Daniele De Rossi (; born 24 July 1983) is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is mostly known for his time playing with his hometown club Roma in Serie A, as well as a former FIFA World Cup-winning Italian international.
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 UEFA 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 FIFA World Cup-winning squad and also participated at UEFA Euro 2008, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup, the 2010 FIFA World Cup, UEFA Euro 2012 (finishing in second place), the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup (finishing in third place), the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and UEFA Euro 2016. De Rossi was named in the Euro 2012 Team of the Tournament for his performances. Along with Mario Balotelli and Giuseppe Rossi, De Rossi is Italy's top scorer in the Confederations Cup, with two goals. In 2009, the French sports magazine L'Équipe named De Rossi as the eighth-best midfielder in the world.
Club career
Roma
2001–2006: Early career and emergence
De Rossi joined the Roma youth system from Ostia Mare, 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.