Mauro Camoranesi

Early career

Born in Tandil, Camoranesi was a fan of River Plate growing up. He started his career at Aldosivi, 100 miles away from his hometown. He moved to Mexico to begin his professional playing career at Santos Laguna during the 1995–96 season and scored one goal in 13 games for the team; Santos Laguna fans nicknamed him "El Cholo". The following year, Camoranesi moved to Uruguayan club Montevideo Wanderers briefly, before returning to his homeland to play for Banfield in 1997, solidifying himself as an attacking right midfielder, while playing 38 games with 16 goals. The following season, Camoranesi returned to Mexico as a member of club Cruz Azul, where he played from 1998 to 2000, making 79 appearances and scoring 21 goals. He caught the attention of Serie A side Verona and moved to Italy in 2000. He helped the club avoid relegation in his first season with four goals in 22 appearances.

Juventus

In 2002, Camoranesi was signed by Juventus on a co-ownership deal; initially, Juventus agreed to a price of €1 in cash plus player deal (which Max Vieri was sold for €517,000 (or 1 billion lire) plus €2.324 million cash (or 4.5 billion lire cash)) On 26 June 2003, he was signed outright by the Bianconeri on a permanent basis for an additional fee of €5 million; this was the same day Juventus signed Marco Di Vaio in similar deal. Camoranesi soon established himself in the starting line-up on the right wing following an injury to Gianluca Zambrotta, and in…

Camoranesi was eligible for Italian citizenship through a great-grandfather, Luigi, who in 1873 emigrated from Potenza Picena, in Italy's Marche region, to Argentina. His dual citizenship made him eligible to play for either Argentina or Italy, but the Azzurri showed interest in him first and, on 12 February 2003, he made his international debut in a friendly match against Portugal, which his team won 1–0 under manager Giovanni Trapattoni; consequently, Camoranesi became the first oriundo to appear for Italy in 40 years, with the last being the Brazilian-born Angelo Sormani. Under Trapattoni, Camoranesi played for Italy at UEFA Euro 2004, where they were eliminated in the first round. Camoranesi's first senior international goal came in a 2006 World Cup qualifier away to Belarus on 7 September 2005, which the Italians won 4–1. Camoranesi was also part of Marcello Lippi's Italy team which won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals in Germany, he admitted the reason for not singing Italy's national anthem before their matches was because he did not know the words, although he could be seen singing (at least a part of) the anthem during the World Cup celebrations in Circus Maximus on 10 July 2006. Camoranesi was not the first Juventus player born in Argentina to play for Italy; Omar Sívori played for the Azzurri, as well as Luis Monti and Raimundo Orsi, who also won the World Cup while playing for Juventus. Fellow oriundi Anfilogino Guarisi, Attilio…

On 15 December 2017, Camoranesi received his coaching licence. Camoranesi was appointed manager of Slovenian PrvaLiga side Tabor Sežana on 3 January 2020, signing a one-and-a-half-year contract. Eight months later he signed a three-year contract at Maribor in the same league. He was sacked on 23 February 2021. On 5 July 2022, Camoranesi was appointed assistant manager of Olympique de Marseille after Igor Tudor became the manager of the club. However, he left the team only a week later when Tudor named Hari Vukas as his assistant. Camoranesi was appointed head coach of Maltese Premier League club Floriana on 5 June 2023 for the 2023–24 season. On 2 October 2024, Camoranesi was hired as the new head coach of Cypriot First Division club Karmiotissa. He departed Karmiotissa later on 24 October, after less than a month since his appointment, having served for only two games in charge of the team. On 27 November 2024, Camoranesi signed for another Cypriot team, Anorthosis Famagusta, agreeing on a deal until the end of the season.

Camoranesi was a dynamic, hard-working, and skillful midfielder, who usually deployed on the right wing, or on occasion on the left flank, or as a central or attacking midfielder behind the strikers. He was a quick, energetic, and technically gifted player, with excellent ball control, who excelled at dribbling and beating players in one on one situations and getting up the flank. He was also gifted with good vision, creativity, crossing and passing ability with his right foot, which allowed him to create chances for his teammates. In addition to these characteristics, he also had an accurate and powerful shot, in particular from outside the penalty area, and was known for both his offensive and defensive contribution, which enabled him to start attacks after winning back the ball. A tenacious winger, throughout his career, he was however criticised for his aggression and lack of discipline at times, which caused him to pick up unnecessary bookings.