Carl Valeri

Carl Valeri (born 14 August 1984) is an Australian footballer who last played for National Premier Leagues Victoria team Dandenong City SC as a defensive midfielder. He previously served as captain of Melbourne Victory and he previously represented the Australia national football team.

Carl Valeri
Valeri playing for Australia in 2010.
Personal information
Full name Carl Valeri
Date of birth (1984-08-14) 14 August 1984
Place of birth Canberra, Australia
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
2001 AIS
2002–2004 Inter Milan
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2005 Inter Milan 0 (0)
2004–2005 → SPAL (loan) 25 (0)
2005–2010 Grosseto 133 (7)
2010–2014 Sassuolo 70 (4)
2014 Ternana 8 (0)
2014–2019 Melbourne Victory 113 (2)
2019 Dandenong City 12 (0)
Total 349 (13)
National team‡
2000–2001 Australia U17 13 (1)
2001–2003 Australia U20 12 (1)
2004 Australia U23 15 (1)
2007–2014 Australia 52 (1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 30 September 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 27 May 2015

Early life

Valeri is the son of former Australian National Soccer League player Walter Valeri. He is married to Whitney Canning from Gisborne, Victoria, and the couple have one daughter. He grew up in Canberra and trained at the Australian Institute of Sport on a football scholarship. He attended St Mary McKillop College in Wanniassa and later Lake Ginninderra College in Belconnen. Valeri grew up supporting A.C. Milan.[2]

Club career
Valeri with Melbourne Victory in 2014
Valeri training for Melbourne Victory.

Valeri was signed as a teenager by Italian giants Inter Milan. He was loaned out to various clubs in Italy to gain further experience, including Grosseto. He joined Grosseto permanently in June 2007.[3]

In January 2010 Valeri joined Sassuolo. Representing Australia in the starting 11 for the 2010 World Cup is his greatest achievement to date.[4]

In May 2013, Valeri and his club Sassuolo finished as Serie B champions, thus securing automatic promotion to Serie A for the first time in their history.[5]

In January 2014, he returned to Serie B with relegation battling Ternana until 30 June in hopes of securing a World Cup place with the Socceroos[6]

In June 2014, Carl Valeri returned to his home country signing a 3-year deal with Melbourne Victory.[7] Valeri was an integral part of Victory's 2015 Championship team, starting all 29 games that season.[8]

In September 2015 he was appointed captain of the team.[9] Following an interrupted 2015/16 season,[10] Valeri bounced back and became a regular starter for Victory in both the 2016/17 and 2017/18 seasons.

In April 2019, Valeri announced that he would retire at the conclusion of the 2018–19 A-League season.[11]

In May 2019, it was announced that Valeri had signed on for National Premier Leagues Victoria side Dandenong City, along with former A-League players Adrian Leijer and Brendon Santalab.[12]

International career
Valeri with Australia in 2007.

Valeri has played for Australia at all international youth levels; Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23.

He captained the Australian Under-17 team, the 'Joeys', at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship and competed with the Under-23 squad, the 'Olyroos', at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

After being an unused substitute in an 2007 Asian Cup qualifier against Bahrain in 2006, the 22-year-old received his second call up to the senior Australian national team in March 2007, as a replacement for the injured defensive midfielder Vince Grella.

He made his international debut on 24 March 2007 in a friendly game against China, which Australia won 2–0. This made him the 501st player to be capped for Australia. He made his home debut in a friendly against Uruguay.[13]

Former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has described Valeri as a key player of the future, and possible successor to Grella. This led to certain sections of the Australian media dubbing him "Mini Vinnie."

Honours

With Melbourne Victory:

With Grosseto:

With Sassuolo:

Individual

  • Melbourne Victory Goal of the Season: 2014–15
  • Melbourne Victory Players' Player of the Season: 2014–15
  • Victory Medal: 2016–17

Career statistics

Club
As of 9 December 2018
Season Club League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
2004–05SPALSerie C125020––270
2005–06Grosseto27120––291
2006–0730230––332
2007–08Serie B37210––382
2008–0928120––301
2009–109110––101
Grosseto total1337110––1447
2009–10SassuoloSerie B14010––150
2010–1122010––230
2011–1231310––322
2012–133120––51
2013–14Serie A––––––00
Sassuolo total7035000755
2014–15Melbourne VictoryA-League29220––312
2015–1670304–140
2016–1727030––300
2017–182801040330
2018–194–2–––00
Melbourne Victory total952110801142
Career total298122708033314

International caps
As of 27 May 2015
Australia national team
YearAppsGoals
200740
2008100
200950
2010100
2011161
201250
201420
Total521

International goals
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.25 January 2011Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha, Qatar Uzbekistan6–0Win2011 Asian Cup

References
  1. "Carl Valeri". melbournevictory.com.au. Melbourne Victory. Archived from the original on 17 August 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  2. Huguenin, Michael. "ICC: Victory buzzing as Juventus loom at MCG". A-League. Football Federation Australia. Retrieved 20 July 2016.
  3. Aussies Abroad – Roos on the Loose
  4. http://www.tuttomercatoweb.com/?action=read&id=185879
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 18 May 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "VIDEO: Carl Valeri Joins Victory Family". Football Federation Australia. 4 June 2014. Archived from the original on 6 June 2014.
  8. "Carl Valeri (Melbourne Victory)". Ultimate A-League. Ultimate A-League. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  9. Michael Lynch, Melbourne Victory name Carl Valeri as new captain", Sydney Morning Herald, 15 September 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2015
  10. "Melbourne Victory's Carl Valeri stood down for rest of A-League season with inflammatory brain condition". ABC News. ABC News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
  11. "Carl Valeri calls time on decorated career". Melbourne Victory FC. Retrieved 13 April 2019.
  12. "Former A-League stars sign for NPL club". The World Game. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  13. "Valeri out to do Canberra proud in home debut" . Canberra Times, 2 June 2007
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