Anna Maria Picarelli

Anna Maria Picarelli (born November 4, 1984) is an American-born Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Seattle Sounders Women and the Italian national team.

Anna Picarelli
Personal information
Full name Anna Maria Picarelli
Date of birth (1984-11-04) November 4, 1984
Place of birth Downey, California, United States
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Seattle Sounders Women
Number 31
Youth career
2003–2006 Pepperdine Waves
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2009 Bardolino Verona
2009 Los Angeles Legends
2010 Ajax America Women
2010 Kristianstads DFF
2011–2013 Pali Blues
2014 Seattle Sounders Women
International career‡
2008–2012 Italy 42 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:13, 17 December 2022 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:13, 17 December 2022 (UTC)

Picarelli is an Italian American, born in Downey, California; her father Angelo Picarelli and uncle Joe Picarelli both became restaurateurs in Long Beach. Her paternal grandparents Mario and Maria Picarelli had migrated from Calabria to Downey in 1966.[1]

As a senior in her successful four-year career playing varsity soccer at Pepperdine University, Picarelli was called into a training camp for the United States women's national under-23 soccer team.[2] However, coach Jill Ellis quickly deemed Picarelli too small to be an effective goalkeeper at international level.

After graduating Picarelli approached Italian club Bardolino Verona who signed her after a very short trial. She played for Bardolino in a 3–3 UEFA Women's Champions League draw with Arsenal Ladies and caught the eye of Italy women's national football team manager Pietro Ghedin.[3]

In January 2008 Picarelli made her debut for Italy in a 1–0 friendly defeat in France.[4] By the time of UEFA Women's Euro 2009 Picarelli was Italy's first choice goalkeeper; playing in their shock 2–1 win over England, the 2–0 defeat to Sweden, the 2–1 over Russia and the quarter-final defeat to eventual winners Germany.

After Italy's win over England, Picarelli's partner Cameron Thomas made her a marriage proposal inside the Lahti Stadium, which she accepted.[5]

After leaving Bardolino and playing her club football in America, Picarelli continued to be selected by the Italian national team. She played against the country of her birth in the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification (UEFA–CONCACAF play-off), which Italy lost 2–0 on aggregate.[6] She won a total of 42 caps for Italy.[7]

In July 2014 she was appointed to a role as an assistant college soccer coach with the Simon Fraser Red Leafs, based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada.[8]

References
  1. Krikorian, Doug (June 28, 2008). "Picarelli Experiencing Italy One Game at a Time". Press-Telegram. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  2. "Picarelli, Woods Invited to US Soccer Under 21 Women's National Team Camp". West Coast Conference Sports. January 10, 2006. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  3. Fisher, Sarah (April 8, 2011). "The International Player". Pepperdine University. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  4. "Goalkeepers". Italian Football Federation. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  5. Di Maria, Alessandro (August 27, 2009). "Amore mio, para e sposami la bella favola della Picarelli". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  6. Lowery, Steve (November 10, 2010). "Southland's Anna Picarelli an obstacle for U.S. women's soccer team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 17, 2013.
  7. Vitale, Christian (July 29, 2022). "Anna Maria Picarelli: "La Nazionale meritava di più, la gara contro l'Inghilterra mi ha cambiato la vita"" (in Italian). Calcio Femminile Italiano. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  8. "SFU women's soccer names assistant coaches". Burnaby Now. July 24, 2014. Retrieved December 17, 2022.


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