Daniele Dessena

Daniele Dessena

Dessena with Cagliari in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Daniele Dessena [1]
Date of birth	(1987-05-10) 10 May 1987 (age 38)
Place of birth	Parma, Italy
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position	Midfielder
Youth career
1997–2004	Parma
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2004–2008	Parma	81	(5)
2008–2012	Sampdoria	55	(2)
2009–2010	→ Cagliari (loan)	29	(3)
2012–2019	Cagliari	166	(7)
2019–2021	Brescia	42	(4)
2021	Pescara	13	(3)
2021–2023	Virtus Entella	35	(1)
2023	→ Olbia (loan)	12	(4)
2023–2024	Olbia	31	(4)
International career
2004	Italy U18	2	(0)
2006–2009	Italy U19	7	(1)
2006–2009	Italy U21	25	(6)
2008	Italy Olympic	2	(0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 May 2024

Daniele Dessena (born 10 May 1987) ^[2] is an Italian professional football coach and former player.

Club career

Parma

Dessena began his football career in the youth ranks of Parma and made his official debut in the first team on 27 February 2005 against Lazio. ^[3] This season also made his debut in the UEFA Cup on 24 February 2005, in a 2–0 win against VfB Stuttgart. During the 2005–06 season, he scored 3 goals in 17 games. During the 2006–07 season, Dessena became one of the star players at Parma. He made 34 Serie A appearances, scoring two goals, and also scored two goals in 6 games during the UEFA Cup campaign.

In the 2007–08 season, Dessena played in 28 Serie A games for Parma. In total, he played 101 games for Parma in all competitions, scoring seven goals in the Emilian shirt.

Sampdoria and Cagliari

In the summer of 2008, Dessena arrived at U.C. Sampdoria for a €4 million transfer fee. He made his debut on 31 August in a 1–1 draw against Inter Milan. On 23 October 2008, he scored his first goal for Sampdoria against Partizan Belgrade in the group stage of the UEFA Cup. He also scored a brace for Sampdoria in a 5–0 victory against Reggina on 9 May 2009. He made 25 appearances and scored two goals during his first season at the club.

On 31 August 2009, he joined fellow Serie A side Cagliari. On 27 September, he scored his first goal for Cagliari in the game against his former team, Parma. He scored again on 18 October against Catania and on 14 March 2010 against Genoa.

On 25 June 2010, he was re-signed by Sampdoria after being brought back to the club by his former Parma Manager Domenico Di Carlo. Despite playing in a UEFA Champions League qualifier game for Sampdoria during the 2010–11 season, Sampdoria had to settle for a place in the UEFA Europa League after failing to progress to the group stages. Dessena made six appearances for Sampdoria during the Europa League campaign. However, the Serie A season ended in relegation to Serie B. Dessena stayed with the club in Serie B, making eight appearances during the first half of the 2011–12 season.

Cagliari

Having made only eight appearances in 2011–12 during the first part of the season for Sampdoria in Serie B, Dessena was loaned to Serie A club Cagliari in January for the remainder of the season. He made 12 appearances and scored 1 goal. ^[4] After impressing during his 6-month loan spell, he joined Cagliari on a permanent deal in July 2012.

In the 2012–13 season, he made 31 appearances and scored three goals under managers Massimo Ficcadenti and Ivo Pulga.

In the 2013–14 season, he was deployed more frequently in a holding midfield position under the new manager Luis Diego López.

Brescia

On 10 January 2019, Dessena signed with Serie B club Brescia. ^[5]

Pescara

On 1 February 2021, Dessena signed with Serie B club Pescara. ^[6]

Serie C

On 20 July 2021, he signed with Virtus Entella. ^[7] On 1 February 2023, Dessena moved on loan to Olbia, with an obligation to buy. ^[8] He retired in June 2024.

International career

Dessena made two appearances for the Italy U18 team and 7 appearances for the U-19 team.

In May 2008, he won the Toulon Tournament with the Italy National Olympic team, assisting teammate Dani Osvaldo for the only goal of the victorious final against Chile. ^[9] During the event, he scored a goal in Italy's victory over the United States. ^[10] He played for Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

From 2006 to 2009, he was a regular member of the Italy U-21s, coached by Pierluigi Casiraghi.

