| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simone Mondiali Rota[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1984-11-06)November 6, 1984 (age 40) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Parañaque, Philippines[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Right back | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Kaya–Iloilo | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 23 | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2001–2010 | Pro Sesto | 127 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2006 | →Manfredonia (loan) | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | →Lugano (loan) | 17 | (6) | ||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Borgomanero | 54 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2012–2014 | Asti | 15 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2014–2016 | Stallion | 43 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Ceres-Negros | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Davao Aguilas | 28 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019– | Kaya–Iloilo | 37 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2005 | Italy U20 Lega Pro | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014– | Philippines | 31 | (2) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of August 7, 2018 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12:45; June 14, 2022 | |||||||||||||||||
Simone Mondiali Rota (born November 6, 1984) is a Filipinofootballer who plays as aright back forPhilippines Football League clubKaya-Iloilo.
Rota was left in an orphanage of Buklod Kalinga run by Franciscan sisters inParañaque when he was a baby and was raised by Sister May Memorial, who he considers a second mother to him.[3] A woman named Sonia Tulay reportedly left Rota in the convent at about two months old in November 1984.[4]
Rota was eventually adopted by Maurizio Rota and Marilena (née Mondiali), a couple fromItaly who were taxi drivers. He has a sister, Valentina, who was also born on the 6th of November and adopted from the Philippines.[3][5]
Mother Flora Zippo, an Italian missionary, assisted in finding people to adopt Rota.[4]
Rota entered the first team ofPro Sesto in the 2001–02Serie C2 season, becoming a regular the following year. In 2005, the team was promoted toSerie C1 as the Group A winner of the 2004–05 Serie C2 season. Subsequently, Rota was also selected for the Mirop Cup as a member ofItaly U-20 Lega Pro.[6] Their team went up against the youth national teams ofStyria,Croatia,Hungary, andSlovenia,[7] and eventually Italy's U-20 Lega Pro team was named the champion of that tournament.[8]
Rota also capped for the Italy U-20 Lega Pro team in the 2005Trofeo Dossena, which lost toSport Club Internacional in the final game. He did not suit up for Italy in the final match of that tournament.[9] In January 2006, Rota was transferred from Pro Sesto toManfredonia.[10] By the end of that season, Manfredonia finished tenth, and Pro Sesto was relegated. Rota returned to Pro Sesto as a regular, though he missed the rest of the season.[11]
In November 2007, Rota returned to Pro Sesto, playing eight games of the season. He was then transferred toLugano ofSwiss Challenge League in 2008.[12] In 2009, Rota returned to Pro Sesto, but the club went bankrupt and finished last in the2009–10 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.
In October 2013, Rota showed interest in playing in theUnited Football League to have more chances of being selected by thePhilippines national football team. He signed withStallion FC in January 2014.
In January 2017,Ceres-Negros announced that they had signed Rota, along with few other players, to play for the club.[13] He went on to joinDavao Aguilas later in the year.[14]
Rota represented theItaly U20 Lega Pro team at the 2005–06 Mirop Cup.[15]
Rota received his first call up for thePhilippines national football team in February 2014,[16] making his international debut in a friendly match againstMalaysia on 1 March 2014. He scored his first international goal in the2014 AFC Challenge Cup group stage match againstLaos on 22 May 2014.
In August 2016 Rota suffered a seriousACL tear that would rule him out for the rest of the year, including the2016 AFF Championship in which the Philippines were the host.[17]
Since his return to the Philippines in 2014, Rota makes a point of volunteering at the orphanage where he grew up. Rota is anA.C. Milan fan, and although he fluently speaksItalian, he has difficulty speakingEnglish andFilipino.[3][5] Rota has multiple tattoos, including the outline of the Philippines archipelago and the names of his sister, adopted mother and father on his right forearm and a prayer and Sister May's name on his left forearm.[18]
Rota's biography has been depicted in the filmJourneyman Finds Home: The Simone Rota Story, which was directed by Albert Almendralejo and Maricel Cariaga.[19]
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | ||||||
| 1. | 22 May 2014 | Addu Football Stadium,Addu City,Maldives |  Laos | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2014 AFC Challenge Cup |
| 2. | 22 November 2014 | Mỹ Đình National Stadium,Hanoi,Vietnam | Laos | 1–1 | 4–1 | 2014 AFF Suzuki Cup |
Kaya–Iloilo
