Immobile Ciro
Ciro Immobile is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Serie A club Lazio and the Italy national team. Immobile began his career at Sorrento. In 2009, he was purchased by Juventus, and was later loaned out to three Serie B clubs, including Pescara, with whom he won the league title as the top-scorer, before moving to Genoa in 2012. After a season with the club, he moved to Juventus’ rivals Torino. At Torino, he won the Capocannoniere award for the top scorer in Serie A. After his breakout season at Torino, he was sold to German club Borussia Dortmund for around €18 million in 2014, where he won the DFL-Supercup, before moving to Spanish club Sevilla in 2015. In 2016, he returned to Torino on loan, and was later sold to Lazio in July of that year. In his second season at Lazio, he won the Capocannoniere for a second time, with 29 goals in 33 games. The 2019–20 season was the most prolific of Immobile’s career; he equalled the record for most Serie A goals in a season with 36, and won a third Capocannoniere title and first European Golden Shoe, given to the top scorer in Europe. Immobile has also won a Coppa Italia and two Supercoppa Italiana titles with Lazio. Immobile made his debut for the Italian national team in 2014, and was included in the squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and UEFA Euro 2016.
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This shirt was worn by Ciro Immobile during the Serie A game between Lecce and Lazio which took place in Lecce, “Via del Mare” Stadium, on July 7th 2020. Lecce defeated Lazio 2-1 and at the end of the game Immobile swapped his shirt with a Lecce’s player whom we got it from. The 2019/2020 season has been a great season for Immobile. On 3 November 2019, he scored his 100th goal for Lazio in a 2–1 away win over Milan. On 26 July 2020, Immobile scored a hat-trick in a 5–1 win against Hellas Verona. Immobile finished the season with 36 goals, winning the Capocannoniere and equaling Gino Rossetti and Gonzalo Higuaín’s all-time record for most goals in a Serie A season. He also won the European Golden Shoe for the first time in his career, becoming the first Italian player or player from Serie A to win the award since Francesco Totti in 2007. With 35 goals in 36 games, Immobile became the top scorer both in Italy’s Serie A and in Europe. Moreover, he set a new record for most penalties scored in a single Serie A season, with 14. On 31 August 2020, Immobile signed a five-year contract extension with Lazio.
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Born in Torre Annunziata, in the province of Naples, Immobile began his youth career in the football school “Torre Annunziata ’88”, before transferring to “Maria Rosa” and finally the youth team of Salernitana, where however, he failed to emerge. He later joined Sorrento, with whom he scored 30 goals in the under-17 during the 2007–08 season, including a brace against Torino, impressing the observers of Juventus. In 2008, he was signed at the age of 18 for €80,000 by Juventus under the recommendation of Ciro Ferrara. He went on to play with the Primavera formation. Immobile joined the Primavera squad in 2009, where he formed a striking partnership with Ayub Daud, that led the squad to win the 2009 Torneo di Viareggio, where he scored a total five goals; two of which came in the final. On 14 March 2009, Immobile made his Serie A debut in a 4–1 home win against Bologna, replacing Juventus’ captain Alessandro Del Piero in the 89th minute. On 25 November 2009, Immobile also made his debut in a European competition, once again as a second-half substitute for Del Piero in a Champions League game against Bordeaux. In February 2010, he scored a hat-trick against Empoli in the 2010 Torneo di Viareggio final to seal the title for a second consecutive season. Immobile signed with Lazio on July 27th 2016, for a fee of €8.75 million (plus €700,000 commission to agents). On 21 August, Immobile scored on his debut in Lazio’s opening match of a 4–3 away win over Atalanta. Immobile finished the season with 23 league goals in 36 appearances plus 3 goals in the Coppa Italia, surpassing his total when he won the Capocannoniere with Torino in the 2013–14 season, though this time he did not win the Capocannoniere, losing it to Bosnian striker Edin Džeko of cross-town rivals Roma, who scored 29 league goals. On 13 August 2017, Immobile scored the opening two goals of the Supercoppa Italiana; Lazio won with a final score of 3–2 over Juventus. On 10 September, in Lazio’s third match of the season, he scored a hat-trick and got an assist in a 4–1 home win over Milan. On 21 October, Immobile extended with Lazio until 2022. On 6 January 2018, Immobile scored four goals in the first half away to SPAL, the first Lazio player to score multiple hat-tricks in a season in 16 years; Lazio eventually won the match 5–2. On 22 February 2018, Immobile scored a hat-trick in the Europa League round of 32 second leg home to Steaua București in a 5–1 win, which allowed Lazio to qualify, 5–2 on aggregate, to the round of 16. On 31 March 2018, Immobile scored twice in Lazio’s 6–2 home win over Benevento, his 36th goal of the season, breaking Giorgio Chinaglia’s previous record for most goals scored by a Lazio player in a single season, by two goals. Immobile ended the season with 29 goals in 33 appearances, winning the Capocannoniere jointly with Inter’s Mauro Icardi.
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Although primarily a main striker, Immobile is capable of playing anywhere along the front-line. A quick forward, Immobile is primarily known for his offensive movement off the ball, as well as his ability to make attacking runs and exploit spaces. His main characteristics are his eye for goal and finishing ability with either foot, as well as his physical attributes; he also possesses solid technique, and is effective in the air. In addition to his offensive capabilities and goalscoring ability, he is also a hard-working player, known for his willingness to chase down the ball and press opponents when not in possession; he also possesses good link-up play, which enables him to provide assists for teammates, in addition to scoring goals himself. He is also an accurate penalty taker. A prolific goalscorer, he is considered by pundits to be one of the best strikers in the world.
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On 2 March 2014, Immobile received his first call-up to the senior national team by Cesare Prandelli, for a friendly match against Spain three days later. He made his debut as a substitute for Alessio Cerci after 69 minutes as Spain eventually won 1–0. On 13 May 2014, Immobile was named in Italy’s provisional 30-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and on 1 June he was named in the final 23-man squad. On 8 June, he scored a hat-trick in Italy’s final World Cup warm-up match, a 5–3 unofficial win over Brazilian club side Fluminense. Immobile made his competitive debut in Italy’s opening 2–1 win over England in Manaus on 14 June, playing the last 17 minutes in place of Mario Balotelli who scored the Italian winner. He scored his first official international goal in the third minute of a 2–0 friendly victory against the Netherlands on 4 September 2014. On 31 May 2016, Immobile was named to Antonio Conte’s 23-man Italy squad for UEFA Euro 2016.