Romagnoli Alessio
Alessio Romagnoli is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Serie A club Lazio and the Italy national team. A product of Roma’s youth academy, Romagnoli was included in the first team squad by new head coach Zdeněk Zeman at age 17. He made his senior debut on 11 December 2012 against Atalanta, playing the full game in the Coppa Italia as a starter. He made his Serie A debut 12 days later, as a substitute in the final minutes of a league game against A.C. Milan. He scored his first goal in Serie A on 3 March 2013 against Genoa. He later spent a season on loan with Sampdoria in 2014, before moving to AC Milan in 2015. At the start of the 2018–19 Serie A season, he was named the team’s captain following Leonardo Bonucci’s return to Juventus.
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This shirt was worn by Alessio Romagnoli during the Uefa Nations League game between Portugal and Italy which took place in Lisbon, “Estadio Da Luz”, on September 10th 2018. Romagnoli has represented Italy on multiple occasions at under-16, under-17 and under-19 levels. He made his first appearance for the Italy under-21 team against Northern Ireland on 5 March 2014, playing the full 90 minutes. With the Italy under-21, he took part at the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, forming an effective partnership with fellow centre-back Daniele Rugani. On 27 August 2016 Romagnoli was called up to the senior squad for the first time for a friendly against France on 1 September and a 2018 World Cup qualification match on 5 September against Israel. However, he was later moved to the under-21 squad for 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Serbia. Romagnoli made his senior debut on 6 October 2016, in a 2018 World Cup qualification match, playing all 90 minutes, in a 1–1 home draw against Spain. He scored his first senior international goal on 15 October 2019, in a 5–0 away win against Liechtenstein, in a UEFA Euro 2020 qualifying match.
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An elegant, versatile, composed and gifted left-footed centre-back, with good technique and distribution, Romagnoli is known for his confidence in possession, and ability to play the ball out from the back; due to his ability to advance into more attacking positions or put pressure on opponents higher up on the pitch, he is also capable of functioning as a left-sided full-back. Romagnoli is effective in the air and known for his ability to time his challenges; regarded as one of the most promising young Italian defenders of his generation, his precocious displays, technique, positional sense, decision-making, and tackling abilities have led pundits to compare him with legendary Italian defender Alessandro Nesta, whom Romagnoli has described as his footballing idol. In 2015, Romagnoli was named one of the top 100 young footballers in the world born after 1994 by Don Balón.
