| Intro | Italian footballer | ||||
| Is |
Athlete Football player Association football player |
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| From | Italy | ||||
| Type | Sports | ||||
| Gender | male | ||||
| Birth | 25 September 1981, Ferentino, Province of Frosinone, Lazio, Italy | ||||
| Age: | 38 years | ||||
| Star sign | Libra | ||||
| Stats |
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Angelo Palombo (born 25 September 1981) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Sampdoria. Born in Ferentino, he has played in Serie A for Fiorentina, Sampdoria and Internazionale. Palombo won 22 caps for Italy at full international level, and represented his nation at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2010 FIFA World Cup, also winning a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Club career
Early career
Angelo Palombo started his career at Italian amateur side Fano, as a youth player. Fano then sold him to Italian Serie A side Fiorentina and made his Serie A debut on 10 February 2002 in a 2–0 away defeat against Venezia.
Sampdoria
He moved to Sampdoria, then in Serie B, on a free transfer in the 2002 summer transfer window when Fiorentina declared bankruptcy and were forced to put their players on sale. After helping the Ligurian club gain promotion that season, he established himself as an integral part of the side. During the 2005–06 season, he scored his first Serie A goal for Sampdoria on 18 January 2006 against his boyhood club Fiorentina and made his European debut in the UEFA Cup in September. Palombo had many very good seasons at the club, leading to him being a regular in the Italian national team. When Sampdoria were again relegated at the end of the 2010–11 season, his future at the club was put into doubt, with many Serie A sides interested but mainly his former club Fiorentina. Palombo, by then the club’s captain, said he had no intention to move unless the club wished to sell him and remained at the club.
International career
Palombo was in the Italy U-21 team that won the 2004 European Under-21 Football Championship and achieved bronze medal of the 2004 Summer Olympics football tournament.
Palombo made his Italy national team debut in the 0–2 defeat to Croatia on 16 August 2006, coming as a substitute for Fabio Liverani in the 58th minute. He was a member of Italy’s 23-man squad that took part at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. After a good 2009–10 season at club level, Marcello Lippi named him in the final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Style of play
Palombo is usually deployed as a defensive midfielder, where he can effectively combine his defensive attributes and his ability to break down opposition plays, with his ability to start attacking plays as a deep-lying playmaker; however, his energetic, hard-working style of play and his stamina allow him to play anywhere in midfield. In addition to his ball-winning and passing ability, he also possesses a powerful shot from distance. Palombo is a strong, tenacious, influential and determined player, who has, however, been accused of inconsistency at times.
Club statistics
- updated May 13, 2015
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Total | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Fiorentina | |||||||||
| 2001–02 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 0 | |
| Total | 10 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 10 | 0 | |
| Sampdoria | |||||||||
| 2002–03 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 1 | |
| 2003–04 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 0 | |
| 2004–05 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 0 | |
| 2005–06 | 31 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 34 | 1 | |
| 2006–07 | 36 | 2 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 40 | 2 | |
| 2007–08 | 32 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 1 | |
| 2008–09 | 25 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| 2009–10 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 38 | 3 | |
| 2010–11 | 34 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 42 | 1 | |
| 2011–12 | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 1 | |
| 2012–13 | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 1 | |
| 2014–15 | 33 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 1 | |
| 2015–16 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 403 | 13 | 16 | 1 | 12 | 0 | 430 | 14 | |
| Internazionale (loan) |
|||||||||
| 2011–12 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | 3 | 0 | |
Honours
International
- UEFA European Under-21 Championship: 2004
- Olympic Bronze Medal: 2004
Orders
-
5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 2004