Domenico Criscito

Early career

A native of southern Italy, Criscito moved up north at age 13 to pursue his football career. He started his professional career at Genoa, for whom he made his debut in Serie B in June 2003 at the age of 16. In the summer of 2004, Genoa sold 50% of Criscito and Francesco Volpe contracts to Juventus for €1.9 million, with 50% contract of Antonio Nocerino was sold to Genoa for €450,000.

Juventus

Criscito played for Juventus's Primavera team alongside Italy U-21 teammates Claudio Marchisio, Paolo De Ceglie and Sebastian Giovinco, and together they won the 2005–06 Campionato Nazionale Primavera. In the 2006–07 season, he returned to Genoa and established himself as one of the top young defenders in Serie B. In January 2007, Juventus bought its remaining 50% registration rights for €7.5 million. This was paid by the co-ownership of Masiello and Konko to Genoa, and €5.25 million cash. He also signed a new contract with Juventus that would last until 30 June 2011, remaining on loan at Genoa. Criscito made his Serie A debut for Juventus on 25 August 2007, in Juve's comeback game in Serie A versus Livorno, a crushing 5–1 victory. However, he endured a difficult time at the Turin club. He was deemed "too soft" to be a centre-back after Francesco Totti scored twice in six minutes in the September game, a 2–2 draw, against Roma from his side of the pitch. Criscito was substituted at half-time. After that, he found himself behind Nicola Legrottaglie and…

On 14 November 2006, Criscito made his debut for the Italy Under-21 squad in a match against the Czech Republic. He appeared in two European Under-21 Championships, in 2007 and 2009, reaching the semi-finals of the latter tournament. In 2008, he also represented Italy at the Summer Olympics. On 12 August 2009, he made his senior national team debut in a friendly against Switzerland in Basel. After a promising season, he was named in Marcello Lippi's 23-man squad for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where he was the starting left-back; Italy were eliminated in the first round of the tournament following a 3–2 loss to Slovakia in their final group match on 24 June. Criscito was named to Italy's Euro 2012 squad by Cesare Prandelli, but withdrew from the team after he came under investigation due to the Scommessopoli match fixing scandal. Criscito went on to criticize the Italian FA for the decision to drop him despite the limited selection of left-backs. Several months later he was cleared of all charges. Criscito was unused by Italy between March 2014 and May 2018, when he returned in a 2–1 friendly win over Saudi Arabia under Roberto Mancini. On 4 June, he was sent off for a foul on Ryan Babel in a 1–1 friendly draw with the Netherlands in Turin.

Criscito was a tactically versatile player, who was capable of being both an effective attacking and defensive threat as a full-back. He began his career as a left-footed centre-back, but he was moved to the position of left-back while playing for Genoa, where he was also employed as a wing-back or as a wide midfielder on occasion under manager Gian Piero Gasperini in Genoa's 3–4–3 formation. Criscito was described as a quick defender, with good technique, distribution, and man-marking ability.

After retirement, Criscito stayed on at Genoa as a youth coach, first in charge of the Under-14 team, then being promoted as Under-17 coach in 2024. On 1 November 2025, Criscito was temporarily appointed as assistant coach of Genoa, with technical collaborator Roberto Murgita serving as caretaker, following the departure of head coach Patrick Vieira.