David Di Michele

David Di Michele (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdaːvid di miˈkɛːle]; born 6 January 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player in the role of striker, most recently in charge as head coach of Lega Pro club Lupa Roma.

David Di Michele
Di Michele in 2007
Personal information
Date of birth (1976-01-06) 6 January 1976
Place of birth Guidonia Montecelio, Italy
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1996 Lodigiani 43 (6)
1996–1998 Foggia 68 (14)
1998–2001 Salernitana 92 (40)
2001–2006 Udinese 78 (23)
2002–2004 → Reggina (loan) 62 (15)
2006–2007 Palermo 48 (16)
2007–2010 Torino 43 (10)
2008–2009 → West Ham United (loan) 30 (4)
2010 → Lecce (loan) 19 (3)
2010–2012 Lecce 52 (19)
2012–2013 Chievo 11 (1)
2013–2015 Reggina 71 (19)
2015–2016 Lupa Roma 8 (2)
Total 625 (172)
National team
2005–2006 Italy 6 (0)
Teams managed
2016 Lupa Roma
2016–2017 Lupa Roma
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Throughout his playing career, he played for several Italian clubs, and also had a spell on loan with English side West Ham United. At international level, he played six matches for the Italy national football team from 2005 to 2006.

Playing career

Early years

Di Michele, whose mother is from Casarano, began his career with Lodigiani in the Italian Serie C1 near to his hometown Guidonia Montecelio, and played for them from 1993 to 1996. He was then transferred to Foggia Calcio in the Italian Serie B.

He had a short stint in Foggia, playing just two seasons before being transferred to Salernitana. With Salernitana, he made his Serie A debut, however the following year Salernitana were relegated to Serie B.

Udinese

After two seasons with Salernitana in Serie B, he was transferred to Udinese on an undisclosed fee for the 2001–02 season.[2] After the 2001–02 season with Udinese, he played two seasons with Reggina, only to be transferred back to Udinese in 2004–05. In the 2005–06 season, he played half a season with Udinese and took part in the UEFA Champions League.

In a 2004–05 Coppa Italia match against Lecce, he scored two goals, before replacing keeper Samir Handanović in goal, after the latter was sent off. He stopped a key penalty in the final minutes of the game to ensure a 5–4 victory for Udinese.[3]

Palermo

Halfway through the 2005–06 season Di Michele's contract was sold to Palermo[4] for €5.35 million,[5] with Simone Pepe, Salvatore Masiello and Nicola Santoni moving to oppose direction in co-ownership deals. He made his debut for Palermo in a Serie A home match against Parma, in which he scored two goals in a 4–2 win. In his 2005–06 season, Di Michele played 19 matches, scoring seven goals.

In March 2007, Di Michele was found guilty of illegal betting and received a three-month ban from Serie A. He also received a $27,000 fine. Betting was not illegal for Italian players until November 2005, but Di Michele, along with three others, placed bets through an illegal bookmaker. However, he was allowed to play in friendlies, and to take part in training, so he was able to retain match fitness.[6]

Torino and West Ham United loan

On 5 July 2007 Palermo announced they had sold him to Torino,[7] for €3.5 million[8] He signed a four-year contract.[9] On 31 July FIGC announced Di Michele was suspended until November.[10] He made 25 appearances with the granata, scoring a total of six goals in the 2007–08 season.

On 2 September 2008, Di Michele was loaned to West Ham United, with an option for the English club to make the deal permanent.[11] He made his debut for West Ham in the 3–2 defeat to West Bromwich Albion on 13 September 2008, coming on as a substitute for the injured Dean Ashton.[12] In his second game for West Ham, on 20 September 2008, he scored his first goals in English football, and for West Ham, in the 3–1 home win against Newcastle United[13] However, at the end of the season manager Gianfranco Zola did not take up the option of making the deal permanent.[14]

During 2009–10 season, Ultras of Torino attacked the players during Di Michele's birthday party.[15][16] After the incident the players involved: Di Michele, Massimo Loviso, Riccardo Colombo, Aimo Diana, Marco Pisano, Francesco Pratali, Paolo Zanetti were transferred to other clubs and only Rolando Bianchi, Matteo Rubin and Angelo Ogbonna were remained.

