Alex Meret
Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Alex Meret | ||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | 22 March 1997 | ||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Udine, Italy[1] | ||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Napoli | ||||||||||||||||
Number | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
2007–2012 | Donatello Calcio[3] | ||||||||||||||||
2012–2015 | Udinese | ||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
2015–2018 | Udinese | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2016–2017 | → SPAL (loan) | 30 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2017–2018 | → SPAL (loan) | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2018– | Napoli | 36 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
2012–2013 | Italy U16 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2013–2014 | Italy U17 | 13 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2014 | Italy U18 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2014–2016 | Italy U19 | 19 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2018–2019 | Italy U21 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
2019– | Italy | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:00, 28 July 2020 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:44, 18 November 2019 (UTC) |
Alex Meret (Italian pronunciation: [ˈaleks meˈret]; born 22 March 1997) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A club Napoli.
Born in Udine, Meret began his career at an early age with amateur club Donatello Calcio before making a switch to the famous Udinese youth system in 2012. After rising through the academy system at the club, he made his senior debut in 2015. He later had spells on loan with SPAL, whom he helped win the Serie B title in 2017, and achieve promotion to Serie A. He joined Napoli in 2018.
At international level, Meret has represented Italy at U16, U17, U18, U19 and U21 levels, and made his senior debut for Italy in 2019.
Club career
Udinese
An Udinese youth product, Meret was promoted to the first team as second-choice goalkeeper behind Orestis Karnezis during the 2015–16 season. He made his senior professional debut on 2 December 2015 in the Coppa Italia against Atalanta.[4]
In July 2016, Meret was sent on loan to Serie B club SPAL.[5] He returned to SPAL on loan for the 2017–18 season.[6]
Napoli
On 5 July 2018, Meret signed with Napoli until 30 June 2023. The transfer fee agreed with Udinese was reported as €35 million.[7][8] He made his European debut on 14 February 2019, in a 3–1 away win over FC Zürich in the first leg of the round of 32 of the Europa League.[9][10]
He was initially often used in a rotational role along with David Ospina during his first two seasons with Napoli; however, under the club's new manager Gennaro Gattuso, he was relegated to the bench, as the coach favoured the Colombian shot-stopper due to his superior ability with the ball at his feet.[11][12] Due to a suspension to Ospina, however, Meret started in the 2020 Coppa Italia Final against Juventus on 17 June; following a goalless draw after regulation time, Meret saved Paulo Dybala's spot kick, helping his team earn a 4–2 penalty shoot-out victory.[13]
International career
Meret was a crucial member in the Italian U19 national team which took part in the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, finishing as runner-up after losing in the final; he was named in the team of the tournament alongside Kylian Mbappé of France.[14][15]
In March 2017, following impressive performances for SPAL in Serie B, he was called up to the Italy squad for the World Cup qualification for a match against Albania and a friendly against the Netherlands.[16]
On 22 March 2018, he made his debut with the Italy U21 team, playing as starter in a friendly match against Norway.[17]
He took part in the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship under manager Luigi Di Biagio,[18] as the team's first-choice goalkeeper.
Meret made his senior international debut for Italy under manager Roberto Mancini, on 18 November 2019, coming on as a substitute for Salvatore Sirigu in a 9–1 home win over Armenia, in Italy's final Euro 2020 qualifier.[19]
Style of play
Considered to be a talented and highly promising young goalkeeper in the Italian media,[20] Meret is an agile goalkeeper, who possesses good reactions and shot-stopping abilities, despite his height and imposing physique, and who is known for his handling and ability to rush off his line. He has also drawn praise in the media for his decision–making, maturity, and calm composure under pressure, as well as his discipline and work ethic, despite his youth; moreover, he is capable of organising his defence effectively. Although he is competent with his feet, his distribution has been cited as an area in need of improvement.[20][21][22][23] He has also struggled with phsyical problems and injuries thruoghout his career.[11]
Career statistics
Club
Club | Season | League | National Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Udinese | 2015–16 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||
SPAL (loan) | 2016–17 | Serie B | 30 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 0 | ||
2017–18 | Serie A | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
Total | 43 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 45 | 0 | ||
Napoli | 2018–19 | Serie A | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | |
2019–20 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | 29 | 0 | |||
Total | 36 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 50 | 0 | ||
Career total | 79 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 97 | 0 |
International
- As of 18 November 2019[25]
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
Italy | |||
2019 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 1 | 0 |
Honours
Club
SPAL[26]
Napoli[25]
International
Italy U19
- UEFA Euro U19 Championship runners-up: 2016[14]
Individual
- Primavera Girone B Goalkeeper of the Year: 2014–15
- UEFA European Under-19 Championship team of the tournament: 2016[15]
- Serie B Goalkeeper of the Year: 2016–17
References
- ^ "La Juventus segue da vicino Alex Meret: sarà lui l'erede di Buffon?" (in Italian). Eurosport. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- ^ "player summary:alex meret". Worldfootball. Retrieved 10 March 2017.
- ^ "Alex Meret(In Italian)". calcionapoli24. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
- ^ "Udinese vs. Atalanta - 2 December 2015 - Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
- ^ Stefano Manfredini (6 July 2016). "Meret loaned to Spal" (in Italian). Il Resto del Carlino. Retrieved 22 March 2017.
- ^ "Meret return to Ferrara". goal.com. 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
- ^ Gladwell, Ben (5 July 2018). "Napoli sign Fabian Ruiz from Real Betis and Alex Meret from Udinese". ESPN FC. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ "Meret arrives for Napoli". Football Italia. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- ^ "EL: Napoli dominate in Zurich". Football Italia. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ Nicita, Maurizio (15 February 2019). "Napoli, Meret: parate europee. Un debutto che vale oro" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ a b Malfitano, Mimmo (7 March 2020). "Fragile e poco funzionale al gioco di Gattuso: al Napoli c'è un caso Meret". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ "New deal for Meret?". Football Italia. 25 May 2020. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ "Coppa: Napoli beat Juventus on penalties". Football Italia. 17 June 2020.
- ^ a b "France cruise past Italy to win European Under-19 final". ESPN. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
- ^ a b "The UEFA technical team Team of the Tournament". UEFA.com. Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ "Italy: New faces for Albania and Holland". Football Italia. 18 March 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ "A piece of magic from Vido as Norway friendly ends 1-1". Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio. Archived from the original on 24 July 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ "Parte l'avventura europea: Di Biagio ufficializza la lista dei 23 Azzurrini" (in Italian). FIGC.it. 6 June 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ "Italy: Armenia annihilated 9-1!". Football Italia. 18 November 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2019.
- ^ a b Nicita, Maurizio (16 January 2020). "Ospina, il prescelto di Gattuso: "Meret sarà un grande portiere"". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ Fazzini, Luca (25 March 2016). "Italia U19, i ragazzi di Vanoli ai raggi X: obiettivo Europeo" (in Italian). www.mondoprimavera.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ D'Amato, Claudio (16 January 2020). "Dualismo Meret-Ospina in casa Napoli: coi piedi meglio il colombiano" (in Italian). Goal.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ Hall, Richard (21 June 2017). "Scouting Report: Alex Meret - the big-time awaits for this confident young custodian". www.calciomercato.com. Retrieved 17 June 2020.
- ^ "Alex Meret » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
- ^ a b c "A. Meret". Soccerway. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
- ^ "SPAL promoted to Serie A". Football Italia. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2018.
External links
- Template:FootballDatabase.eu
- Lega Serie A Profile(in Italian)
- Alex Meret at TuttoCalciatori.net (in Italian)
- FIGC Profile (in Italian)