 Bonucci playing for Italy | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Leonardo Bonucci[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 1 May 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Viterbo, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||
| Playing position | Centre back | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Juventus | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2004–2005 | Viterbese | ||
| 2005–2007 | Internazionale | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2007 | Internazionale | 1 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Treviso | 40 | (2) |
| 2009 | → Pisa (loan) | 18 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | Bari | 38 | (1) |
| 2010– | Juventus | 109 | (5) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2010– | Italy | 35 | (2) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18 May 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 15 November 2013 | |||
Leonardo Bonucci (Italian pronunciation: [leoˈnardo boˈnuttʃi]; born 1 May 1987) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender for Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. A ball-playing centre back, he is known for his passing range and ability to launch an attack with long passes.
Contents
[hide]Club career[edit]
Internazionale[edit]
Bonucci started his career at Viterbese but was loaned to Internazionale in the summer of 2005.[2] He played a number of pre-season friendlies for Inter first team.[3][4][5][6] He then became a member of Inter's Primavera Under-20 Team.[7]
Bonucci made his Serie A debut in the last match of 2005–06 season, against Cagliari Calcio.[8][9] At the end of the season, Inter bought Bonucci outright.[10]
He played his first Coppa Italia match against Messina on 9 November 2006 when he came off the bench forsubstitute Fabio Grosso in the 86th minute. Bonucci featured in two more Coppa Italia games for Inter that season when he was brought on for the substituted Walter Samuel at half-time during the quarter final second leg match against Empoli and as a starter in the semi final second leg tie against Sampdoria.
In January 2007, 50% of Bonucci's registration rights were sold to Treviso by Inter along with 50% of the registration rights for fellow Primavera Team team-mate Daniel Maa Boumsong. At that time Bonucci was tagged for a peppercorn fee of €500.[11] Bonucci subsequently remained at Inter until 30 June 2007.[12] while Maa Boumsong returned from Treviso where he spent the first half of the season on loan. During Bonucci's last season with Inter's U-20 Youth Team, he won the Italian "Primavera" U20 Youth League.
Treviso & Pisa[edit]
On 1 July 2007, Bonucci and Maa Boumsong were signed by Treviso permanently. At Treviso, Bonucci played 20 starts in 27 Serie B appearances as one of the regular starter.[13]
In June 2008, Bonucci was the only player that bought back by Inter from Treviso[14] but he was remained at Treviso on loan. Bonucci was tagged for about €700,000 at that time.
Bonucci played 13 Serie B matches for Treviso before leaving for another Serie B struggler Pisa Calcio on loan.[15]
Bari[edit]
On 8 June 2009, Bonucci underwent a medical examination at Genoa.[16] On 1 July, Inter officially announced Bonucci, along withRobert Acquafresca, Francesco Bolzoni and Riccardo Meggiorini (€2.5M for Inter half[17]), transferred to Genoa, as part of the deal that sent Thiago Motta and Diego Milito to Inter. Moreover, Ivan Fatić who co-owned between Chievo and Inter, became co-owned between Chievo and Genoa. Bonucci was valued €3 million at that time.[17]
But on 2 July he was transferred to Bari from Genoa, on a co-ownership deal, for €1.75 million,[17] along with Meggiorini (co-ownership deal, for €2.75 million[17]), Matteo Paro (loan), Andrea Ranocchia (loan) and Giuseppe Greco (loan).
At Bari he became first choice in central defence under head coach Giampiero Ventura, showing a composed yet strong and effective defensive style. He formed an extremely strong partnership with Andrea Ranocchia which was so effective that, as of the midway point in the 2009–10 season, Bari had the second best defensive record in Serie A. The strong partnership ended after Ranocchia got injured in mid-season and was ruled out for the remaining fixtures.
Juventus[edit]
In July 2010 Leonardo Bonucci was signed by Juventus on a four-year contract for a total of € 15.5 million[18] from Genoa and Siena in cash-plus-player deal (remain 50% of Domenico Criscito to Genoa[19] plus €2M cash[20] and 50% of Sergio Bernardo Almirón to Bari[21] plus €5M cash). He was assigned the shirt number 19.
Partnered with Azzurri teammate Giorgio Chiellini, Bonucci was immediately drafted into the starting line-up for the first matches of the season. He scored his first goal for Juventus in the Europa League play-off match against Sturm Graz.[22]
Due to the presence of veteran of Andrea Barzagli, it was expected that Bonucci would compete with him for a starting place alongside Chiellini in a four-man defence as new manager Antonio Conte was known for his preference for the 4–4–2 formation. Instead Conte decided to play all three in a three-man defence aided by wingbacks and Bonucci established himself once again in the starting eleven.[23] On 2 April 2012 Juventus announced that he had signed a new 5-year contract[24] effective on 1 July 2012. Bonucci won his first major title, the 2011–12 Scudetto, and contributed two goals as Juventus finished the season undefeated and with one of the best defensive records in the top five European leagues. His good form that season earned him a place in the final Euro 2012 squad.[23]
Bonucci made his Champions League debut against Chelsea in the group stage and scored his first goal in the competition against Shaktar Donetsk on October 2012 in a 1–1 draw.[25] On December 2012 Bonucci was criticized for diving in a league game against Palermo on which was described by a number of journalists as "the worst dive ever".[26][27] He was booked by the referee during the game and subsequently given a one-match ban and a €2000 fine by the authorities.[28]
International career[edit]
At youth level, he played for Under-21 Serie B representative team. He was call-up to the friendly against Renate on 6 November 2007,[29] and against Under-20 Serie C representative team on 4 December 2007.[30] He also capped for the team in an internal friendly, which split the Under-21 Serie B team into two on 9 October 2007,[31] on 21 October 2008,[32] on 25 November,[33] and on 24 March 2009 as blue team captain.[34]
He also received a call–up from Italy U20 team on 31 May 2007. He was an unused bench in the match that 0–1 lost to Serie D Best XI.[35]
Bonucci made his debut with Italy senior team on 3 March 2010, in a friendly match against Cameroon played inMonaco, and became one of the few debutants to have never played an official match for the national youth teams.[36][37] He was included by Marcello Lippi in the starting line-up along with national team regulars Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini to form the defense line in a 3–4–3 formation.[38]
Then he was included in the squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.[39][40][41] He scored his first goal on 3 June 2010, in a 1–2 friendly loss against Mexico. In the World Cup, he appeared as unused substitutes for all three matches played by Italy.
Bonucci ended a fine 2011–12 season by earning a place in the final squad for the Euro 2012.[42] He started in all but one match as Italy reached the finals.
In the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup he missed in the penalty shoot-out against Spain in the semi-finals, shooting high over the bar as Italy went out of the competition losing 7–6 on penalties
