Cristian Molinaro

Cristian Molinaro (Italian pronunciation: [ˈkristjam mɔliˈnaːro]; born 30 July 1983) is an Italian professional football official and a former full-back. He works as a technical director for Serie B club Venezia. He represented the Italy national team.

Cristian Molinaro
Molinaro playing for Torino in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1983-07-30) 30 July 1983
Place of birth Vallo della Lucania, Italy
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Full-back
Team information
Current team
 Venezia (technical director)
Youth career
1989–1996 Gelbison
1996–2002 Salernitana
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2002–2005 Salernitana 77 (1)
2005–2007 Siena 56 (0)
2007–2010 Juventus 65 (0)
2010 → VfB Stuttgart (loan) 17 (0)
2010–2014 VfB Stuttgart 76 (0)
2014 Parma 16 (2)
2014–2018 Torino 81 (1)
2018–2019 Frosinone 14 (0)
2020–2022 Venezia 36 (0)
Total 438 (4)
International career
2004–2005 Italy U21 "B"[1][2] 2 (0)
2010 Italy 2 (0)
Managerial career
2022– Venezia (technical director)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Club career

Early career

Molinaro started playing at age 5 for Gelbison, in Vallo della Lucania, before growing up in the various Salernitana youth teams.

In 2002–03 he made his league debut in Serie B. This marked the beginning of the two competitive seasons he played as a starter in Salerno, that included his first professional goal in 2004–05 in a match against Bari. In 2005, he moved to Siena, a club that he played for two seasons.

Siena and Juventus

In 2005, he was noticed by the dense network of observers of Juventus and signed, who decided to sell him in co-ownership to Siena, in which Juventus already had several players on loan. He made his debut in Serie A on 18 September 2005 in Siena - Palermo 1–2 and his first season in the top flight was characterised by ups and downs; losing the role of starting left-back to the more experienced Gianluca Falsini.

For 2006–07, Juventus, relegated to Serie B by the 2006 Italian football scandal, allowed Molinaro to remain at Siena (who sold Falsini), relying on him to cover the role of left-back. He collected 36 appearances out of 38 league games and two appearances in 2 rounds of Coppa Italia.

On 20 June 2007, shortly before the transfer window deadline, Juventus redeemed him for a sum of €2.5 million. During 2007–08, at age 24, he carved out a starting spot on the left wing of the defence of Juventus, thanks to the movement of companion Giorgio Chiellini to central defence.

In his second season at Juventus he debuted 13 August 2008 in the first leg of the third qualifying round of the Champions League, won 4–0 against Petržalka, which also represented his debut in European competition. On 28 November 2008 he extended his contract with Juventus until 2013. He finished the 2008–09 season prematurely because of a perirenal hematoma.

Stuttgart

With the arrival of Italy international Fabio Grosso and Uruguayan Martín Cáceres in the summer, Molinaro signed a loan deal with VfB Stuttgart on 5 January 2010 which initially saw him stay at the club until the end of the 2009–10 season.[3] On 1 June 2010, VfB Stuttgart took advantage of a contract option and signed Molinaro permanently until June 2014.[4] Juventus announced that on 14 June they received €3.9 million transfer fees and the deal was completed.[5]

During the first round of the 2013–14 Bundesliga season, Molinaro only played once. Kicker and other media reported that VfB Stuttgart sought to offload him.[6]

Parma

On 30 January, Parma announced that they had signed Cristian Molinaro.[7] On 16 February 2014, he scored his first goal with the shirt of Parma, as well as first in Serie A, against Atalanta for the momentary 0–1. Shortly afterwards, in his first game against his former team, Juventus, he scored his second goal in Serie A.

Torino

On 16 June 2014, Molinaro was signed by Torino on an annual contract.[8] He made his debut with the Granata in the third round of the 2014–15 Europa League against Brommapojkarna.[9] On 25 June 2015, Torino exercised the option to extend his contract. He played a total of 38 games and scored one goal, in a 2–1 victory against Inter Milan.

