 Criscito withGenoa in 2018 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Domenico Criscito[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1986-12-30)30 December 1986 (age 39)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Cercola, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Left-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Genoa (youth coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1996–2002 | Sporting Volla | ||
| 2002–2004 | Genoa | ||
| 2004–2006 | Juventus | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2004 | Genoa | 1 | (0) |
| 2004–2009 | Juventus | 8 | (0) |
| 2006–2009 | →Genoa (loan) | 87 | (7) |
| 2009–2011 | Genoa | 65 | (2) |
| 2011–2018 | Zenit Saint Petersburg | 156 | (15) |
| 2018–2022 | Genoa | 104 | (17) |
| 2022 | Toronto FC | 15 | (1) |
| 2023 | Genoa | 16 | (1) |
| Total | 452 | (43) | |
| International career | |||
| 2003 | Italy U17 | 5 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Italy U18 | 5 | (0) |
| 2004–2005 | Italy U19 | 6 | (1) |
| 2005–2006 | Italy U20 | 4 | (1) |
| 2006–2009 | Italy U21 | 26 | (1) |
| 2008 | Italy Olympic | 4 | (0) |
| 2009–2018 | Italy | 26 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Domenico "Mimmo" Criscito (Italian pronunciation:[doˈmeːnikoˈmimmoˈkriʃʃito]; born 30 December 1986) is an Italian former professionalfootballer who played as aleft-back. A versatile player, Criscito was effective both offensively and defensively[3] and was also capable of playing as awing-back orcentre-back, a position which he often occupied in his early career.[4][5]
Criscito played forSerie A clubsGenoa andJuventus, making over 200 appearances across four spells for the former. He also played for 7 seasons in theRussian Premier League forZenit Saint Petersburg, making 225 total appearances and winning two league titles. A full international from 2009 to 2018, he played forItaly at the2010 FIFA World Cup.
A native of southern Italy, Criscito moved up north at age 13 to pursue his football career.[6][7] He started his professional career atGenoa, for whom he made his debut inSerie B in June 2003 at the age of 16. In the summer of 2004, Genoa sold 50% of Criscito andFrancesco Volpe contracts toJuventus for €1.9 million, with 50% contract ofAntonio Nocerino was sold to Genoa for €450,000.[8]
Criscito played for Juventus'sPrimavera team alongside Italy U-21 teammatesClaudio Marchisio,Paolo De Ceglie andSebastian Giovinco, and together they won the 2005–06Campionato Nazionale Primavera. In the 2006–07 season, he returned to Genoa and established himself as one of the top young defenders inSerie B. In January 2007, Juventus bought its remaining 50% registration rights for €7.5 million. This was paid by the co-ownership ofMasiello andKonko toGenoa, and €5.25 million cash.[9] He also signed a new contract with Juventus that would last until 30 June 2011, remaining on loan at Genoa.
Criscito made hisSerie A debut forJuventus on 25 August 2007, in Juve's comeback game in Serie A versusLivorno, a crushing 5–1 victory. However, he endured a difficult time at the Turin club. He was deemed "too soft" to be a centre-back afterFrancesco Totti scored twice in six minutes in the September game, a 2–2 draw, againstRoma from his side of the pitch. Criscito was substituted at half-time.[6] After that, he found himself behindNicola Legrottaglie andGiorgio Chiellini in the pecking order due to their outstanding form.
Not happy to remain on the bench, Criscito opted to return toGenoa on loan in the opening days of the 2007–08 winter transfer window. On 3 July 2008, he was sent on loan to Genoa again for €1 million[10] with the Ligurian club having the option to purchase half of his contract for €5.5 million. In February 2009, he scored his first goal since returning to Genoa, the winner againstPalermo. In June 2009, Genoa exercised the option to sign him in a co-ownership for a pre-agreed price.[11] He was very impressive after re-joining Genoa, who were back inSerie A by then, and he retained a place in the starting line-up asGian Piero Gasperini's first choice left-back.[12] However, he did not rule out a return to Juventus after being linked to a permanent return to replaceFabio Grosso.[13] In September againstNapoli, Criscito was shown a straight red card for allegedly swearing at the referee after being penalized for a foul onChristian Maggio, but Gasperini later defended the 23-year-old saying that he was angry at himself, not the referee. The appeal to rescind the red card was turned down, but his ban was reduced to two to three matchdays.[14]
On 25 June 2010, Juventus announced that Criscito's remaining 50% registration rights were sold for another €6 million fee.[15] However co-currently 50% registration rights ofLeonardo Bonucci was signed from Genoa viaBari for €8 million.
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On 27 June 2011, Criscito signed for Russian Premier League clubZenit for €11 million fee.[16] He penned a five-year contract with the club.[17] He made his debut for the club on 6 August in a 2–0 away victory againstCSKA Moscow, providing an assist for teammateAleksandr Kerzhakov. He ended theseason as a league champion, his first career silverware.
