 Dessena withCagliari in 2012 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniele Dessena[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1987-05-10)10 May 1987 (age 38) | ||
| Place of birth | Parma, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2004 | Parma | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2008 | Parma | 81 | (5) |
| 2008–2012 | Sampdoria | 55 | (2) |
| 2009–2010 | →Cagliari (loan) | 29 | (3) |
| 2012–2019 | Cagliari | 166 | (7) |
| 2019–2021 | Brescia | 42 | (4) |
| 2021 | Pescara | 13 | (3) |
| 2021–2023 | Virtus Entella | 35 | (1) |
| 2023 | →Olbia (loan) | 12 | (4) |
| 2023–2024 | Olbia | 31 | (4) |
| International career | |||
| 2004 | Italy U18 | 2 | (0) |
| 2006–2009 | Italy U19 | 7 | (1) |
| 2006–2009 | Italy U21 | 25 | (6) |
| 2008 | Italy Olympic | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 May 2024 | |||
Daniele Dessena (born 10 May 1987)[2] is an Italian professionalfootball coach and former player.
Dessena began his football career in the youth ranks ofParma and made his official debut in the first team on 27 February 2005 againstLazio.[3] This season also made his debut in the UEFA Cup on 24 February 2005, in a 2–0 win againstVfB Stuttgart. During the 2005–06 season, he scored 3 goals in 17 games. During the 2006–07 season, Dessena became one of the star players atParma. He made 34Serie A appearances, scoring two goals, and also scored two goals in 6 games during theUEFA Cup campaign.
In the 2007–08 season, Dessena played in 28Serie A games forParma. In total, he played 101 games forParma in all competitions, scoring seven goals in the Emilian shirt.
In the summer of 2008, Dessena arrived atU.C. Sampdoria for a €4 million transfer fee. He made his debut on 31 August in a 1–1 draw againstInter Milan. On 23 October 2008, he scored his first goal for Sampdoria againstPartizan Belgrade in the group stage of theUEFA Cup. He also scored a brace for Sampdoria in a 5–0 victory against Reggina on 9 May 2009. He made 25 appearances and scored two goals during his first season at the club.
On 31 August 2009, he joined fellowSerie A sideCagliari. On 27 September, he scored his first goal for Cagliari in the game against his former team, Parma. He scored again on 18 October against Catania and on 14 March 2010 against Genoa.
On 25 June 2010, he was re-signed by Sampdoria after being brought back to the club by his former Parma ManagerDomenico Di Carlo. Despite playing in aUEFA Champions League qualifier game for Sampdoria during the 2010–11 season, Sampdoria had to settle for a place in theUEFA Europa League after failing to progress to the group stages. Dessena made six appearances for Sampdoria during the Europa League campaign. However, the Serie A season ended in relegation toSerie B. Dessena stayed with the club in Serie B, making eight appearances during the first half of the 2011–12 season.
Having made only eight appearances in 2011–12 during the first part of the season forSampdoria inSerie B, Dessena was loaned toSerie A clubCagliari in January for the remainder of the season. He made 12 appearances and scored 1 goal.[4] After impressing during his 6-month loan spell, he joinedCagliari on a permanent deal in July 2012.
In the 2012–13 season, he made 31 appearances and scored three goals under managersMassimo Ficcadenti andIvo Pulga.
In the 2013–14 season, he was deployed more frequently in a holding midfield position under the new managerLuis Diego López.
On 10 January 2019, Dessena signed withSerie B clubBrescia.[5]
On 1 February 2021, Dessena signed withSerie B clubPescara.[6]
On 20 July 2021, he signed withVirtus Entella.[7] On 1 February 2023, Dessena moved on loan toOlbia, with an obligation to buy.[8] He retired in June 2024.
Dessena made two appearances for theItaly U18 team and 7 appearances for theU-19 team.
In May 2008, he won theToulon Tournament with theItaly National Olympic team, assisting teammateDani Osvaldo for the only goal of the victorious final againstChile.[9] During the event, he scored a goal in Italy's victory over theUnited States.[10] He played for Italy at the2008 Summer Olympics inBeijing.
From 2006 to 2009, he was a regular member of theItaly U-21s, coached byPierluigi Casiraghi.
In May 2009, he was called up to theEuropean Championships but only made substitute appearances as second choice behindLuca Cigarini andClaudio Marchisio. He finished with a bronze medal, with Italy finishing in 3rd.
After retiring, he becameLeandro Greco's assistant atFrosinone 's Under-19 team, then followed him to the first team after he was promoted.
He successively served as Greco's right-hand man atPro Patria from July to December 2025.
Updated 15 August 2020[11]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Parma | 2004–05 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 20 | 3 | ||||
| 2006–07 | 34 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 2 | – | 43 | 4 | |||
| 2007–08 | 28 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 81 | 5 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 103 | 7 | ||
| Sampdoria | 2008–09 | Serie A | 25 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | – | 33 | 3 | |
| 2010–11 | Serie A | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 0 | – | 30 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | Serie B | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 9 | 0 | |||
| Total | 55 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 72 | 3 | ||
| Cagliari (loan) | 2009–10 | Serie A | 29 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 3 | ||
| Cagliari | 2011–12 | Serie A | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13 | 31 | 3 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 3 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 0 | ||||
| 2014–15 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 1 | ||||
| 2015–16 | Serie B | 16 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | – | 18 | 1 | |||
| 2016–17 | Serie A | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 2 | |||
| 2017–18 | 17 | 0 | 1 | 1 | – | – | 18 | 1 | ||||
| 2018–19 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 12 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 195 | 10 | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 206 | 12 | ||
| Brescia | 2018–19 | Serie B | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 11 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20 | Serie A | 24 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 24 | 2 | |||
| 2020–21 | Serie B | 18 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 19 | 2 | |||
| Total | 53 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 54 | 5 | ||
| Pescara | 2020–21 | Serie B | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 13 | 3 | ||
| Virtus Entella | 2021–22 | Serie C | 22 | 1 | – | – | – | 22 | 1 | |||
| Career total | 419 | 26 | 24 | 2 | 25 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 470 | 31 | ||
Italy U21
