Oddo played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, although he is mainly remembered for his time with Lazio, where he won the Coppa Italia, and in particular, Milan, where he won several titles, including the UEFA Champions League and the Scudetto. At international level he represented the Italian squad at UEFA Euro 2004, and was also part of the team that won the 2006 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Oddo playing for U.S. Lecce in April 2012
He started his career at Renato Curi Angolana of Serie D, and moved to A.C. Milan youth team in 1993. After spending two years on the bench, in hope of more playing opportunities he moved to Serie C team Fiorenzuola on loan. It was followed by other three Serie C groups (Monza, Prato, Lecco). He returned to promoted, Serie B team Monza in 1998, and left a year later for Napoli (in a co-ownership deal). He made his debut in Serie A when Milan finally sold him to Hellas Verona in 2000. After two successful seasons with Verona, S.S. Lazio got hold of Oddo.
At Lazio he had the opportunity to play in the UEFA Champions League in the season 2003–04 and the UEFA Cup competition in the seasons 2002–03 and 2004–05. The team made it to the semi finals in 2003. Moreover, his third season with Lazio earned him the Coppa Italia winner title. He became the captain of Lazio for the first half of the 2006–07 season following the departure of Fabio Liverani to Fiorentina.
On 23 January 2007, it was announced that Milan and Lazio had reached an accord for Oddo's transfer to the Rossoneri, after a long period of negotiation. The overall price was €10.75 million (cash plus Pasquale Foggia, who had been on loan at the club since the start of the season) and Oddo waived some of his wage, made the deal worth €12 million in total,[2][3] He signed a contract until 30 June 2011.[4] Months later, Oddo was the starting right back in the 2007 UEFA Champions League Final and helped Milan gain their seventh European Cup in a 2–1 win over Liverpool, as well as the club's fifth UEFA Super Cup in August when they had to face 2007 UEFA Cup winners, Sevilla.
Since arrival of Gianluca Zambrotta, Oddo had to compete with Zambrotta on the right back position. On 28 August 2008, Oddo moved to Bayern Munich on a one-year loan with the option of making the move permanent, however, at the end of the 2008–09 season, the German club confirmed that it would not take that option, and he has since returned to Milan, with Zambrotta moved to left back and Oddo competed with Ignazio Abate for the right back position.
On 21 July 2010, he added one more year to his current contract to last until 30 June 2012.[5] A day after, Zambrotta also signed a new deal.
After being mostly frozen out of the Milan squad during the starting part of the 2010–11 season, he made his season debut against Napoli after an early first half head injury to left back Luca Antonini, furthermore he provided two assists, one to Robinho for the opening goal and another for Zlatan Ibrahimović.
On 31 August 2011, Oddo joined Lecce on a season-long loan.[6]
Following the 2011–12 season, Oddo put an end to his career saying "I leave football. When you reach a certain age, you face a crossroad".
He was a starter at seven Euro 2004qualifying matches. During the main competition in Portugal, he made one appearance, playing as a substitute in Italy's final group game against Bulgaria (22 June 2004); during the match, he supplied an assist for Cassano's goal, which helped Italy win the match 2–1, although they were eliminated from the tournament in the first round on direct encounters, following a three-way five-point tie with Denmark and Sweden.[8] Subsequently, Oddo was a member of Italy's championship winning squad during the 2006 FIFA World Cup under Marcello Lippi, as back up to Gianluca Zambrotta, making one substitute appearance in Italy's 3–0 win over Ukraine in the quarter-finals of the tournament.[9] At the end of 2006 FIFA World Cup Final match in Germany, in which Italy defeated France 5–3 in a penalty shoot-out, Oddo chopped off a large chunk of his teammate Mauro Camoranesi's long hair as the rest of the squad danced around them in a circle.[10]
Oddo scored his first and only international goal for Italy from the penalty spot in a Euro 2008 qualifying match on 7 October 2006 against Ukraine, under manager Roberto Donadoni, which ended in a 2–0 victory for the Italians.[11] Oddo made his 34th and final appearance for Italy in a 3–1 win over Portugal on 6 February 2008.[12]
Style of play
Oddo was primarily deployed on the right flank as an offensive full-back or wing-back, or even as a wide-midfielder on occasion, due to his stamina, work-rate, defensive consistency, attacking drive, and crossing ability. In his later career, he was deployed in a more defensive role as a central-defender.[13][14][15] Despite being a defender, Oddo was known for his ability on set pieces and penalties.[16]
Coaching career
After retirement, he decided to pursue a coaching career accepting an offer as youth coach of the Allievi Regionali B for Genoa in August 2013. He left his job in July 2014 to accept an offer to guide the Primavera (under-19) squad of hometown club Pescara.
On 23 May 2015, he was promoted as head coach of Pescara after the dismissal of Marco Baroni with only one game remaining, a home match against Livorno (coached by former Italy teammate Christian Panucci), with both teams still involved in the race for a promotion playoff spot.[17] The game ended with a 3–0 win for Pescara, which qualified the team to the Serie A promotion playoffs. On 9 June 2016, Oddo led Pescara to Serie A promotion after beating out Trapani 3–1 on aggregate in the Serie B promotion play-off final.[18] On 15 July 2016, Pescara extended Oddo's contract by three years, keeping him as manager of the club until June 2019.[19]
Personal life
Oddo's father, Francesco, is a former footballer. After leaving school, Oddo attended university to study law but left without graduating. He returned to university in 2007 but undertook a course in sport management.
He has two sons, Davide (born 30 November 2003) and Francesco (born 27 December 2008).[20] Oddo is a trained barber and styled many of his Italy colleague's hair at the World Cup 2006, earning him the nickname the Barber of Berlino.
