Fabrizio Miccoli

Fabrizio Miccoli (Italian pronunciation: [faˈbrittsjo ˈmikkoli]; born on 27 June 1979) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He scored 103 goals in 259 matches in Serie A across nine seasons, representing Perugia, Juventus, Fiorentina and Palermo, also spending time on loan to Benfica in Portugal. He later spent two seasons with his hometown club Lecce in Lega Pro. He retired in 2015 after playing for Maltese club Birkirkara.

In a two-year international career, Miccoli scored twice in ten appearances for Italy.

After playing at youth level with AC Milan, Miccoli returned to his native Puglia in 1995 to join Serie C1 team Casarano, where he made his professional debut at age 17. He then agreed for a move to Serie B side Ternana in 1998, where he scored a total 32 goals in 4 seasons, 15 of which in his final year at the club. His performances at Ternana had Miccoli dubbed the "new Del Piero" by many sections of the Italian media.

Following his impressive performances, Juventus showed interest in signing Miccoli, and ultimately acquired his transfer rights from Ternana in July 2002, then loaning him to minor Serie A side Perugia for the 2002–03 season.

Miccoli showed great qualities during his first season in the top flight, scoring great goals and showing excellent technical ability. He was dubbed "the Romário of the Salento", "the Maradona of the Salento" and "bomber tascabile" ("pocket bomber"), due to his small stature, pace and his technical ability. His efforts helped Perugia reach an UEFA Intertoto Cup spot. For his efforts, he received an Italy call-up during the season and Juventus recalled him back for the following season.

Miccoli played six UEFA Champions League matches for Juventus, scoring one goal. He also scored seven goals in Serie A for Juventus. However, after a fallout with Juve manager Fabio Capello, he did not receive much playing time, and the next season, half of Miccoli's registration rights was sold to newly promoted Fiorentina for €7 million. Once in Florence, Miccoli showed his good qualities once again, helping Fiorentina to salvation on the last day of the season, scoring a goal to send Brescia to Serie B. At the end of the season, there was a blind auction between Fiorentina and Juventus to decide his ownership, and Juventus won it by a lump sum of approximately €6.7 million for three players (Miccoli (€2.39M), Enzo Maresca (€7,000) and Giorgio Chiellini (€4.3 million)). Therefore, Miccoli had to return to Turin, but he was sent on loan to Benfica. Juventus also had to pay agent fee of €250,000 for Miccoli's new three-year contract.

In July 2006, Miccoli's loan to Benfica was confirmed despite initial interest from Aston Villa. Miccoli scored two goals for Benfica in six Champions League appearances. He also became a fan favourite when he scored a magnificent scissor-kick goal against Liverpool during that competition, sending Benfica to the quarter-finals. At Benfica, Miccoli attracted attention from other clubs such as Roma and Inter Milan. Miccoli opted to stay one more year in Lisbon with Benfica.