2. His good form in his first Serie A season earned him a call-up to the Italy national team from its head coach,

Marcello Lippi Marcello Romeo Lippi (; born 12 April 1948) is an Italian former professional football player and manager, who led the Italian national team to victory in the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as Italy head coach in the summer of 2004 and ...

. Fiorentina made a full bid for his services in June 2006. At Fiorentina, Pasqual became known for his powerful left foot and foraging runs. After a disappointing dip in form during the 2007–08 season, Pasqual was highly linked with the likes of

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football league system. Founded in ...

and Napli, and was almost certain to leave with the arrival of winger

Juan Manuel Vargas Juan Manuel Vargas Risco (; born 5 October 1983) is a Peruvian retired footballer that played as a left back. Vargas' previous clubs include Universitario, Colón, Catania, Genoa and Fiorentina. He played for Peru at international level. Hi ...

. However, Vargas' disappointing form in defence allowed him to move forward, and Pasqual made a grand return in the 2008–09 season, silencing many of his critics with his performances and even scoring his first goal in over two years. In July 2009, Pasqual signed a new, three-year contract with Fiorentina. He extended his contract again in November 2011. Since the 2012–13 season, Pasqual has been Fiorentina's team

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Empoli

On 31 May 2016, Pasqual signed with

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 in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

on a two-year contract.

International career

Pasqual's performances earned him a national team call up by then-Italy coach Marcello Lippi, who capped him for a friendly match against

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

, played at his club's home stadium in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

, the Stadio Artemio Franchi, on 1 March 2006. Italy sensationally won the match by 4–1, with Pasqual coming on in the last minute as a substitute for

Mauro Camoranesi Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra (, ; born 4 October 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player who played as a right midfielder or right winger. Camoranesi began his career in Argentina in 1995, where he played for Aldosivi and B ...

. Pasqual also attracted the attention of

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and he later became a pillar of the powerho ...

, who succeeded Lippi. Donadoni called-up Pasqual for Italy's UEFA Euro 2008 qualification matches against Lithuania and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

in September, and matches against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian invas ...

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

in October. On 10 September 2013, he was capped by Italy coach

Cesare Prandelli Claudio Cesare Prandelli (; born 19 August 1957) is an Italian football coach and former player. He was most recently head coach of Fiorentina. Career Player Prandelli was a midfielder who moved from Atalanta to Juventus in 1979. His first gam ...

in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

. He was named in Prandelli's 30-man provisional squad for the final tournament on 13 May 2014, but was cut from the final 23-man squad named on 1 June.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

*
Manuel Pasqual
at FootballDatabase.com *
Manuel Pasqual
at FIGC.it {{DEFAULTSORT:Pasqual, Manuel 1982 births Living people Italian footballers Italy international footballers Treviso F.B.C. 1993 players S.S. Arezzo players ACF Fiorentina players Empoli F.C. players Association football fullbacks Serie A players Serie B players People from San Donà di Piave Footballers from Veneto A.S.D. HSL Derthona players Sportspeople from the Metropolitan City of Venice