Mauro Rizzo (born 15 June 1984) is a

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 ...

from Italy. He has played as a defender for the

U.S. Lecce Unione Sportiva Lecce () is a Football in Italy, professional Italian football club based in Lecce, Apulia. The club play in Serie A in the 2023–24 Serie A, 2023–24 season, the top level of the Italian football league system, Italian footb ...

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 ...

, Bellaria,

Andria Andria (; Barese: ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Apulia region of Southern Italy. It is an agricultural and service center, producing wine, olives and almonds. It is the fourth-largest municipality in the Apulia region (behind ...

, and

Melfi Melfi ( Lucano: ) is a town and ''comune'' in the Vulture area of the province of Potenza, in the Southern Italian region of Basilicata. Geographically, it is midway between Naples and Bari. In 2015 it had a population of 17,768. Geography On a ...

football club In association football, a football club (or association football club, alternatively soccer club) is a sports club that acts as an entity through which association football teams organise their sporting activities. The club can exist either as ...

Career

Born in

Galatina Galatina (; ; ), known before the unification of Italy as San Pietro in Galatina, is a town and (municipality) in the Province of Lecce in Apulia, southern Italy. It is situated about south of the city of Lecce. Main sights *The late Romanesq ...

, the

Province of Lecce The province of Lecce (; Salentino: ) is a province in the Apulia region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Lecce. The province is called the "Heel of Italy". Located on the Salento peninsula, it is the second most-populous province in Ap ...

, Rizzo started his career at

in 2001. There, his first and only match played was the last match of the 2001-2002 season, with a 0–3 loss to

A.C. 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 ...

after replacing Alberto Savino in the 88th minute. In the summer of 2002, he was exchanged with

Cesare Bovo Cesare Bovo (born 14 January 1983) is an Italian retired professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre back. He is currently in charge of the Under-17 team of Palermo FC, Palerm ...

A.S. Roma Associazione Sportiva Roma (''Rome Sport Association''; Italian pronunciation: ) is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its exis ...

in a co-ownership (i.e. 50%) deal, and both tagged for €3M for 50% of the players' rights. He played a season with Roma's Primavera team. In July 2003, he was loaned back to Lecce and bought back in June 2004 for €40,000. Co-currently, Bovo, who was already a regular member of the Italy U21 team, returned to Roma for just €10,000. Rizzo was sent to Bellaria on loan during the 2004–05 season, but returned to Lecce in January 2005. In January 2006, he left for Serie C2 side Andria BAT. In summer 2006, Andria formed a co-ownership deal with Lecce and played 26 league matches. In June 2007, Roma gave up their remaining rights of Rizzo to Andria. He played 1 more season for Andria at Serie C2 then joined

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging ...

(ex-Serie C2)

after Andria were relegated (Andria were later re-admitted to the league). He left Melfi in the summer of 2009 to join Atletico Tricase and played there for a season. He left Tricase the following year to join AS Bisceglie 1913. His last known club was Atletico Racale. He is currently without a club.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rizzo, Mauro Italian men's footballers Serie A players US Lecce players AS Roma players Fidelis Andria 2018 players Men's association football defenders Footballers from the Province of Lecce 1984 births Living people AC Bellaria Igea Marina players AS Melfi players 21st-century Italian sportsmen