Tranquillo Barnetta (; born 22 May 1985) is a Swiss 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

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 ...

. He was usually deployed out wide as a left winger but could also play in the centre as an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, or even in a more withdrawn role as a

central 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 ...

. Barnetta was known for his "extreme pace, mobility and creativity". Prior to moving to MLS, Barnetta played football for several Swiss and German clubs. At international level, he has amassed 75 caps for the Swiss national team, representing his nation in three

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s, and two

UEFA European Football 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 ...

Playing career

Club

St. Gallen

Barnetta started his career with his hometown team, St. Gallen for the 2002–2003 season. During his first professional season, he earned 30 appearances and scored 5 goals.

Bayer Leverkusen

Barnetta's debut season in Switzerland was noticed abroad and was soon snapped up by German side

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

in January 2004. During his first season at Bayer, he had a loan spell at

Hannover 96 Hannoverscher Sportverein von 1896, commonly referred to as Hannover 96 (), is a German professional association football, football club based in the city of Hanover, Lower Saxony. They played in the Bundesliga for a total of 30 years between 19 ...

, returning to Bayer in March 2005. After a good showing at the World Cup in Germany, Barnetta became a regular in the Bayer squad. The 2008–09 season was one to forget for him, after Bayer finished two places lower than the previous season and his goals tally dropped slightly. During the summer transfer window, he was linked with a move away from Bayer as his place in the squad seemed under threat from loanee

Toni Kroos Toni Kroos (born 4 January 1990) is a German former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Widely regarded as one of the greatest midfielders of all time, he was known for his vision, pinpoint precision passing, crossing, and set-p ...

. Barnetta regained his good form in the 2009–10 season, scoring a brace in only his second league game of the season and contributing to Bayer's unbeaten run for the entire first half of the season.

Schalke 04/Eintracht Frankfurt

On 2 July 2012, after his contract ran out at

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

confirmed that Barnetta signed a three-year professional contract with them until 30 June 2015, and in preparation for the Gelsenkirchen club's participation in the Champions League. The transfer was reported as a free transfer by Schalke's sport and communications manager

Horst Heldt Horst Heldt (born 9 December 1969) is a German football executive and former player who played as a midfielder. He is the former general manager of 1. FC Köln. Playing career Heldt was born in Königswinter. He played at 1. FC Köln from 1990 ...

. Barnetta was assigned a number 27 shirt, previously worn by

Ciprian Deac Ciprian Ioan Deac (; born 16 February 1986) is a Romanian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger or an Midfielder#Attacking midfielder, attacking midfielder for Liga I club CFR Cluj. After starting ...

. In the 2013–14 season, Barnetta had a season long

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

spell at

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

, returning to Schalke 04 in June 2014 whom he signed for at the end of the 2011–12 season. On 23 September 2014, Barnetta scored his first goal for Schalke in his second league match of the 2014–15 season.

Philadelphia Union

On 29 July 2015, Barnetta signed with the

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in the Philadelphia metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the Union began ...

. Integrating with the Union, who were midway through their

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

, Barnetta netted his first goal on 20 September, in a home win against the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

. After a full preseason with the Union, Barnetta led the team as the attacking playmaker during the 2016 season. Registering 5 goals and 4 assists, he helped lead Philadelphia's return to the MLS Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2011. Prior to the conclusion of the 2016 campaign, the Union announced Barnetta would return to Switzerland to rejoin

FC St. Gallen Fussballclub St. Gallen 1879, commonly known as St. Gallen, is a Swiss professional football club based in the city of St. Gallen, Canton of St. Gallen. It is the oldest football club in continental Europe after Kjøbenhavns Boldklub. The tea ...

. Barnetta cited he wanted to contribute to his hometown club in front of friends and family while he still had the fitness to do so meaningfully. He finished his Philadelphia career with 45 appearances and 6 goals.

Return to St. Gallen

Barnetta signed a contract with St. Gallen on 14 November 2016, starting from 1 January 2017. At the end of the 2018–19 season, Barnetta decided to retire.

International

Barnetta is a former youth international and was in the Swiss U-17

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

that won the 2002 U-17 European Championships along with future senior teammates

Philippe Senderos Philippe Sylvain Senderos (; born 14 February 1985) is a Swiss retired professional footballer who played as a defender. Senderos began his career at Servette, before moving to England as a teenager with Arsenal. He made 116 appearances ov ...

and

Reto Ziegler Reto Pirmin Ziegler (; born 16 January 1986) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Swiss Super League club Sion. Ziegler has played top-flight football in seven countries. He earned 35 international caps for Switzerl ...

. He has been a member of the

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

national team and was first called up to the squad for the

Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football competition contested by the men's national teams of UEFA member associations. Th ...

but did not make an appearance. Barnetta was called up to the squad after Johann Lonfat was injured and Davide Chiumiento had turned down a call up as the first choice replacement. At the

2006 World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to host the event in July 2000. Teams represe ...

, he scored the second goal in Switzerland's group stage win over

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

, but missed a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the

shootout A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, which Switzerland lost 3–0. On 4 July, Barnetta was shortlisted for the tournament's Best Young Player award. He was ever present in

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

qualifying as the Swiss secured a place by finishing top of their group. On 4 June 2011, Barnetta scored two free kicks in quick succession against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in the

Euro 2012 qualifiers The qualifying competition for UEFA Euro 2012 was a series of parallel association football competitions held across Europe between 2010 and 2011 to decide the qualifiers for UEFA Euro 2012. The draw for the qualifying rounds was held on 7 Febru ...

. Barnetta was called up to represent Switzerland 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 ...

in Brazil, but he didn't play any matches.

Playing style

Known for his "extreme pace, mobility and creativity" on the left flank,

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

's official website describes Barnetta as a "primarily a creative footballer", who also "covers ground and closes down opponents on the

football pitch A football pitch or soccer field is the playing surface for the game of association football. Its dimensions and markings are defined by Law 1 of the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game, "The Field of Play". The pitch is ty ...

with the sort tireless energy and dogged determination one might expect from a tigerish

". Barnetta is regarded for bringing "drive, skill and maturity" to the Swiss national team.

Personal life

Barnetta was born in St. Gallen. Both his parents are of

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 ...

descent and he holds both Swiss and Italian citizenship. Since retiring from professional football, Barnetta has become a

stay-at-home dad A stay-at-home dad is a father who is the main caregiver of the children and is generally the homemaker of the household. The female equivalent is the stay-at-home mother or housewife. As families have evolved, the practice of being a stay- ...

, taking care of their two children while his wife works as a

physician A physician, medical practitioner (British English), medical doctor, or simply doctor is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through the Medical education, study, Med ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:Source:

International goals

Honors

Bayer Leverkusen *

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

runner-up: 2008–09 Switzerland U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

Individual * 2016 MLS Team of the Week: Week 8, Week 23

References

External links

*
barnettafan.ch
– Tranquillo Barnetta's official fanshop * {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnetta, Tranquillo 1985 births Living people Footballers from St. Gallen (city) Swiss people of Italian descent Men's association football midfielders Swiss men's footballers Swiss expatriate men's footballers FC St. Gallen players Hannover 96 players Bayer 04 Leverkusen players FC Schalke 04 players Eintracht Frankfurt players Philadelphia Union players Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States UEFA Euro 2004 players 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2008 players Switzerland men's international footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Swiss Super League players Bundesliga players Major League Soccer players Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Swiss expatriate sportspeople in the United States 21st-century Swiss sportsmen