Simone Zaza facts for kids
Zaza with Sassuolo in 2014
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Simone Zaza | ||
| Date of birth | 25 June 1991 | ||
| Place of birth | Policoro, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–2002 | Stella Azzurra Bernalda | ||
| 2002–2006 | Valdera | ||
| 2006–2008 | Atalanta | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2008–2010 | Atalanta | 3 | (0) |
| 2010–2013 | Sampdoria | 2 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | → Juve Stabia (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2012 | → Viareggio (loan) | 18 | (11) |
| 2012–2013 | → Ascoli (loan) | 35 | (18) |
| 2013 | Juventus | 0 | (0) |
| 2013–2015 | Sassuolo | 64 | (20) |
| 2015–2017 | Juventus | 19 | (5) |
| 2016–2017 | → West Ham United (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2017 | → Valencia (loan) | 20 | (6) |
| 2017–2019 | Valencia | 33 | (13) |
| 2018–2019 | → Torino (loan) | 29 | (4) |
| 2019–2022 | Torino | 63 | (12) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2007 | Italy U16 | 3 | (0) |
| 2007 | Italy U17 | 2 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Italy U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2014–2018 | Italy | 18 | (2) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:21, 18 March 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 12 October 2018 (UTC) |
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Simone Zaza (born on June 25, 1991) is an Italian former professional footballer. He played as a striker, which means he was mainly responsible for scoring goals.
Zaza started his professional club career with Atalanta in 2008. He later played for several other Italian teams, including Sampdoria, Sassuolo, and Juventus. With Juventus, he won two major trophies in his first season. He also played for clubs in other countries, like West Ham United in England and Valencia in Spain. Zaza returned to Italy in 2018 to play for Torino until 2022.
Simone Zaza also played for the Italian national team. He made his first appearance for Italy in 2014 and represented his country in the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Starting Out in Italy
Simone Zaza was born in Policoro, Italy. He began playing football at a young age with Stella Azzurra in 1997. When he was 11, he moved to the youth academy of Valdera. In 2006, at age 15, he joined the youth team of Serie A club Atalanta.
Zaza played for Atalanta's youth team for four years. He made his first appearance in Italy's top league, Serie A, on March 1, 2009. He came into the game as a substitute for Atalanta.
Moving to Sampdoria and Loan Spells
In July 2010, Zaza joined another Serie A team, Sampdoria. He played for their youth team but also made a few appearances for the main team.
To gain more experience, Sampdoria sent Zaza on loan to other clubs. A loan means a player temporarily plays for another team.
- In 2011, he went to Juve Stabia in Serie B.
- In January 2012, he moved to Viareggio. This was a very successful time for him, as he scored 11 goals in 18 games.
- After returning to Sampdoria, he joined Ascoli on loan for the 2012–13 season. He continued to score many goals, netting 18 in 35 games.
Success with Sassuolo
In July 2013, Juventus bought Zaza. At the same time, he moved to Sassuolo. He started playing in Serie A again with Sassuolo. On September 1, 2013, he scored his first Serie A goal for Sassuolo. He also helped Sassuolo earn their first-ever point in the top Italian league.
Sassuolo later bought Zaza completely from Juventus in 2014. However, Juventus kept the option to buy him back later.
Joining Juventus
On July 7, 2015, Juventus decided to buy Zaza back from Sassuolo. In his first season with Juventus, he quickly made an impact. On September 23, 2015, he scored his first goal for the club. He also scored his first goal in the UEFA Champions League on September 30, 2015, helping Juventus win.
Zaza helped Juventus win two important trophies in the 2015–16 season: the Serie A league title and the Coppa Italia cup. This is known as winning a "domestic double."
Playing Abroad: West Ham and Valencia
In August 2016, Zaza moved to England to play for West Ham United on a loan deal. He made 11 appearances for the club but did not score any goals.
In January 2017, Zaza moved to Spain to play for La Liga club Valencia, also on a loan deal. He made his debut on January 21. He scored his first goal for Valencia on February 19, and then another important goal against Real Madrid a few days later. Valencia later bought him permanently. On September 19, he scored three goals in less than 10 minutes in a game against Málaga, which is called a hat-trick.
Return to Italy with Torino
On August 17, 2018, Zaza returned to Italy, joining Torino on a loan deal. Torino later bought him permanently. He played for Torino until August 2022, when his contract with the club ended.
International Career
Simone Zaza played for Italy's national youth teams at different age levels, including the under-16, under-17, and under-19 teams.
On August 31, 2014, he was called up to the senior national team. He made his debut for Italy on September 4, 2014, in a game against the Netherlands. On September 9, Zaza scored his first goal for Italy in a game against Norway.
He was part of Italy's squad for UEFA Euro 2016. In a match against Sweden, he helped set up the winning goal. In the quarter-final match against Germany, the game went to a penalty shoot-out. Zaza took a penalty but unfortunately missed it, and Italy was eliminated from the tournament. He later apologized to the fans for the miss.
Zaza was called up to the Italy squad again in 2018. On June 4, 2018, he scored a goal in a friendly match against the Netherlands.
Playing Style
Simone Zaza is known as a quick, strong, and well-rounded forward. He is left-footed and has a powerful shot. He is also good at heading the ball and can play in different attacking positions. Because of his strength and hard work, he was sometimes called a "giant killer" for scoring against bigger teams.
Personal Life
Since 2022, Simone Zaza has been in a relationship with Angelica Erthal, who is a model from Brazil. Their first child was born in January 2024.
Career Statistics Summary
Simone Zaza played in many professional football matches throughout his career. He scored a total of 97 goals in 328 club games. For the Italian national team, he played 18 games and scored 2 goals.
Honours and Awards
Team Honours
Juventus
- Serie A: 2015–16 (This means Juventus won the top Italian league title)
- Coppa Italia: 2015–16 (This is Italy's main football cup competition)
- Supercoppa Italiana: 2015 (This is a super cup played between the Serie A champions and Coppa Italia winners)
Individual Awards
- La Liga Player of the Month: September 2017 (This award is given to the best player in the Spanish league for that month)
See also
In Spanish: Simone Zaza para niños
