Domenico Criscito

Domenico Criscito

Criscito with Zenit Saint Petersburg in 2015
Personal information
Full name Domenico Criscito[1]
Date of birth (1986-12-30) 30 December 1986
Place of birth Cercola, Italy
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Left-back, Centre-back
Club information
Current team
 Zenit Saint Petersburg
Number 4
Youth career
2002–2004 Genoa
2004–2006 Juventus
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2004 Genoa 1 (0)
2006–2007 Genoa 36 (4)
2007 Juventus 8 (0)
2008–2011 Genoa 116 (5)
2011– Zenit Saint Petersburg 116 (10)
National team‡
2003 Italy U17 5 (0)
2003–2004 Italy U18 5 (0)
2004–2005 Italy U19 6 (1)
2005–2006 Italy U20 4 (1)
2006–2009 Italy U21 26 (1)
2008 Italy Olympic 4 (0)
2009– Italy 22 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 3 December 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 5 March 2014

Domenico "Mimmo" Criscito (Italian pronunciation: [doˈmeniko ˈmimmo ˈkriʃʃito]; born 30 December 1986) is an Italian footballer who plays as a left-back for Russian Premier League club Zenit Saint Petersburg. Prior to joining Zenit, Criscito played for Italian clubs Genoa and Juventus. A full international since 2009, he represented the Italian national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup. A versatile player, Criscito is effective both offensively and defensively,[2] and is also capable of playing as a wing-back, or as a central defender, a position which he often occupied in his early career.[3][4]

Club career

Early career

A native of southern Italy, Criscito moved up north at age 13 to pursue his football career.[5][6] He started his professional career at Genoa, for whom he made his debut in Serie B in June 2003 at the age of 16. In the summer of 2004, Genoa sold 50% of his contract to Juventus for €950K (€500K + co-ownership of Antonio Nocerino's contract). [7] Teammate Francesco Volpe also joined the club for €950K in a co-ownership deal.

Juventus

Criscito played for Juventus's Primavera team alongside Italy U-21 teammates Claudio Marchisio, Paolo De Ceglie and Sebastian Giovinco, and together they won the 2006 Campionato Primavera. In the 2006–07 season, he returned to Genoa and established himself as one of the top young defenders in Serie B. In January, Juventus bought the remaining 50% of his contract for a combined price of €7.5 million. This was paid by the co-ownership of Masiello and Konko to Genoa, and €5.25 million.[8] He also signed a new contract with Juventus that would last until 30 June 2011.

Criscito made his Serie A debut for Juventus on 25 August 2007, in Juve's comeback game in Serie A versus Livorno, a crushing 5–1 victory. However, he endured a difficult time at the Turin club. He was deemed "too soft" to be a centre-back after Francesco Totti scored twice in six minutes in the September game, a 2–2 draw, against Roma from his side of the pitch. Criscito was substituted at half-time.[5] After that, he found himself behind Nicola Legrottaglie and Giorgio Chiellini in the pecking order due to their outstanding form.

Return to Genoa

Not content to remain on the bench, Criscito opted to return to Genoa on loan in the opening days of the winter transfer window. In the summer of 2008, he was sent on loan to Genoa again for €1 million[9] with the Ligurian club having the option to purchase half of his contract for €5.5 million. In February 2009, he scored his first goal since returning to Genoa, the winner against Palermo. His co-ownership agreement was renewed for the 2009–10 season.[10] He was very impressive after re-joining Genoa, who were back in Serie A by then, and he retained a place in the starting line-up as Gian Piero Gasperini's first choice left-back.[11] However, he did not rule out a return to Juventus after being linked to a permanent return to replace Fabio Grosso.[12] In September against Napoli, Criscito was shown a straight red card for allegedly swearing at the referee after being penalized for a foul on Christian Maggio, but Gasperini later defended the 23-year-old saying that he was angry at himself, not the referee. The appeal to rescind the red card was turned down, but his ban was reduced to 2–3 matchdays.[13]

On 25 June 2010, Juventus announced that the Criscito's remaining 50% registration rights were sold for another €6 million.[14] However co-currently 50% registration rights of Leonardo Bonucci was signed from Genoa via Bari for €8 million.

Zenit

On 27 June 2011, Criscito signed for Russian Premier League club Zenit for €11 million.[15] He penned a 5-year contract with the club.[16] He made his debut for the club on 6 August in a 2–0 away victory against CSKA Moscow, providing an assist for teammate Aleksandr Kerzhakov. He ended the season as a league champion, his first career silverware.

