Angelo Palombo

Early career

Born in Ferentino, Angelo Palombo began playing football for local side AS Ferentino. He spent the 1997–98 season with Serie D club Urbania Calcio. At age 17, he moved to Serie C team Fano before being signed by Serie A side Fiorentina in 1999 where he spent two years playing for the Primavera team of the club. He made his professional debut in a Coppa Italia match against Como and first featured in the Serie A on 10 February 2002 in a 2–0 away defeat against Venezia.

Sampdoria and Inter loan

Palombo moved to Sampdoria, then in Serie B, on a free transfer in the 2002 summer transfer window when Fiorentina declared bankruptcy and were forced to put their players on sale. After helping the Ligurian club gain promotion that season, he established himself as an integral part of the side. During the 2005–06 season, he scored his first Serie A goal for Sampdoria on 18 January 2006 against his boyhood club Fiorentina and made his European debut in the UEFA Cup in September. Palombo had many very good seasons at the club, leading to him being a regular in the Italy national team. When Sampdoria were again relegated at the end of the 2010–11 season, his future at the club was put into doubt, with many Serie A sides interested but mainly his former club Fiorentina. Palombo, by then the club's captain, said, however, that he had no intention to move unless the club wished to sell him and remained at the club, commenting: "I'll end my career with…

Palombo was in the Italy U-21 team that won the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship and achieved bronze medal of the 2004 Summer Olympics football tournament. Palombo made his Italy national team debut in the 0–2 defeat to Croatia on 16 August 2006, coming as a substitute for Fabio Liverani in the 58th minute. He was a member of Italy's 23-man squad that took part at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. After a good 2009–10 season at club level, Marcello Lippi named him in the final 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In total, he won 22 caps for Italy at senior level between 2006 and 2011.

After retiring from professional football, Palombo joined the coaching team of Marco Giampaolo for the 2017–18 season with his former club Sampdoria. He received his coaching licence on 15 December 2017.

Palombo was usually deployed as a defensive or box-to-box midfielder in the centre of the pitch, where he could effectively combine his defensive and athletic attributes, as well as his ability to break down opposition plays, with his ability to start attacking plays and create chances for teammates as a deep-lying playmaker; however, his energetic, hard-working style of play and his stamina allowed him to play anywhere in midfield, and he was also deployed as a winger on occasion. In addition to his ball-winning and passing abilities, he also possessed a powerful shot from distance. Palombo was a physically strong, tenacious, influential, and determined player, with good feet, who was also known for his passion and good quality of play on the pitch; however, he was also accused by certain pundits of inconsistency at times throughout his career. In his youth, Palombo cited Demetrio Albertini as one of his major influences.