Daniele De Rossi (Italian pronunciation: [daˈnjɛːle de ˈrossi]; born 24 July 1983) is an Italian football manager and former professional player, currently in charge as the head coach of Serie A club Genoa. He usually played in the center midfield, specifically a central defensive midfielder. As a football player, he is known for his long career with hometown club Roma, as well as winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup with Italy.
De Rossi made his professional debut with Roma during the 2001–02 season, and made his Serie A debut the following year. With the club, he won the Coppa Italia twice in 2007 and 2008, and the 2007 Supercoppa Italiana. He was named Serie A Young Footballer of the Year in 2006, and the Serie A Italian Footballer of the Year in 2009. De Rossi inherited the captaincy of Roma at the start of the 2017–18 season following the retirement of Francesco Totti, during which he helped Roma to the Champions League semi-final for the first time in the Champions League era. At the end of the 2018–19 season, he left Roma after 18 seasons with the team. With 616 appearances for Roma in all competitions, he is the club's second-most capped player of all time, behind Totti. He subsequently joined Argentine club Boca Juniors in the summer of 2019, and retired from professional football in January of the following year.
De Rossi represented Italy at under-19, under-20, under-21 and senior levels, winning the 2004 European Under-21 Football Championship, and also represented Italy at the 2004 Olympics, winning a bronze medal. From his senior international debut in 2004, until his retirement from the national team in 2017, he earned 117 caps, and is Italy's joint fourth-highest capped player of all time, and most capped midfielder of all time. With 21 goals, he is the highest scoring midfielder for Italy post-World War II, and Italy's all-time second most prolific midfielder behind Adolfo Baloncieri. He was part of the 2006 World Cup-winning squad and also participated at Euro 2008, the 2009 Confederations Cup, the 2010 World Cup, Euro 2012 (finishing in second place), the 2013 Confederations Cup (finishing in third place), the 2014 World Cup, and Euro 2016. De Rossi was named in the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament for his performances.
2001–2006: Early career and emergence
De Rossi joined the Roma youth system from Ostiamare, where he had played as a striker, in 2000. He made his first-team debut for Roma under manager Fabio Capello on 30 October 2001 against Belgian side Anderlecht in the UEFA Champions League. In his first season with the club, he also made three appearances in the Coppa Italia. The following season, he made his Serie A debut on 25 January 2003 against Como in Piacenza. Later that season, his first Serie A start, along with his first league and career goal, came on 10 May 2003 against Torino.
He soon established himself as a permanent member of the starting line-up in the holding midfield position during the next few seasons, and was considered one of the most promising young Italian players in the league, helping Roma to a second-place finish in Serie A during the 2003–04 season, and consecutive Coppa Italia finals in 2005 and 2006. Due to his maturity, tenacity and leadership on the pitch, on 15 March 2006, De Rossi wore the captain's armband for the first time in an UEFA Cup match against Middlesbrough. Despite earning several cautions and a reputation as a hard-tackling player during the 2005–06 season, on 19 March 2006, De Rossi was praised by referee Mauro Bergonzi for fair play. Roma were trailing 1–0 in a Serie A match against Messina, when De Rossi scored a goal from a header, which had been deflected off of his hand; Bergonzi did not see the incident and allowed the equaliser to stand. However, De Rossi immediately told the referee that he had pushed the ball in with his hand, leading to the goal being disallowed. Roma went on to win 2–1, although De Rossi endured an injury to his ankle during the match, which ruled him out for two weeks. At the end of the season, he was named the 2006 Serie A Young Footballer of the Year for his performances.
2006–2011: Domestic success and recognition
In the 2006–07 season, De Rossi continued to be a decisive player for the team, scoring from 40 yards against Fiorentina on 5 November 2006, with Sébastien Frey in goal. This was the first of three goals of the night for Roma, as they won the match 3–1. He also scored the lone Roma goal in Roma's Champions League quarter-final defeat against Manchester United in the 2006–07 season. On 9 May 2007, De Rossi scored in Roma's 6–2 first leg victory of the 2007 Coppa Italia final over Internazionale, as Roma went on to win the trophy on aggregate.