On 12 July 2015, he scored the winning penalty in a 4–2 shoot-out victory in the 2015 Russian Super Cup over Lokomotiv Moscow.[17]

International career

On 14 November 2006, Criscito made his debut for the Italy Under-21 squad in a match against the Czech Republic. He appeared in two European Under-21 Championships, in 2007 and 2009, reaching the semi-finals of the letter tournament. In 2008 he also represented Italy at the Summer Olympics.

On 12 August 2009, he made his senior national team debut in a friendly against Switzerland in Basel.[18] After a promising season, he was named in Marcello Lippi's 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup, where he was the starting left-back; Italy were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.[19]

Criscito was named to Italy's Euro 2012 squad, but withdrew from the team after he came under investigation due to the Scommessopoli match fixing scandal.[20] Manager Prandelli explained his withdrawing Criscito from the Italy squad for Euro and said "I am not taking Criscito because he would have been under pressure which no human being can bear, The other reason is that he could have been summoned by the prosecutor at any moment, before a match"[21] Criscito went on to criticize the Italian FA for the decision to drop him despite the limited selection of left-backs.[22] Several months later he was cleared of all charges.[23]

Style of play

Criscito is a tactically versatile player, who is capable of being both an effective attacking and defensive threat as a full-back.[2] He began his career as a left-footed centre-back, but he was moved to the position of left-back while playing for Genoa, where he was also employed as a wing-back or as a wide-midfielder on occasion under manager Gian Piero Gasperini in Genoa's 3–4–3 formation.[3] Criscito has been described as a quick defender, with good technique, distribution, and man-marking ability.[4]

Personal life

Criscito is married to Pamela Chiccoli and they have two sons.[24][25]

Honours

Zenit[26]

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 – List of Players" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Retrieved 5 June 2013.
  2. 1 2 "domenico criscito". Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Domenico Criscito". vivoazzurro.it. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  4. 1 2 Stefano Bedeschi. "Gli eroi in bianconero: Domenico CRISCITO" (in Italian). Tutto Juve. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  5. 1 2 "Criscito e Marchisio come Cabrini-Tardelli" (in Italian). Gazzetta dello Sport. 11 August 2009.
  6. ↑ "Criscito torna a Napoli. Per il matrimonio". Corriere del Mezzogiorno. 8 July 2009.
  7. ↑ Reports and Financial Statements at 30 June 2005
  8. ↑ "Agreements with Genoa C.F.C. S.p.A." (PDF). Juventus FC. 25 January 2007. Retrieved 2009-09-14.
  9. ↑ "Agreements with Genoa C.F.C. S.p.A." (PDF). Juventus FC. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  10. ↑ "Criscito al Genoa anche la prossima stagione" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport. 24 June 2009.
  11. ↑ "Criscito: "Giusto lasciarla, ma per lo scudetto tifo Juve"". Tuttosport. 2 September 2009.
  12. ↑ "Criscito: "La Juve è sempre una grande"" (in Italian). Corriere dello Sport. 10 February 2010.
  13. ↑ "Genoa, per Criscito squalifica confermata". Corriere dello Sport. 17 September 2009.
  14. ↑ "Agreements with Genoa C.F.C S.p.A" (PDF). Juventus FC. 25 June 2010. Retrieved 25 June 2010.
  15. ↑ Genoa CFC SpA financial report and accounts on 31 December 2011 (Italian)
  16. ↑ "Official: Zenit St Petersburg sign Domenico Criscito from Genoa". goal.com. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 27 June 2011.
  17. ↑ Report
  18. ↑ "Nazionale: c'è Marchisio, Fuori Toni e Montolivo" (in Italian). Gazzetta dello Sport. 8 August 2009.
  19. ↑ "Slovakia 3 Italy 2: match report". Telegraph.
  20. ↑ "Italy's Euro 2012 camp hit by dawn police raid". The Guardian. 29 May 2012.
  21. ↑ "No human could deal with the pressure! Italy coach Prandelli explains under-suspicion Criscito's exclusion from Euros squad". Daily Mail. 29 May 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  22. ↑ "Criscito: I should have gone to Euro 2012". Goal.com. 1 June 2012. Retrieved 11 June 2012.
  23. ↑ "Criscito anger missed Euro chance". espn.com. 12 September 2012. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  24. ↑ "Criscito, un difensore col cuore a tre punte" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 23 April 2010.
  25. ↑ "Pamela Criscito: "Mimmo - Peter Pan"" (in Italian). fc-zenit.ru. 25 April 2014.
  26. ↑ "D. Criscito". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
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