On 12 July 2015, he scored the winning penalty in a 4–2 shoot-out victory in the2015 Russian Super Cup overLokomotiv Moscow.[18]
On 8 May 2018, he announced that he would be leaving Zenit upon the expiration of his contract at the end of the 2017–18 season. A game againstFC SKA-Khabarovsk was his official farewell game for Zenit.[19]
In May 2018, it was reported that Criscito had announced to sign for his former clubGenoa via his personalInstagram account.[20][21] His return was officially announced by the club on 24 May.[22] A few days later he was assigned number 4 shirt.[23]
Criscito's contract with Genoa was terminated by mutual consent on 24 June 2022.[24]
On 29 June 2022,Toronto FC announced the signing of Criscito on a TAM contract.[25] The signing followed the arrival of former Italy teammate and good friend,Lorenzo Insigne. A move to the club was initially speculated in March 2022, but fell through.[26] Despite receiving offers to join other Italian clubs, Criscito opted for a move to Canada to avoid playing against Genoa in the future.[27] He made his debut for Toronto FC on 9 July against theSan Jose Earthquakes in a 2–2 home draw.[28] In the2022 Canadian Championship Final againstVancouver Whitecaps FC on 26 July atBC Place, following a 1–1 draw, he converted a penalty in the resulting shoot-out, although Toronto ultimately lost 5–3.[29] He scored his first goal for the club on 17 August, the equalizing goal, from avolley, of a 2–2 home draw againstNew England Revolution.[30][31] In November 2022, he announced his retirement.[32]
On 27 December 2022, Genoa announced that Criscito would return from retirement and rejoin the club on 2 January 2023.[33]On 19 May 2023, after the 4-3 match win over Bari, he announced his retirement from football at the age of 36, after scoring the winning goal from a penalty kick in the 94th minute and securing Genoa's promotion to Serie A.[34][35]
On 14 November 2006, Criscito made his debut for theItaly Under-21 squad in a match against theCzech Republic. He appeared in twoEuropean Under-21 Championships, in2007 and2009, reaching the semi-finals of the latter tournament. In 2008, he also represented Italy at theSummer Olympics.
On 12 August 2009, he made his seniornational team debut in a friendly againstSwitzerland inBasel.[36] After a promising season, he was named inMarcello Lippi's 23-man squad for the2010 World Cup in South Africa, where he was the starting left-back; Italy were eliminated in the first round of the tournament following a 3–2 loss toSlovakia in their final group match on 24 June.[37]
Criscito was named to Italy'sEuro 2012 squad byCesare Prandelli, but withdrew from the team after he came under investigation due to theScommessopoli match fixing scandal.[38] Criscito went on to criticize theItalian FA for the decision to drop him despite the limited selection of left-backs.[39] Several months later he was cleared of all charges.[40]
Criscito was unused by Italy between March 2014 and May 2018, when he returned in a 2–1 friendly win overSaudi Arabia underRoberto Mancini.[41][42] On 4 June, he was sent off for a foul onRyan Babel in a 1–1 friendly draw with theNetherlands in Turin.[43]
Criscito was a tactically versatile player, who was capable of being both an effective attacking and defensive threat as afull-back.[3] He began his career as a left-footedcentre-back, but he was moved to the position of left-back while playing forGenoa, where he was also employed as awing-back or as awide midfielder on occasion under managerGian Piero Gasperini in Genoa's 3–4–3 formation.[4] Criscito was described as a quick defender, with good technique, distribution, and man-marking ability.[5]
After retirement, Criscito stayed on at Genoa as a youth coach, first in charge of the Under-14 team, then being promoted as Under-17 coach in 2024.
On 1 November 2025, Criscito was temporarily appointed as assistant coach of Genoa, with technical collaboratorRoberto Murgita serving as caretaker, following the departure of head coachPatrick Vieira.[44]
Criscito is married to Pamela Chiccoli and they have two sons and one daughter.[45][46][47]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Genoa | 2002–03 | Serie B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 1 | 0 | ||
| Juventus | 2005–06 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | |
| 2007–08 | Serie A | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | |||
| Total | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Genoa (loan) | 2006–07 | Serie B | 36 | 4 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 39 | 4 | ||
| 2007–08 | Serie A | 16 | 0 | – | – | – | 16 | 0 | ||||
| 2008–09 | Serie A | 35 | 3 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 3 | |||
| Total | 87 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 7 | ||
| Genoa | 2009–10 | Serie A | 29 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 1 | – | 35 | 3 | |
| 2010–11 | Serie A | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 37 | 0 | |||
| Total | 65 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 3 | ||
| Zenit Saint Petersburg | 2011–12 | Russian Premier League | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 33 | 1 | |
| 2012–13 | Russian Premier League | 12 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 18 | 3 | |
| 2013–14 | Russian Premier League | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 26 | 1 | ||
| 2014–15 | Russian Premier League | 25 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 1 | – | 40 | 3 | ||
| 2015–16 | Russian Premier League | 23 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1[a] | 0 | 35 | 1 | |
| 2016–17 | Russian Premier League | 25 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 1 | 1[a] | 0 | 33 | 5 | |
| 2017–18 | Russian Premier League | 28 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 2 | – | 40 | 6 | ||
| Total | 156 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 57 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 225 | 20 | ||
| Genoa | 2018–19 | Serie A | 35 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 36 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | Serie A | 26 | 8 | 2 | 2 | – | – | 28 | 10 | |||
| 2020–21 | Serie A | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 1 | |||
| 2021–22 | Serie A | 20 | 6 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 21 | 7 | |||
| Total | 104 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 109 | 20 | ||
| Toronto FC | 2022 | MLS | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 1 | ||
| Genoa | 2022–23 | Serie B | 16 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 452 | 43 | 23 | 4 | 63 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 541 | 52 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 2009 | 4 | 0 |
| 2010 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2011 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2012 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2013 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2014 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 26 | 0 | |
Italy U21
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Italy squads | |||||||
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