In May 2009, he was called up to the European Championships but only made substitute appearances as second choice behind Luca Cigarini and Claudio Marchisio. He finished with a bronze medal, with Italy finishing in 3rd.

Coaching career

After retiring, he became Leandro Greco's assistant at Frosinone 's Under-19 team, then followed him to the first team after he was promoted.

He successively served as Greco's right-hand man at Pro Patria from July to December 2025.

Career statistics

Updated 15 August 2020 ^[11]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Parma	2004–05	Serie A	2	0	1	0	6	0	2	0	11	0
	2005–06		17	3	3	0	–		–		20	3
	2006–07		34	2	3	0	6	2	–		43	4
	2007–08		28	0	1	0	–		–		29	0
	Total		81	5	8	0	12	2	2	0	103	7
Sampdoria	2008–09	Serie A	25	2	2	0	6	1	–		33	3
	2010–11	Serie A	22	0	1	0	7	0	–		30	0
	2011–12	Serie B	8	0	1	0	–		–		9	0
	Total		55	2	4	0	13	1	0	0	72	3
Cagliari (loan)	2009–10	Serie A	29	3	0	0	–		–		29	3
Cagliari	2011–12	Serie A	12	1	0	0	–		–		12	1
	2012–13		31	3	3	0	–		–		34	3
	2013–14		33	0	1	0	–		–		34	0
	2014–15		28	1	2	0	–		–		30	1
	2015–16	Serie B	16	0	2	1	–		–		18	1
	2016–17	Serie A	18	2	1	0	–		–		19	2
	2017–18		17	0	1	1	–		–		18	1
	2018–19		11	0	1	0	–		–		12	0
	Total		195	10	11	2	0	0	0	0	206	12
Brescia	2018–19	Serie B	11	1	0	0	–		–		11	1
	2019–20	Serie A	24	2	0	0	–		–		24	2
	2020–21	Serie B	18	2	1	0	–		–		19	2
	Total		53	5	1	0	0	0	0	0	54	5
Pescara	2020–21	Serie B	13	3	0	0	–		–		13	3
Virtus Entella	2021–22	Serie C	22	1	–		–		–		22	1
Career total			419	26	24	2	25	3	2	0	470	31

Honours

Cagliari

• Serie B: 2015–16 ^[12]

Italy U21

• Toulon Tournament: 2008
• UEFA European Under-21 Championship bronze: 2009 ^[13]

References

1. "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 250" [Official Press Release No. 250](PDF) (in Italian). Lega Serie A. 28 June 2020. p. 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
2. Daniele Dessena – FIFA competition record (archived)
3. "DESSENA Daniele". Panini Digital. Archived from the original on 9 July 2012. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
4. "UFFICIALE: Dessena torna a Cagliari" [OFFICIAL: Dessena returns to Cagliari]. Tutto Mercato Web (in Italian). 28 December 2011. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
5. "UFFICIALE: Brescia, preso Daniele Dessena dal Cagliari" (in Italian). Retrieved 10 January 2019.
6. "Brescia, UFFICIALE: Dessena al Pescara" [Brescia, OFFICIAL: Dessena to Pescara]. Calciomercato.com (in Italian). 1 February 2021. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
7. Pagliettini, Nicoló (20 July 2021). "Ufficiale, Daniele Dessena è un nuovo giocatore dell'Entella". Virtus Entella (in Italian). Virtus Entella . Retrieved 22 November 2021.
8. "Dessena è un nuovo giocatore dell'Olbia" (in Italian). Olbia. 1 February 2023. Archived from the original on 2 April 2023. Retrieved 2 February 2023.
9. "Italy Under-21s Champions Of Toulon". Goal.com. 30 May 2008. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
10. William Wood (25 May 2008). "Italy U-21 Excel Past USA". Goal.com. Retrieved 20 May 2016.
11. Daniele Dessena at Soccerway
12. "Serie B: Cagliari title, Livorno relegated". Football Italia. 20 May 2016.
13. "Regulations of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship" (PDF). UEFA. Retrieved 29 April 2024.