On 18 September 2016, he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a home game against Empoli. He returned on 13 March 2017, during a match against Lazio.[10] After renewing his contract with Torino until June 2018, he continued to play for Torino until he fractured the head of his fibula in February. After the injury, he played his hundredth game for Torino on 29 April away against Lazio. At the end of the season he was released on a free transfer.

Frosinone

On 12 July 2018, Christian Molinaro joined Serie A club Frosinone on a free transfer.[11]

Venezia

After not playing in the first half of the 2019–20 season, he signed with Serie B club Venezia on 15 January 2020 for the remainder of the season.[12]

International career

Molinaro received his first international call-up on 6 August 2010 under new head coach Cesare Prandelli.[13] He made his debut on 10 August 2010, starting in the match against Ivory Coast. He was also called up for the games against Estonia and Faroe Islands in the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

Post-playing career

On 13 June 2022, Venezia announced Molinaro's retirement from playing and his appointment to the position of the team's technical director.[14]

Career statistics

Club
As of 1 July 2022[15]
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Salernitana2002–03Serie B5000——50
2003–0433010——340
2004–0539150——441
Total77160——831
Siena2005–06Serie A20000——200
2006–0736020——380
Total56020——580
Juventus2007–08Seria A31051——361
2008–09290209[16]0—400
2009–10500000—50
Total6507190—811
VfB Stuttgart (loan)2009–10Bundesliga170—20—190
VfB Stuttgart 2010–1127030110—410
2011–1223040——270
2012–132504070—360
2013–14100010—20
Total930110210—1250
Parma2013–14Serie A162———162
Torino2014–15Serie A24010131—381
2015–1627120——291
2016–1710000——100
2017–1820040——240
Total81170131—1012
Frosinone2018–19Serie A14010——150
Venezia2019–20Serie B120———120
2020–2116010—4[lower-alpha 1]0210
2021–22Serie A8010——90
Total36020—40420
Career total4384361431405216
  1. Appearances in Serie B – Promotion play-offs


International
As of match played 13 June 2015[17][15]
Italy
YearAppsGoals
201020
Total20

Honours

VfB Stuttgart

References
  1. "Grieco in extremis In Belgio è vittoria". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 31 March 2004. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
  2. Di Ragogna, Dante (18 March 2005). "L' Italia si diverte Brilla Vantaggiato". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 1 September 2010.
  3. "VfB sign Cristian Molinaro". vfb.de. 5 January 2010. Archived from the original on 16 August 2011. Retrieved 5 January 2010.
  4. "Cristian Molinaro – VfB Stuttgart". gfdb.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
  5. "Agreement with VfB Stuttgart 1893 for the definitive transfer of the registration rights of the player Cristian Molinaro" (PDF). Juventus FC official site. 14 June 2010. Retrieved 27 November 2011.
  6. "Schneider setzt auch in Südafrika auf die Jugend". kicker.de (in German). 18 December 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  7. "Dallo Stoccarda arriva Cristian Molinaro. Da oggi è un giocatore del Parma" (in Italian). fcparma.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  8. "Molinaro al Toro" (in Italian). Torino FC. 16 June 2014. Retrieved 16 June 2014.
  9. "BROMMAPOJKARNA VS. TORINO 0 - 3". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  10. "Toro, frattura alla testa del perone per Molinaro".
  11. "Molinaro signed with Frosinone". Eurosport.com. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2018.
  12. "Ufficiale: Cristian Molinaro in arancioneroverde" (Press release) (in Italian). Venezia. 15 January 2020.
  13. "L'Italia di Prandelli: 8 novità, tra cui Balotelli e Amauri. Torna Cassano". FIGC (in Italian). 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 28 October 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2010.
  14. "CRISTIAN MOLINARO NAMED VENEZIA FC FIRST TEAM TECHNICAL DIRECTOR". Venezia. 13 June 2022. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
  15. Cristian Molinaro at Soccerway
  16. Two appearances during the preliminaries
  17. "Molinaro, Cristian" (in Italian). FIGC. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
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