Player Profile: Simone Perrotta

Date: 6th June 2011 at 9:58am
Written by:

Name: Simone Pasquale Perrotta

Position: Midfielder

Club: AS Roma

Nationality: Italian

Age: 33

Date of birth: 17/09/77

Previous clubs: Reggina, Juventus, Bari, Chievo

If there is ever a player who makes the most of his talent and displays the Roman spirit to its fullest, aside from Il Capitano of course, then Simone Perrotta is that man.  The World Cup winner is admired by the Giallorossi half of the Stadio Olimpico for his will to win, tackling ability, endless energy and occasional surges into enemy territory, he embodies the desire to succeed that is in the heart of every supporter.

Typically, for a player of the 100% commitment persuasion, he regularly has his name in referees notebooks, picking up four red cards in his Serie A career, five in total, the latest being for a punch on Andrea Massiello in the Serie A match away to Bari late in the season, a game in which also saw a red card for partner-in-crime Daniele De Rossi for elbowing.

After being born in Ashton-under-Lyne, England,  due to his Italian parents running a pub in the market town, he moved to Italy at the age of six.  Although being born in England he has never expressed any desire to play for any country other than La Nazionale.  This, however, has not stopped the local council of his birth town erecting a statue of him, alongside England legends Jimmy Armfield CBE & Sir Geoff Hurst, as the metropolitan borough of Tameside’s triumvirate of World Cup Winners.  The statue can be found close to local side Curzon Ashton FC’s stadium in Roy Oldham Sports Village.

Perrotta’s career started via the Reggina youth system and he made his first team debut for them in Serie B in 1995.  He stayed at the Calabrese club until 1998 when his performances earned him a move to Turin giants Juventus.  He made 77 league appearances in total for Reggina and scored one goal.

The move to Juve was intended to set alight his career and start bringing him the success and recognition he craved.  Unfortunately for Simone he had three established midfielders ahead of him in the pecking order, all of whom would rightly be consider legends of La Vecchia Signora, namely the newly installed Juve coach Antonio Conte, Didier Deschamps and a certain Frenchman with the Roman looks, Zinedine Zidane.  Disposing of any of those three talents proved impossible and he made only 15 appearances in two seasons at the Stadio delle Alpi.

Perhaps thinking that going to a team like Juve may have been a step too far at that time in his career, or simply wishing to get more game time, he signed for Bari on loan as part of co-ownership deal that took current Milan fullback Gianluca Zambrotta in the opposite direction.  He spent two seasons playing at the Stadio San Nicola, producing some of his best displays, although Bari did suffer a relegation whilst he was there. At the end of his second season the loan deal came to an end and instead of returning north to Turin he set his compass north to Verona and signed for Chievo.

Perrotta’s ability and application continued to earn him plaudits as he took the Gialloblu to top spot at the winter break of his first season, eventually finishing in fifth place.  After three seasons of solid performances he got another big move and this time for big money.  In 2004 Roma parted with 7.2 million Euros for his services and he has been a mainstay and consistent performer in the capital ever since.

There have been many standout performances and moments to date in his Roma career, scoring goals in Coppa Italia Finals in two consecutive seasons is a particular highlight.

His current deal with Roma ends after next season, after a recent extension, but hopefully the club will be looking to extend his deal in recognition of his qualities and performances as he has the option of an additional year on the same terms and conditions at 1.8 million Euros a year.

After a number of fine displays for the U-21 team, which culminated in the winning of the European U-21 Championships in 2000, he made his senior debut for the Azzurri in 2002 before being established in the side during the following year.

He was included in the Euro 2004 squad and scored against Bulgaria in their Group C game.  Italy failed to make it out of the group stages after finishing third, behind Sweden and Denmark.  This disappointment was soon to be forgotten as in 2006 the Azzurri, battered and bruised in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal, marched on Germany in the manner of Caesar marching on Rome 2000 years earlier.  Although the Azzurri could not be mistaken for Caesar’s 13th Legion the determination, spirit and resolve was exactly the same, with Perrotta at the heart of it.

Marcello Lippi picked Perrotta for all of the games during the finals and, as usual, he did not let anyone down. One of his strengths is having the ability to play in any position across the middle of the park and Lippi utilized this ability by playing him as either a left winger or defensive midfielder.

Despite being a regular runner-up in the Scudetto stakes he has still managed to add some impressive medals for his collection.  Two Coppa Italia titles, scoring in both finals, and one Supercoppa Italiana sit proudly next to his European Championships U-21Winners medal and, of course, his medal for being a key part of the victorious World Cup winning team.

Despite being the wrong side of 30 he still has plenty of energy and enthusiasm and will guarantee to give everything for the cause.  He has plenty of good times to look back on but hopefully some more still to come.  The elusive Serie A title would be the missing piece of his medal collection and if the rest of his Roma teammates show as much willing and aptitude as Simone, then you would not bet against him polishing a Scudetto medal before he retires.

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