The following season, under manager Luciano Spalletti, Roma won the Supercoppa Italiana over Serie A champions Inter, with De Rossi scoring the decisive goal from a penalty in a 1–0 victory in Milan on 19 August 2007. De Rossi also played a key role as the club defended their Coppa Italia title that season, defeating Inter once again in the final 2–1, on 24 May 2008, although they finished second in Serie A behind Inter.
Roma were unable to defend the Supercoppa Italiana against Inter the following season, losing the final 8–7 on penalties after a 2–2 draw following extra time. During the match, De Rossi managed a goal in regulation time, and also converted one of Roma's penalties in the resulting shoot-out. He scored his first goal in the Rome Derby on 11 April 2009, in a 4–2 "away" defeat to cross-city rivals Lazio. Roma finished the 2008–09 Serie A season in sixth place, reaching the quarter-finals of the Coppa Italia. In 2009, De Rossi was named Italian Footballer of the Year.
During the 2009–10 season, De Rossi made his 200th Serie A appearance against Lazio in the Rome Derby of 6 December 2009. He was a key player in midfield under manager Claudio Ranieri, scoring a crucial goal in a 2–1 home win over rivals Inter on 27 March 2010, as Roma went on a 24-game unbeaten streak, narrowly missing out on the league title to Inter. De Rossi also scored the decisive goal in a 1–0 win over Catania on 26 January 2010, in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals, as Roma reached the 2010 Coppa Italia final, losing out to Inter once again.
The 2010–11 season proved less successful, as Roma were defeated by Inter in the 2010 Supercoppa Italiana and finished the Serie A season in sixth place, also suffering a semi-final elimination in the Coppa Italia. On 4 February 2011, however, De Rossi was elected the best Italian Athlete of the Year, alongside swimmer Federica Pellegrini, by the Foreign Press Association in Italy.
2011–2017: Struggles and mixed success under DiBenedetto and Pallotta presidencies
In February 2012, De Rossi signed a new five-year contract with Roma. Under new club president Thomas R. DiBenedetto, he became the highest-paid Italian footballer in Serie A at €10 million (gross) per annum. Roma's previous record for an Italian player was Francesco Totti (€8.9 million in 2009–10 season). De Rossi finished the 2011–12 season with 32 appearances and four goals as Roma finished the season in seventh place under manager Luis Enrique.
In the 2012–13 season, De Rossi received less playing time and featured in just 25 matches. His manager Zdeněk Zeman was often critical of De Rossi's performances, and as a result he was used with less frequency. After Aurelio Andreazzoli's arrival, however, De Rossi started playing with more regularity, although he did not manage to score any goals.
Roma started the 2013–14 season under manager Rudi Garcia winning each of their first 10 Serie A games. He scored the first goal of the season for Roma against Livorno. In the game against Napoli, De Rossi played a crucial role in the first half when the score was still 0–0; Roma went on to win through two Miralem Pjanić goals. He captained Roma after Francesco Totti was sidelined with a hamstring injury, playing three successive draws against Torino, Sassuolo and Cagliari, and slipped to second place, one point behind Juventus. On 10 November 2013, De Rossi made his 318th appearance in Serie A in a 1–1 draw with Sassuolo, equalling Roma legend Giuseppe Giannini's number of caps; the match was also his 400th starting appearance for Roma. Due to this series of draws, De Rossi admitted that he was not sure whether Roma could seriously challenge for the Scudetto in the long run, believing that both Juventus and Napoli had stronger squads with greater depth. He also stated in an interview that he was close to joining Manchester United in the summer, but the transfer did not happen because it was too late in the transfer window. He also mentioned that he was happy that he stayed at Roma for now, believing moving to United would not have been the best idea at the current time, due to Roma's solid start. De Rossi was one of two Roma players to be sent off within a minute in the first game after the winter break against league leaders Juventus, as Roma suffered their first defeat of the season in a 3–0 drubbing on 5 January 2014. The defeat left them in second place, eight points behind the Bianconeri. On 11 May 2014, with 338 league appearances, De Rossi reached and later overtook legendary Roma goalkeeper Guido Masetti, becoming the third-highest appearance holder in Serie A history for Roma.