Marco Branca
Marco Branca (born 6 January 1965) is an Italian former professional football striker who was, until February 2014, sporting director of Serie A club Internazionale.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Marco Branca | ||
| Date of birth | 6 January 1965 | ||
| Place of birth | Grosseto, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1981–1982 | Grosseto | ||
| 1982–1984 | Cagliari | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1984–1986 | Cagliari | 52 | (4) |
| 1986–1987 | Udinese | 18 | (2) |
| 1987–1988 | Sampdoria | 9 | (1) |
| 1988–1990 | Udinese | 55 | (13) |
| 1990–1991 | Sampdoria | 20 | (5) |
| 1991–1992 | Fiorentina | 23 | (5) |
| 1992–1994 | Udinese | 58 | (22) |
| 1994–1995 | Parma | 25 | (7) |
| 1995–1996 | Roma | 7 | (2) |
| 1996–1998 | Internazionale | 52 | (23) |
| 1998–1999 | Middlesbrough | 12 | (9) |
| 1999–2000 | FC Luzern | 10 | (2) |
| 2000–2001 | Monza | 17 | (7) |
| Total | 348 | (102) | |
| National team | |||
| 1996 | Italy Olympic | 3 | (4) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Club career
Early career
Born in Grosseto, Branca started his playing career with Grosseto, the then-amateur local team of his native city, but was soon signed by Cagliari, where he made his professional debut. He then moved to Udinese, Sampdoria and then again to Udinese. Following another season with Sampdoria, he signed first for Fiorentina and then for Parma. In 1995, he transferred to A.S. Roma, who sold him in the 1996 winter transfer window to Internazionale in exchange for Marco Delvecchio.
Internazionale and Middlesbrough
In his first season with the Nerazzuri, Branca scored an impressive 17 goals in 24 matches, but did not repeat in his next campaign and was sold to English second-tier side Middlesbrough. Branca scored nine goals in 12 league games for Middlesbrough, including two on his league debut in a 3–1 victory against Sunderland, a hat-trick versus Bury and another two in the 6–0 win over Swindon Town. In addition, he played two League Cup games, scoring the second goal against Liverpool in the semi-final second leg on his debut.[1] His nine goals aided in Boro's promotion to the Premiership, but he was then sold to Swiss club FC Luzern.
Later career
Branca saw out his playing days with FC Luzern and Italian lower-league club Monza before retiring in 2001.
International career
Branca took part in the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Management career
From 2002 until February 2014,[2] Branca was part of Internazionale's management, working in their transfer network. He helped organise the transfers of Lúcio, Diego Milito, Thiago Motta, Wesley Sneijder and Samuel Eto'o.
References
- Potts, Ian (18 February 1998). "Merson and Branca light Boro's way". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 November 2009.
- http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1953026-inter-milan-fire-technical-director-marco-branca
- "The forgotten story of … Sampdoria's only scudetto". The Guardian. 25 June 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
