Cristiano Doni

Cristiano Doni

Personal information
Date of birth	April 1, 1973 (1973-04-01)
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position	Midfielder
Club information
Current club	Retired
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1991–1992	Modena	0	(0)
1992–1993	Rimini	31	(6)
1993–1994	Pistoiese	31	(3)
1994–1996	Bologna	54	(11)
1996–1998	Brescia	51	(8)
1998–2003	Atalanta	145	(55)
2003–2005	Sampdoria	44	(7)
2005–2006	Mallorca	24	(2)
2006–2011	Atalanta	151	(48)
National team
2001–2002	Italy	7	(1)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Cristiano Doni (born 1 April 1973) is a retired Italian professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder.

Most of his senior career (which spanned two decades) was associated with Atalanta, as he appeared in more than 300 official games for the club, netting more than 100 goals.

Doni represented Italy at the 2002 World Cup.

Club career

Born in Rome, Doni started playing professionally for Modena F.C. at age 18, subsequently moving on to Rimini Calcio, A.C. Pistoiese and Bologna F.C. 1909.

He made his Serie A debut in 1998–99 for Brescia Calcio (against F.C. Internazionale Milano), moving after two seasons to Bergamo with Atalanta BC; he quickly made a name for himself at the club with his hard-working style, combined with netting ability (in three out of five seasons, he scored in double digits).

After two seasons at U.C. Sampdoria, Doni had his first abroad experience at 32, sigining with Spain's RCD Mallorca. After just one season, he returned to his main club, even though he had another year running at the Balearic Islands club, asking to be released so he could accept Atalanta's offer, although he took a pay cut in the process.

Doni eventually signed a two-year contract, then proceeded to continue, in spite of his age, to be an indispensable offensive unit (34 league goals in his first three seasons combined), as well as team captain. In 2010–11, the 37-year old netted 12 Serie B goals as Atalanta returned to the top division after one year, as champions.

On 9 August 2011, Doni was banned from football for 3½ years for his role in match fixing during the season, effectively ending his career at the age of 38. On 19 December, he was arrested together with 16 other people in connection with another match-fixing and betting investigation, after trying to hide behind a car in his garage.

International career

Doni played seven times for Italy, the first arriving on 7 November 2001, as he found the net in a 1–1 friendly with Japan. Subsequently, he was picked for the squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, appearing against Ecuador and Croatia.

External links

• Official Atalanta profile (Italian)
• Stats at Tutto Calciatori (Italian)
• National team data (Italian)
• Cristiano Doni at National-Football-Teams.com
• BDFutbol profile
• Official website (Italian)