Cristiano Lucarelli

Cristiano Lucarelli (born 4 October 1975, in Livorno, Italy ) is a retired Italian footballer.

Career

Clubs

Youth (1981-1992)

Lucarellis club career began at the age of six years with Carli Salviano, where he played for seven years. After that he went to a better organized club, Armando Picchi Calcio, where he was held for four years. At 17 he went to Cuoiopelli, where he scored five goals in 28 games in the Amateur Championship.

Time as a migrant bird (1992-2003)

However, Cristiano Lucarellis professional career began in Serie B in the AC Perugia, where he played only seven competitive games in two years. After two years he went to the 1996 Series B AS Cosenza Calcio competitors, in which he scored 15 goals in 32 games. In the same year Lucarelli was a member of the Italian football Olympic team at the Summer Olympics 1996. Subsequently Lucarelli moved again, this time to Calcio Padova ( also Series B ), where he was in 34 games also have a good hit rate with 18 goals. In 1997, he finally arrived at a Serie A club Atalanta Bergamo, where he could, however, achieve only five goals in 28 games due to injuries.

Lucarelli was by then long as eternal talent and hopes of a major breakthrough. Therefore, and also because of political hostility, which in his exultation in a U -21 game under his shirt was a Che Guevara portrait, befell him, he moved in the summer of 1998, even in the Primera División to FC Valencia. But this season, he was dogged by bad luck and came in twelve games, only on a gate. Although the season for Lucarelli started well by winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup, he was often thrown back by injuries in the later stages. After this misslungenem commitment to Valencia, he returned to Serie A for U.S. Lecce, where he found his form again, so he scored 27 goals in his two seasons at Lecce.

In the 2001 / 02 season, the migratory birds then moved to Torino Calcio, where, however, he again fell into a crisis of form and scored only ten goals in two seasons. Surprised were the club officials, as Lucarelli slashed his salary on their own initiative, as he looked to be overpaid.

AS Livorno (2003-2007)

After AS Livorno had done in the 2002/03 season promotion to the second division Serie B, Lucarelli moved from his former club AC Turin waiving about 500,000 euros annual salary to Livorno. " The eternal Talent runs back to his mama! " Headlined at that time an Italian newspaper, and threw the then 28-year lack of assertiveness ago.

Still, it was Lucarelli, who was involved in the Serie A with his 29 goals in 41 games instrumental in the rise of AS Livorno. In his first Serie A season with Livorno Lucarelli was top scorer with 24 goals in 35 games. For this performance, he also received the award for " Athlete of the Year in Tuscany 2005." Furthermore, what remains is the close connection to his club. So Lucarelli has tattooed the emblem of the club on the left forearm.

He remained true to his philosophy to renounce his team on money, loyal and refused a lucrative offer of 2006 Zenit St. Petersburg with the words, "there are footballers who are buying for a billion a Ferrari or a yacht, I'll buy it a Livorno -shirt - that's all, " from.

Also in the 2006/2007 season Lucarelli was very successful, he scored his 100th Serie A total score and scored a total of 20 goals during the season, which he played a decisive role in the relegation Livorno.

Shakhtar Donetsk ( 2007)

After dissonance with the club's management and the fans themselves Lucarelli decided to go to Shakhtar Donetsk, where he signed a lucrative three-year deal that would take him a year four million euros. Donetsk won the contract to approximately eight million euros, beating the other Western European prospects through. Lucarelli was the first Italian ever to take the leap into the Ukraine. The indignation of the fans about his move was great, but was Lucarelli how the fans felt one of the few athletes who seemed to resist the lure of money. After joining his site was torpedoed downright angry with comments.

Lucarelli immediately called a press conference in which he announced the reasons for his move. "I will not deny that money is the main reason for my change " and about why he just went to Donetsk, he said: "It had. , a foreign club, as I did not want to go to an Italian club and thus the Livorno fans had deceived " Lucarelli had made ​​a goal to start a newspaper in Livorno, thus: " work to create for people who are well paid and are not exploited. "

In Donetsk Lucarelli had little success and was usually only sporadically as a wildcard is used, although what was initially conditioned by his training deficit. After Donetsk was then also eliminated from the Champions League, Lucarelli forced to return to Italy. Although Lucarelli scored in six Champions League inserts three times but could not make friends with the Ukrainian League everyday.

