Camoranesi Mauro
Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra is an Italian football former player who played as a winger. Camoranesi began his career in Argentina in 1995, where he played for Aldosivi and Banfield , also having spells in Mexico with Santos Laguna and Cruz Azul, and in Uruguay with Wanderers. In 2000, he moved to Italy, joining Verona, where his performances earned him a transfer to defending Serie A champions Juventus in 2002. Camoranesi won the league title and the Supercoppa Italiana in his first season with the club, also reaching the Champions League final; he spent most of his career with the Turin side, also winning a second Supercoppa Italiana during his eight seasons with the Bianconeri. In 2010, he joined German side VfB Stuttgart for a season, before returning to Argentina to play for Lanús, and subsequently Racing Club, where he retired in 2014. Following his retirement, Camoranesi began his managerial career later that year, and has since coached Mexican club Coras de Tepic and Argentine side Tigre. Born and raised in Argentina, Camoranesi represented Italy at international level, making his debut in 2003. With Italy, he took part at UEFA Euro 2004, UEFA Euro 2008, and the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup; he also took part in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and was a member of Italy’s winning squad at the 2006 World Cup.
Did you Know?
In the 1999-2000 season, Camoranesi was playing in Mexico as a member of club Cruz Azul. He caught the attention of Italian Serie A side Verona by scoring 21 goals in 79 games with Cruz Azul, an impressive achievement for a midfielder. He moved to Italy in 2000, signing with Verona where he played for two years, helping the club avoid relegation in his first season with 4 goals in 22 appearances.
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Camoranesi was eligible for Italian citizenship through a great-grandfather, Luigi, who in 1873 emigrated from Potenza Picena, in Italy’s Marche region, to Argentina. His dual citizenship made him eligible to play for either Argentina or Italy, but the Azzurri showed interest in him first and, on 12 February 2003, he made his international debut in a friendly match against Portugal, which Italy won 1–0, under former coach Giovanni Trapattoni. Camoranesi played for Italy at UEFA Euro 2004 and was also part of Marcello Lippi’s Italy team which won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He has been capped 55 times by Italy and has scored four goals, the first of which came in Italy’s 2006 World Cup qualifier away to Belarus on 7 September 2005, which the Italians won 4–1. During the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany, he admitted the reason for not singing Italy’s national anthem before their matches was because he did not know the words, although he could be seen singing (at least a part of) the anthem during the World Cup celebrations in Circus Maximus on 10 July 2006. Camoranesi was not the first Juventus player born in Argentina to play for Italy; Omar Sivori played for the azzurri, as well as Luis Monti and Raimundo Orsi who also won the World Cup while playing for Juventus. At the end of 2006 FIFA World Cup Final match in Germany, in which Italy defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out, Camoranesi had teammate Massimo Oddo chop off a large chunk of his long hair as the rest of the squad danced around them in a circle. Camoranesi then went up to the camera and dedicated the triumph by saying in Spanish: “Para los pibes del barrio” (For the guys from the neighbourhood). Camoranesi commented in an interview in regards to the World Cup victory: “I feel Argentine but I have defended the colours of Italy, which is in my blood, with dignity. That is something nobody can take away.“He was successively called up to Italy’s squads for UEFA Euro 2008 and 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. He also took part in the 2010 FIFA World Cup, his last experience with the Italian national team.
Watch above Mauro Camoranesi hair cut after the World Cup Final 2006
Things to Know:
In 2002, Camoranesi was signed by Juventus on a co-ownership deal; initially Juventus agreed a price of €1 in cash plus player deal (which Max Vieri was sold for €517,000 (or 1 billion lire) plus €2.324 million cash (or 4.5 billion lire cash)) On 26 June 2003, he was signed outright by the Bianconeri on a permanent basis for an additional fee of €5 million; this was the same day Juventus signed Marco Di Vaio in similar deal. Camoranesi soon established himself into the starting line-up on the right wing, following an injury to Gianluca Zambrotta, and in his first season with the club, he won the 2002–03 Serie A title, and the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana, also reaching the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final; the following season, he also added the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana to his trophy cabinet. Camoranesi also won two more Serie A titles with Juventur in the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons, but Juventus were stripped of both of those titles as result of their involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal, and relegated to Serie B. Despite his agent Sergio Fortunato linking the player to clubs such as Lyon, Valencia, and Liverpool over the summer of 2006, following Juventus’s relegation, Camoranesi made an announcement himself in September, pledging loyalty to Juventus “In January, I will not ask to be sold; I’m happy to stay here.”, he stated. Camoranesi put on some notable performances and contributed to a number of notable goals for Juventus during the 2006–07 Serie B season, scoring 4 in total, as Juventus won the title and earned promotion back to the Italian top flight. Against Lecce in April 2007, he performed an impressive piece of skill similar to a Cruyff turn, turning the ball through a defender’s legs on the wing, before retrieving it to help set up Juventus’s first goal of the match. Later in the match, he scored his side’s third; Camoranesi took the ball past three Lecce defenders, before hitting the ball from the edge of the box, with his left foot into the top corner. Just days before he had scored a header in the 2–0 victory against close title contenders Napoli. Despite initially rumours of his departure, on 10 July 2007, he extended his contract with the club until 2010. For the 2007–08 Serie A season, his shirt number was changed from 16 to 8. Despite suffering several injuries during the 2007–08 season, he was a very important and influential player in Juventus’s first Serie A season since their return to the top flight season. He scored 5 goals in 22 appearances, and also won the Guerin d’Oro award, as the player with the highest average rating, for his performances throughout the season. Camoranesi changed back to number 16 jersey ahead of the 2008–09 Serie A season, and also extended his contract for another year. Camoranesi had an impressive pre-season, but was often sidelined by injuries at the start of the season. After struggling in the first few games in the start of the 2009–10 Serie A season, Camoranesi came back strongly and proved to be one of Juventus’s most important players. He managed to get his name on ths scoresheet too, scoring the solitary goal against Maccabi Haifa in the Champions League, as well as a brace in a 5–2 win over Atalanta.
