Giuseppe Rossi

Giuseppe Rossi
Rossi in 2023
Personal information
Full name Giuseppe Rossi[1]
Date of birth (1987-02-01) 1 February 1987 (age 37)[2]
Place of birth Teaneck, New Jersey, United States
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[3]
Position(s) Forward
Youth career
1996–1999 Clifton Stallions
2000–2004 Parma
2004 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2007 Manchester United 5 (1)
2006Newcastle United (loan) 11 (0)
2007Parma (loan) 19 (9)
2007–2013 Villarreal 136 (54)
2013–2017 Fiorentina 34 (16)
2016Levante (loan) 17 (6)
2016–2017Celta (loan) 18 (4)
2017–2018 Genoa 9 (1)
2020 Real Salt Lake 7 (1)
2021–2022 SPAL 14 (3)
2023 SPAL 5 (0)
Total 275 (95)
International career
2003 Italy U16 5 (3)
2003–2004 Italy U17 14 (6)
2004–2005 Italy U18 3 (0)
2006–2008 Italy U21 16 (5)
2008 Italy U23 6 (6)
2008–2014 Italy 30 (7)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Giuseppe Rossi (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe ˈrossi]; born 1 February 1987) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal and Fiorentina, in addition to spells with other clubs in England, Italy and Spain, before returning to his country of birth to join Real Salt Lake for a single season in 2020.

At international level, Rossi represented Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics, and at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, collecting thirty appearances and scoring seven goals at senior level between 2008 and 2014. Along with Mario Balotelli and Daniele De Rossi, he is Italy's all-time top scorer in the FIFA Confederations Cup, with two goals.[4]

Due to his prolific performances in the Spanish La Liga, Rossi earned the nickname Pepito Rossi, a reference to his namesake Paolo Rossi, who was nicknamed Pablito following his goalscoring performances in Italy's victorious 1982 FIFA World Cup campaign in Spain.[5][6]

  1. ^ "Acta del Partido celebrado el 09 de abril de 2017, en Vigo" [Minutes of the Match held on 9 April 2017, in Vigo] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 31 December 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2020.
  2. ^ Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2007). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007–08. Mainstream Publishing. p. 355. ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3.
  3. ^ "Giuseppe Rossi".
  4. ^ "Confederations Cup: Gol Fatti" (in Italian). Italia1910. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  5. ^ Capuano, Giovanni (8 May 2014). "Rossi, Mondiale a rischio. Ma Prandelli si ricordi di Pablito..." panorama.it (in Italian). Panorama. Retrieved 13 April 2015.
  6. ^ "Da Pablito a Pepito stesso fiuto del gol ma lui è più potente" [From Pablito to Pepito the same eye for goal but he's more powerful]. Il Giornale (in Italian). 13 November 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2015.