Iacopo La Rocca

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Iacopo La Rocca
Iacopo La Rocca WSW.jpg
La Rocca playing for Western Sydney Wanderers in 2013
Personal information
Full name Iacopo La Rocca [1]
Date of birth (1984-02-17) 17 February 1984 (age 41)
Place of birth Rome, Italy
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Central defender
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2001–2004 Pro Vercelli 36 (1)
2004–2005 Chieti 1 (0)
2005–2006 Fermana 8 (1)
2006–2007 Sassari Torres 5 (0)
2007–2011 AC Bellinzona 89 (3)
2011–2012 Grasshopper 19 (0)
2012–2015 Western Sydney Wanderers 58 (6)
2015–2017 Adelaide United 30 (0)
2017–2019 Melbourne City 20 (0)
Total266(11)
Managerial career
2019-2023 Melbourne City FC U14,U17,U23
2023-2024 Preston Lions FC U23
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 13 May 2019

Iacopo La Rocca (born 17 February 1984) is an Italian-Australian professional footballer & coach, who played as a defensive midfielder or central defender.

Contents

Club career

La Rocca started his youth career at Lazio, before moving to his first club Pro Vercelli. He signed 3 years deal with Treviso.

He joined various clubs on loan from Treviso Italy, likes of Chieti, Fermana, Sassari Torres but he was unlucky with injuries and then moved to Switzerland, where he joined for four years AC Bellinzona where he won the Challenge League and he played the Final Swiss Cup against Basel. After 4 years in Super League where he also played 6 games in the UEFA Cup he joined Swiss Super League club Grasshopper.

On 11 September 2012, he signed a one-year deal with A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers. [2] La Rocca scored his first goal for Western Sydney Wanderers on 18 November 2012 in just his second game, to defeat Perth Glory. [3] In February 2013, he signed a new two-year deal with the Wanderers. [4]

On 23 March, La Rocca was sent off in the last minute of stoppage time in the third Sydney Derby of the season for elbowing Sydney midfielder Terry Antonis in the temple. The subsequent ban meant La Rocca missed the semifinal and the final. [5] His club nonetheless won the title in their debut season. On 2013 he played the Grand Final he got the man of the match with Broich and won the Joe Marston Medal but Western Sydney Wanderes lost in extra time 2–1 but the year after he won the 2014 AFC Champions League, with La Rocca starting both legs of their triumph over Al-Hilal in the final and became the first Italian to win that trophy.

At the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco, La Rocca opened the scoring against Cruz Azul of Mexico in an eventual 1–3 loss after extra time. [6]

In June 2015, La Rocca signed a two-year contract with Adelaide United. [7] [8] After overcoming injury, he featured heavily for Adelaide in the second half of the season and played a crucial role in the central defensive position along with teammate Dylan McGowan in the club's successful attempt at the Premier's Plate and inaugural Championship title.

In November 2016, La Rocca became an Australian citizen, allowing him to be called up to the Australian national team and to be considered as a domestic player for his club. [9]

Melbourne City announced the signing of La Rocca on 15 July 2017 with 2 years deal. [10] La Rocca played his first official game with Melbourne City on 13 September 2017 in FFA Cup against Sydney FC.

Following his retirement in 2019, he began his journey as a coach by acquiring the UEFA B License in Italy. In 2023, he obtained the UEFA A License in Coverciano, Italy.[ citation needed ]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition [11]
ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Pro Vercelli 2002–03 Serie C2 1010
2003–04 130130
2004–05 22110231
Total36110371
Chieti 2004–05 Serie C1 100010
Fermana 2005–06 Serie C18181
Sassari Torres 2006–07 Serie C25050
AC Bellinzona 2007–08 Swiss Challenge League 2515020321
2008–09 Swiss Super League 2722062354
2009–10 2501020280
2010–11 1202020230
Total89310062601115
Grasshopper 2011–12 Swiss Super League19030220
Western Sydney Wanderers 2012–13 A-League 203203
2013–14 20270272
2014–15 1810011111303
Total5860018111778
Adelaide United 2015–16 A-League12010130
2016–17 1800000180
Total3001000310
Melbourne City 2017–18 A-League12010130
2018–19 800080
Total20010210
Career total266112002438131815

Honours

Club

Western Sydney Wanderers

Adelaide United FC

Individual

References

  1. "FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 15 December 2014. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2015.
  2. "Wanderers Complete Foreign Quota". Australian FourFourTwo. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  3. "Ten-Man Wanderers Stun Glory". Australian FourFourTwo. 18 November 2012. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  4. "La Rocca extends Wanderers contract". ESPN FC. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  5. "La Rocca out for the season". Australian FourFourTwo. 25 March 2013. Archived from the original on 30 March 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  6. "Cruz Azul 3–1 Western Sydney Wanderers". BBC Sport. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  7. "Reds secure La Rocca". Adelaide United . 27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
  8. "La Rocca leaves Wanderers for Adelaide United". The World Game . SBS. 27 June 2015.
  9. "As exclusively revealed on our show last Saturday, @AdelaideUnited's Iacopo La Rocca is now an Aussie!". Twitter. 16 November 2016.
  10. "La Rocca joins Melbourne City". The World Game. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  11. Iacopo La Rocca at Soccerway