Lecce

Di Michele signed for U.S. Lecce in January 2010. Having gained a place in the starting eleven, he was one of the decisive men in Lecce's successful Serie B campaign. In his first season back in Serie A with Lecce, he scored 8 goals in 23 appearances. On 24 June 2011, he renewed his contract for one more year.[17] In the 2011–12 Serie A season, he led the team with 11 goals scored in league play. However, at the end of the season Lecce were relegated back to Serie B after a 17th-place finish.

Chievo

On 13 July 2012, Di Michele moved to A.C. ChievoVerona.[18]

Later years

In January 2013, Di Michele rescinded his contract with Chievo and was signed by his former club Reggina, eight years after leaving them. He joined the Serie B club to cover the loss of Fabio Ceravolo, who transferred to Ternana for €500,000.[19]

In 2015, he left Reggina to join newly promoted Lega Pro club Lupa Roma.

International

At international level, Di Michele made six appearances for the Italy national football team between 2005 and 2006. He made his senior debut for Italy on 30 March 2005, at the age of 29, under coach Marcello Lippi, in a 0–0 friendly home draw against Iceland.[20] He made his final appearance for Italy on 6 September 2006, under Roberto Donadoni, in a 3–1 away loss to France in a European qualifier.[21]

Coaching career

Di Michele retired in December 2015 to switch to a non-playing staff role at his latest club Lupa Roma. In April 2016, he was named new joint head coach of the club, together with Angelo Quinzi, in place of Alessandro Cucciari.[22]

He was successively confirmed as head coach for the new season, but successively dismissed in October 2016 due to poor results.[23] He was then re-hired one month later by a new club management who took over from former president Alberto Cerrai.[24] He left the club by the end of the 2016–17 season after failing to save the team from relegation.

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 1 December 2012.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "Udinese sign Di Michele". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 6 August 2001. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  3. uefa.com (6 June 2007). "David Di Michele UEFA Euro 2008 Profile". Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
  4. "Di Michele heads south to Palermo". UEFA.com. 16 January 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
  5. US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2007 (in Italian)
  6. "Serie A – Di Michele banned in betting scandal". Reuters. 31 July 2007. Retrieved 5 April 2008.
  7. US Città di Palermo (5 July 2007). "Di Michele ceduto al Torino" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 5 July 2007.
  8. US Città di Palermo Report and Accounts on 30 June 2008 (in Italian)
  9. "Il Torino acquista Di Michele". Torino FC (in Italian). 5 July 2007. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2010.
  10. "Di Michele accepts FIGC ban". UEFA.com. 31 July 2007. Retrieved 11 February 2010.
  11. "Di Michele al West Ham" (in Italian). Torino FC. 2 September 2008. Archived from the original on 5 September 2008. Retrieved 2 September 2008.
  12. Keen hails new recruits Archived 19 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  13. West Ham 3–1 Newcastle Archived 22 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  14. BBC Sport (3 June 2009). "Neill turns down new Hammers deal". BBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  15. Fabrizio, Turco (7 January 2010). "Il Torino è senza pace Ora si parla di sciopero". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  16. "Torino fans in player restaurant attack". Soccernet. 7 January 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
  17. "Rinnovo per Di Michele". US Lecce (in Italian). 24 June 2011. Archived from the original on 3 April 2012. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  18. "Ufficiale: Di Michele firma con il Chievo". A.C. ChievoVerona (in Italian). 13 July 2012. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
  19. UFFICIALE: Di Michele alla Reggina |date=1 January 2013
  20. "Italia-Islanda, pallido 0-0" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 30 March 2005. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  21. "Donadoni, lezione francese Cassano e Semioli deludono" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  22. "Lega Pro Lupa Roma, la panchina a Di Michele e Quinzi" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport - Stadio. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  23. "Lega Pro Lupa Roma, esonerato l'allenatore Di Michele" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport - Stadio. 11 October 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  24. "Lega Pro Lupa Roma, Di Michele torna in panchina. Via Maurizi" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport - Stadio. 8 November 2016. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  25. Roberto Di Maggio; Davide Rota (4 June 2015). "Italy - Coppa Italia Top Scorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
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