Cristiano Doni

Cristiano Doni

200px Doni in 2009
Personal information
Date of birth	(1973-04-01) 1 April 1973
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Height
Position(s)	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1991–1992	Modena	0	(0)
1992–1993	Rimini	31	(6)
1993–1994	Pistoiese	31	(3)
1994–1996	Bologna	54	(11)
1996–1998	Brescia	51	(8)
1998–2003	Atalanta	145	(55)
2003–2005	Sampdoria	44	(7)
2005–2006	Mallorca	24	(2)
2006–2011	Atalanta	151	(48)
Total		531	(140)
International career
2001–2002	Italy	7	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cristiano Doni (born 1 April 1973) is an Italian retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, on either flank or in the middle.

Most of his professional career (which spanned two decades) was associated with Atalanta, as he played in more than 300 official games for the club and scored more than 100 goals. He amassed Serie A totals of 266 matches and 77 goals over the course of ten seasons, also representing in the competition Brescia and Sampdoria.

Doni appeared for Italy at the 2002 World Cup.

Club career

Born in Rome, Doni started playing professionally for Modena F.C. at age 18, subsequently moving on to A.C. Rimini 1912, A.C. Pistoiese and Bologna F.C. 1909.

He made his Serie A debut in 1997–98 for Brescia Calcio against Inter Milan, moving after two years to Bergamo with Atalanta BC. He quickly made a name for himself at the club with his hard-working style, combined with scoring ability, and netted in double digits in three out of five seasons.

After two seasons at U.C. Sampdoria, Doni had his first abroad experience at 32, sigining with Spain's RCD Mallorca. After just one season, he returned to his main team even though he had another year running at the Balearic Islands side, asking to be released so he could accept Atalanta's offer although he took a pay cut in the process.

Doni eventually signed a two-year contract, then proceeded to continue, in spite of his age, to be an indispensable offensive unit – 34 league goals in his first three years combined – as well as team captain. In 2010–11 the 37-year-old scored 12 Serie B goals as Atalanta returned to the top division after one year, as champions.

On 9 August 2011 Doni was banned from football for 3½ years for his role in match fixing during the campaign, effectively ending his career at the age of 38. On 19 December, he was arrested together with 16 other people in connection with another match-fixing and betting investigation.

International career

Doni played seven times for Italy, the first cap arriving on 7 November 2001 as he found the net in a 1–1 friendly with Japan. Subsequently he was picked for the squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup by manager Giovanni Trapattoni, making two starting appearances throughout the tournament, first appearing in Italy's opening 2–0 win against Ecuador, and setting up Vieri's goal in a 2–1 defeat to Croatia in Italy's second group match.

Style of play

Doni was known for his vision, technical ability and creativity as a playmaker. He was capable of scoring and assisting alike, due to his powerful and accurate mid-range shot.

Honours

Club

Bologna

• Serie C1: 1994–95
• Serie B: 1995–96

Brescia

• Serie B: 1996–97

Atalanta

• Serie B: 2010–11

Individual

• Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 2009

External links

• Stats at Tutto Calciatori (Italian)
• National team data (Italian)
• Cristiano Doni at National-Football-Teams.com
• Cristiano Doni profile at BDFutbol
• Official website (Italian)