Christian Terlizzi (; born 22 November 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who last played for Marsala as a defender. He played for clubs on all professional levels of Italian football, including U.S. Città di Palermo, U.C. Sampdoria, and Catania Calcio in the Serie A. He has also been capped for the Italy national football team.
Club career
Cisco Roma
Terlizzi began his professional career within the youth ranks of A.S. Lodigiani, in 1990. He was often called up to the first team in 1996, and made his professional debut that same year. After making just 3 first team appearances in 2 seasons, Terlizzi was sent out on loan to amateur side Tivoli Calcio, and made 24 league appearances in his lone season with the club, also scoring 4 goals. In mid-1999, he returned to A.S. Lodigiani, but was simultaneously sold to A.S. Castelli Romani prior to the 1999–2000 Lega Calcio season.
1999–2002
Following his transfer, Terlizzi made 18 league appearances, scoring 3 goals in just 4 months, and was sold to Selargius Calcio. In another brief spell, at the Serie D club, Terlizzi made 9 starts, and was soon sold to U.S. Termoli, where he made a further 8 appearances, and made his move back into the Serie C, in 2001, with Teramo Calcio. In June 2001, Terlizzi completed his transfer to Teramo Calcio, and in his lone season with the Serie C2 club, he played in 21 league matches, and scored a single goal. Following an impressive season, at the heart of the defense, the 22-year-old Terlizzi, was sold to Serie A side, Parma F.C.
Parma
In June 2002, he was signed by Parma F.C. along with Florian Myrtaj, but was instantly sold to Serie C1 side, A.C. Cesena in co-ownership deal.
Cesena
Following his brief stay in Parma, Terlizzi returned to the lower divisions, with A.C. Cesena. He earned a guaranteed starting spot for much of the 2002–2003 league season, and went on to make over 30 appearances, also netting 2 goals, in all competitions. He was set to return to Parma F.C. in the summer of 2003, albeit interest from several lesser Serie A clubs, as well as a host of Serie B club, however, in July 2003, he joined then-Serie B club, U.S. Città di Palermo.
Palermo
In the summer of 2003 Terlizzi transferred to U.S. Città di Palermo, where he made 12 first team appearances in his first season, helping the club gain promotion to the Serie A. He made his Serie A debut at the age of 25, during the 2004–05 season. Terlizzi made an additional 14 league appearances during the season, and scored 1 goal. He remained with Palermo for the 2005–2006 Serie A season, and despite the sale of star striker Luca Toni, the Sicilian club still managed a 7th-place finish in the league. Terlizzi made 21 appearances during that season, and managed an impressive 5 goals, as a central defender. He, along with Fabio Grosso, were both sold in the summer of 2006, following bids from U.C. Sampdoria, and Inter Milan respectively.
Sampdoria
In summer 2006, he was signed by U.C. Sampdoria in a co-ownership bid, for €1.5 million, along with Pietro Accardi (€2 million) and Massimo Bonanni (50% for €2 million), as part of the deal that saw Aimo Diana (€5 million) and Marco Pisano (€4 million) transfer in the opposite direction. Terlizzi made his Italy national team debut, and only international appearance, in a friendly match against Croatia, on 16 August 2006, together with Sampdoria teammates Giulio Falcone, Gennaro Delvecchio and Angelo Palombo, in a 0–2 loss under new manager Roberto Donadoni. For Sampdoria, however he just played 4 league games, in part due to an injury-ridden season. He was then sold to Calcio Catania prior to the 2007–08 Serie A season.