Daniele Dessena

Parma

Dessena began his football career in the youth ranks of Parma and made his official debut in the first team on 27 February 2005 against Lazio. This season also made his debut in the UEFA Cup on 24 February 2005, in a 2–0 win against VfB Stuttgart. During the 2005–06 season, he scored 3 goals in 17 games. During the 2006–07 season, Dessena became one of the star players at Parma. He made 34 Serie A appearances, scoring two goals, and also scored two goals in 6 games during the UEFA Cup campaign. In the 2007–08 season, Dessena played in 28 Serie A games for Parma. In total, he played 101 games for Parma in all competitions, scoring seven goals in the Emilian shirt.

Sampdoria and Cagliari

In the summer of 2008, Dessena arrived at U.C. Sampdoria for a €4 million transfer fee. He made his debut on 31 August in a 1–1 draw against Inter Milan. On 23 October 2008, he scored his first goal for Sampdoria against Partizan Belgrade in the group stage of the UEFA Cup. He also scored a brace for Sampdoria in a 5–0 victory against Reggina on 9 May 2009. He made 25 appearances and scored two goals during his first season at the club. On 31 August 2009, he joined fellow Serie A side Cagliari. On 27 September, he scored his first goal for Cagliari in the game against his former team, Parma. He scored again on 18 October against Catania and on 14 March 2010 against Genoa. On 25 June 2010, he was re-signed by Sampdoria after being brought back to the club by his former…

Dessena made two appearances for the Italy U18 team and 7 appearances for the U-19 team. In May 2008, he won the Toulon Tournament with the Italy National Olympic team, assisting teammate Dani Osvaldo for the only goal of the victorious final against Chile. During the event, he scored a goal in Italy's victory over the United States. He played for Italy at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. From 2006 to 2009, he was a regular member of the Italy U-21s, coached by Pierluigi Casiraghi. In May 2009, he was called up to the European Championships but only made substitute appearances as second choice behind Luca Cigarini and Claudio Marchisio. He finished with a bronze medal, with Italy finishing in 3rd.

After retiring, he became Leandro Greco's assistant at Frosinone 's Under-19 team, then followed him to the first team after he was promoted. He successively served as Greco's right-hand man at Pro Patria from July to December 2025.

Updated 15 August 2020