Alessandro Melli

For the Spanish footballer, see Juan Alberto Andreu. For the Nepali town, see Melli.

Alessandro Melli

Personal information
Date of birth	December 11, 1969 (1969-12-11)
Place of birth	Agrigento, Italy
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–1994	Parma	199	(52)
1988–1989	→ Modena (loan)	8	(0)
1994–1995	Sampdoria	8	(1)
1995	Milan	6	(1)
1995–1997	Parma	42	(4)
1997–2000	Perugia	51	(3)
2000	Ancona	13	(4)
Total		327	(65)
National team
1988	Italy U18	2	(0)
1989–1992	Italy U21	20	(8)
1993	Italy	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Alessandro Melli (born 11 December 1969 in Agrigento, Sicily) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a striker.

Club career

Melli's father was a professional footballer, playing as a centre forward for Parma FC, and the son followed in his footsteps. He made his Parma debut aged 17, and was part of the team that was promoted from the third to the top level.

After a loan spell at Modena F.C. that was cut short when he fell out with coach Paolo Ferrari, Melli returned to Parma, quickly establishing himself in Parma's first team in the early 1990s, in what was a golden period for the club. As part of that ducali squad, he won an Italian Cup in 1991–92, and a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in the following season (in the final of which he scored), being part of an attacking line-up that featured also Faustino Asprilla, Tomas Brolin and Gianfranco Zola.

Melli left Parma in 1994, spending six months each at U.C. Sampdoria and A.C. Milan (who swapped Ruud Gullit for him), before returning to the Ennio Tardini after one year away. This lasted two years, but he did not manage to recapture his old form, and was later transferred to Serie B side Perugia Calcio in 1997, where he immediately won promotion to the first division. He left Perugia in 2000, and ended his career with a season spell at A.C. Ancona.

After retiring, Melli eventually rejoined former side Parma's non-playing staff, serving as general manager.

International career

During Parma's heyday, Melli was awarded with two caps with Italy, in 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Estonia.

Previously, in 1992, he appeared at the Summer Olympics, netting in two group stage wins as Italy was eventually ousted by champions Spain, and helped the U21s win the UEFA European Championship.

Honours

Club

• Italian Cup: 1991–92
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1992–93, [[1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup|1993–94] runner-up]
• UEFA Super Cup: 1993, 1994

Country

• UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship: 1992

External links

• National team data (Italian)
• Alessandro Melli at National-Football-Teams.com
• Sicilian players in Italy's national team (Italian)