Emiliano Moretti

Emiliano Moretti was a naturally left-footed defender, but throughout his career he was often used as a central defender. He began at Lodigiani and was signed by A.C. Fiorentina in 1998. With this club he made his début in Italy First League under coach Roberto Mancini and won the 2001 Coppa Italia. Moretti later played for Juventus, Modena, Parma, and Bologna. In 2004, he was signed by Spanish team Valencia C.F., where he won the Copa del Rey in 2008 and collected 172 caps and 4 goals. In 2009, he returned to Italy where he spent four seasons with Genoa CFC. In August 2013, he was signed by Torino F.C., where he remained until his retirement in May 2019, having collected over 600 career appearances at the club level.

Internationally, Moretti represented Italy at under-16 and under-20 youth levels. He was also part of the U-21 team that won the UEFA European U-21 Championship and a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. In this tournament he played all six matches, playing all but five minutes.

On 9 November 2014, Moretti was called up to the senior national team by coach Antonio Conte ahead of a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying match against Croatia and a friendly against Albania. On 18 November, he was deployed as a starter in Genova during a 1–0 win against Albania, becoming, at 33 years, 5 months and 7 days, the oldest player to début for Italy. He made his second and final appearance for Italy in a 1–1 friendly draw against England in Torino on 31 March 2015. In total, he collected 2 appearances for Italy at the senior level between 2014-15 and earned 24 caps with the U-21 and Olympic team.