Carl Valeri is a professional Australian
football (soccer)Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...
defensive midfielderA midfielder is an association football position. Some midfielders play a more defensive role, while others blur the boundaries between midfielders and forwards. The number of midfielders a team uses during a match may vary, depending on the team's formation and each individual player's role...
who currently plays for
SassuoloUnione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio is an Italian association football club, based in Sassuolo, Emilia-Romagna.In the season 2010-11 it plays in Serie B.The club was founded in 1922....
in the
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Serie BSerie B, currently named Serie bwin due to sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It is contested by 22 teams and organized by the Lega Serie B since July 2010, after the split of Lega Calcio that previously took care of both the...
. He is also a member of the Australia national football team.
Biography
Valeri is the son of former Australian
National Soccer LeagueThe National Soccer League is the former national association football competition in Australasia, overseen by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977, until its demise in 2004...
player Walter Valeri.
Club career
He grew up in
CanberraCanberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
and trained at the
Australian Institute of SportThe Australian Institute of Sport is a sports training institution in Australia with world class facilities and support services. The Institute's headquarters is situated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. The 66.0 hectare site campus is in the northern suburb of Bruce, but some of the...
on a football (soccer) scholarship.
In 2002, Valeri was signed as a teenager by Italian giants
Inter MilanFootball Club Internazionale Milano, often referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Italy. Outside Italy, the club is often called Inter Milan. They are the reigning FIFA Club World champions and Coppa Italia holders.Inter have always...
. He was loaned out to various clubs in Italy to gain further experience, including
GrossetoUnione Sportiva Grosseto Football Club is a professional Italian association football club, based in the city of Grosseto, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1912. The team's most associated nickname is grifone, after its logo, depicting a griffon...
, and both football clubs owned 50 percent of his contract from summer 2005 until June 2007, when Grosseto bought all the rights by blind auction between the two clubs. In January 2010 Valeri joined
SassuoloUnione Sportiva Sassuolo Calcio is an Italian association football club, based in Sassuolo, Emilia-Romagna.In the season 2010-11 it plays in Serie B.The club was founded in 1922....
in co-ownership for Euro 250.000 fee. Representing Australia in the starting 11 for the 2010 World Cup is his greatest achievement to date.
International career
Valeri has played for Australia at all international youth levels;
Under-17The Australia national under-17 association football team, more commonly known as the Joeys, is controlled by Football Federation Australia and represents Australia in international Under 17 or youth football competitions.-FIFA U-17 World Cup:...
,
Under-20The Australia national under-20 association football team, more commonly known as the Young Socceroos, is controlled by Football Federation Australia and represents Australia in international Under 20 or youth football competitions....
and
Under-23The Australia Olympic football team, more commonly known as the Olyroos, is controlled by Football Federation Australia and represents Australia at association football in the Olympic Games...
.
He captained the Australian Under-17 team, the 'Joeys', at the
2001 FIFA World Youth ChampionshipThe 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between June 17 and July 8, 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del Plata...
and competed with the Under-23 squad, the 'Olyroos', at the
2004 Athens OlympicsThe football tournament at the 2004 Summer Olympics started on 11 August, , and ended on 28 August.The men's tournament is played by U-23 national teams, with up to three over age players allowed per squad...
.
After being an unused substitute in an
2007 Asian CupThe Asian Football Confederation's 2007 AFC Asian Cup finals were held from July 7 to July 29, 2007. For the first time in its history, the competition was co-hosted by four nations: Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. The tournament was won by first-time champions Iraq, who defeated Saudi...
qualifier against
BahrainThe Bahrain national football team is the national team of the Kingdom of Bahrain and is controlled by the Bahrain Football Association; it was founded in 1951 and joined FIFA in 1966. They have never reached the finals of the World Cup, but have twice come within one match of doing so...
in 2006, the 22 year old received his second call up to the senior
Australian national teamThe Australia national association football team represents Australia in international association football competitions. Its official nickname is the "Socceroos"...
in March 2007, as a replacement for the injured defensive midfielder
Vince GrellaVincenzo "Vince" Grella is an Australian football player, who plays as a midfielder for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League...
.
He made his international debut on 24 March 2007 in a friendly game against
ChinaThe China PR national football team is the national association football team of the People's Republic of China and is governed by the Chinese Football Association...
, which Australia won 2–0. This made him the 501st player to be capped for Australia. He made his home debut in a friendly against
UruguayThe Uruguayan national football team represents Uruguay in international association football and is controlled by the Uruguayan Football Association, the governing body for football in Uruguay. The current head coach is Óscar Tabárez...
.
Former Socceroos coach
Graham ArnoldGraham James Arnold is a former coach of the Australian national football team. He was appointed to work as an assistant to Frank Farina in 2000. The two replaced Raul Blanco, who was the interim coach in charge after Terry Venables decided not to renew his contract with Soccer Australia after...
has described Valeri as a key player of the future, and possible successor to Grella. This led to certain sections of the Australian media dubbing him "Mini Vinnie."
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1. |
25 January 2011 |
Al-Gharafa Stadium, DohaDoha is the capital city of the state of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf, it had a population of 998,651 in 2008, and is also one of the municipalities of Qatar...
, QatarQatar , also known as the State of Qatar or locally Dawlat Qaṭar, is a sovereign Arab state, located in the Middle East, occupying the small Qatar Peninsula on the northeasterly coast of the much larger Arabian Peninsula. Its sole land border is with Saudi Arabia to the south, with the rest of its...
|
|
6–0 |
Win |
2011 Asian Cup |
External links
US Grosseto profile