FC Parma ( 2008 -) and return to Livorno ( 2009-2010 )

Consequently Lucarelli moved in January 2008 for 5.7 million euros to FC Parma. The contract runs until 2010 brings Lucarelli 1.5 million euros to his account, which are around 2.5 million euros less than he would have earned in Donetsk. Lucarelli believed that the move to Parma was the best choice he could make, and hoped to be recommended by good games at FC Parma again for the levy of the Italian national team for the Euro 2008. However, this project failed, as did the attempt of Parma FC to keep the class and so had Lucarelli despite its four major goals at the end of the 2007/08 season with FC Parma in Serie B dismount. Under Lucarelli as the new captain of Parma for the 2008/09 season the team was able to immediately re-emergence.

Nevertheless, he joined in the summer of 2009 on loan again which also ascended AS Livorno. After Livorno in the league despite the ten goals Lucarellis failed, he returned to Parma.

For the 2010/11 season he was on loan with the Europa League participants Napoli under contract. In his first Europa League game against FC Utrecht ( 0-0) injured Lucarelli so hard on the belts that he turned out of the year. Also in 2011/12 he played for Napoli, at the end of the season ended Lucarelli 36 - year his active career.

National

In recognition of his respectable goal tally - he shot before that in two years, 49 league goals - invited him Marcello Lippi to take a trip to the national team in the USA and Canada, where he played his first two matches in June 2005, taking over Serbia and Montenegro Goal achieved. Despite its success in the two seasons 2004/ 05 and 2005/ 06, where Lucarelli scored a total of 43 matches in Serie A, the avowed communist was not considered for the Italian squad at the 2006 World Cup.

Roberto Donadoni, previously Lucarellis club coach in Livorno, summoned him to the 2006 World Cup in the squad for a friendly match against Croatia, and two European Championship qualifiers against the Faroe Islands and Lithuania, where he was twice late and even not loaded.

Lucarelli was not happy with this situation, but could understand it well: " Looking at my stats over the last four years, I need not intended to hide from other strikers. With my record-breaking 102 goals in that time I would have earned more appearances in the national team. There are probably the political circumstances that prevent more international appearances. "

Achievements

• Spanish Cup: 1999
• UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1998
• Participation in the Summer Olympics: 1996
• Mediterranean Games: 1997
• Scorer of the Serie A 2004/ 05
• Italian Cup Winners: 2011/12

Connectedness to Livorno

Lucarelli already visited with one and a half years, a game of AS Livorno. Even in his youth he should remain Tifoso his gambling only in Serie C1 heritage association. When he played himself in Livorno (2003-2007), he was by his many goals and vows to AS Livorno quickly to the fan favorite, the frenetically celebrated him with chants before every game. The Livorno jersey with his number 99 was almost always sold out.

Furthermore, his attachment to his home club is still great, he also wore in Donetsk and in the Parma jersey with the number 99 and a tattoo on her left upper arm, which shows an emblem of AS Livorno.

In 2007, Christiano Lucarelli invested two million euros in the project of a new independent local newspaper. The first edition of the Corriere di Livorno appeared on 9 September 2007. Lucarelli is president of the Board.

His hero status he has no doubt in Livorno, as his biography " Keep your millions" is still required reading in Livorno schools, however, came the sudden move to Shakhtar Donetsk in 2007 to falter, so he with his return to his old stamping ground his new club Parma was booed and heckled in March 2008 with each ball contact.

Political attitude

Since Lucarelli repeated its doors cheered with the communist fist, he was condemned by the Italian Football Federation to 30,000 EUR fine - had to pay significantly more than Paolo Di Canio for his fascist salute. This political attitude Lucarellis it was she who had almost entirely prevented his national career, so he made himself unpopular with the management level of the Italian Football Federation in a U21 game, as he took off his jersey after a goal and below on the T- shirt a portrait of Che Guevara was seen. Lucarelli met in the summer of 2005 with the daughter Guevara, Aleida Guevara, where they discussed a possible trip to the AS Livorno to Cuba, which, however, never materialized.

It also identifies strongly with the anti-fascist Ultras of Brigate Autonomous Livornesi whose founding year, he wears jersey number as (99 ), 1999. Once these have been collectively arrested after a street battle in the spring of 2005, with right-wing fans of Lazio, Lucarelli donated three buses for the return trip from prison in Rome.

Private life

Lucarelli is married. The couple has two children. His brother Alessandro is also footballer and plays for FC Parma in Serie A. In the season 2004/ 05 both played together at AS Livorno and in the 2008/ 09 season at FC Parma.