Top facts about Marco Di Vaio, La Rossa legend

Marco Di Vaio (born 15 July 1976) is an Italian striker who played professionally for many years. Di Vaio was a prolific striker throughout his lengthy club career, scoring over 200 league goals for a variety of teams in Italy, France, Spain, and Canada.

Di Vaio was a member of the Italy national football team at the Euro 2004 tournament.

Marco Di Vaio’s age

is 45. Here, you can find the most important facts about Marco Di Vaio, Montreal Impact's Greatest-ever MLS Player.

The first fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he joined

on loan from

in January 2006. In the summer of 2006, the Monegasques exercised their purchase option and signed Di Vaio permanently.

His departure from Valencia was motivated by the club's financial difficulties as well as a lack of discipline that he allowed himself on April 17, 2005. Di Vaio had been substituted at the time and had made derogatory gestures towards the coach, Antonio López Habas.

After only one year, he returned to Italy. In January 2007, he agreed to terms with CFC Genoa, a second division club, until the summer of 2009. Di Vaio scored nine goals in 21 games in the second half of the 2006/07 season to help the Grifoni rise to Serie A, where he scored three goals in 22 games in 2007/08.

Top facts about Marco Di Vaio:

Marco Di Vaio joined Serie A promoted Bologna for the 2008/09 season and scored his first goal for the Emilian club in a 2-1 away win at AC Milan on his debut.

He stayed at Bologna for four years, making over 100 competitive appearances and scoring 65 league goals before joining the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer.

Since Canada's debut in Major League Soccer in 2012, Di Vaio has established himself as a regular and key forward at Impact. In his rookie season, he scored five goals in 17 league games, and this season, he had 20 goals in 33 games, including a hat-trick against the Philadelphia Union.

Di Vaio was honored as the Montreal Impact's Most Valuable Player of the 2013 season and was named to the MLS Best XI 2013, the league's best lineup, for his season performance. He also won the Canadian Cup and the Canadian Championship in 2013 with the Montreal Impact.

Montreal also won the 2014 Canadian Championship. Di Vaio's active career ended at the end of the 2014 season, when the

finished last in the Eastern Conference and thus missed the playoffs.

In July 2012, it was announced that Di Vaio would have to appear in court for failing to report match-fixing to the Italian FA, which he was aware of. However, Di Vaio was acquitted by the FIGC Disciplinary Committee in August 2012.

Marco Di Vaio early life

Regarding

Marco Di Vaio’s childhood

, it should be mentioned that he his professional career with Lazio, his hometown club.

On November 20, 1994, he made his Serie A debut against Padova. He then moved to Salernitana in 1997 after playing for Serie B teams like as Verona and Bari. There is no information available about

Marco Di Vaio’s parents

.

Marco Di Vaio professional career

Marco Di Vaio started his career at his hometown club,

. He made his Serie A debut on 20 November 1994 against Padova. He then played for Serie B clubs such as Verona and Bari before moving to Salernitana in 1997.

Marco Di Vaio club playing career

A notable

fact about Marco Di Vaio

is that he was a revelation for Salernitana, helping them to their second promotion to Serie A in 1997–98 as the league's top scorer.

Parma

Di Vaio stayed in Serie A after being bought by Parma, despite Salernitana's relegation the following season.

He scored an outstanding amount of goals for the Gialloblu, and in his third season with the side, he finished as the league's second leading scorer.

Juventus

Juventus won the battle to sign him the following summer (2002) by paying Parma €7 million for the loan (€2 million + 50% of Brighi's registration rights).

However, Di Vaio was never able to replicate his Parma form at Juventus, owing to the fierce rivalry for first-team spots. Initially a loan signing, he was signed permanently for €14 million in summer 2003. He won one scudetto and reached the 2003 UEFA Champions League Final during his time at Juventus.

Juventus started revamping their first team roster after an early departure from the UEFA Champions League in 2003–04, which coincided with the appointment of new coach Fabio Capello. Di Vaio and his hitting partner Fabrizio Miccoli were quickly shut out as a consequence.

Valencia

A notable fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he signed a five-year deal with reigning UEFA Cup and La Liga winners Valencia for € 10.5 million joining fellow compatriots Claudio Ranieri and new signing Bernardo Corradi.

Di Vaio played up front for Corradi in 10 La Liga games, scoring four goals. During his time in Spain, he only scored eleven league goals.

With the additions of

and

, as well as Ranieri's dismissal, his participation in Valencia's first team line-up became limited.

New coach Quique Sánchez Flores wanted to play Villa with Miguel Angel Angulo as a striking partner or in a 4–5–1 system with Villa as the lone striker. Di Vaio was only able to make one league start during the 2005–06 season as a result of this.

Monaco

A notable fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he was loaned out to Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in January 2006, with the option to make the move permanent.

Along with Di Vaio,

, a fellow countryman, was also signed and joined him for 7 French league appearances, scoring three goals himself.

Originally brought in as a back-up for the ailing Javier Chevantón and to replace the departed Emmanuel Adebayor, the Italian combo helped Chevantón score goals in the second half of the season.

Di Vaio was demoted to third-string striker behind new arrivals Jan Koller and Jérémy Menez in his second season, limiting him to only six first-team games.

Genoa

After a failed tenure in Ligue 1, Di Vaio returned to Italy on January 22, 2007, signing for €1.8 million with Serie B club Genoa, a team vying for promotion.

The team gained promoted to Serie A, but once there, the duo of Marco Borriello and Giuseppe Sculli was favoured, therefore Di Vaio only made 9 games.

Bologna

On August 21, 2008, it was announced that Di Vaio had signed for Bologna FC, a Serie A club that had just been promoted from Serie B. This brought him back into contact with Adalton, a former Genoa colleague.

An important fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he was a surprise sensation for Bologna in the 2008–09 season, scoring 24 goals for a weak team. He concluded the season as Genoa C.F.C. striker Diego Milito's equal second best scorer. Bologna signed him on a free transfer at the conclusion of the season.

During his time at Bologna, Di Vaio regained his reputation as a key prolific striker, quickly becoming a fan favorite, as well as team captain and one of the reference players during the two club takeovers in the 2010–11 season, securing a contract extension until June 2013; following the announcement, Di Vaio also stated his desire to spend the rest of his footballing career with the club.

Di Vaio, on the other hand, declared on 4 May 2012 that the 2011–12 season would be his last with Bologna, and that he would be evaluating several possibilities for his future.

Montreal

The Montreal Impact confirmed the signing of Marco Di Vaio as the club's first Designated Player after months of talks.

Di Vaio made his Impact debut against Toronto FC on June 27, 2012, and scored his first goal against the New York Red Bulls a month later on July 28, 2012. On March 29, 2014, Marco scored his first goal of the 2014 season against the Philadelphia Union.

Di Vaio scored the first goal in a 1–1 tie at home against D.C. United on October 25, 2014, in his last game as a professional. Following the 2014 season, Di Vaio announced his retirement.

Marco Di Vaio international playing career

On 5 September 2001, Di Vaio made his senior international debut for Italy, under manager Giovanni Trapattoni, in a friendly match in Piacenza against Morocco, which Italy won 1–0 at home.

On 11 October 2003, in Reggio Calabria, he scored his first goal for Italy in a 4–0 home triumph against Azerbaijan in a UEFA Euro 2004 qualifying match.

A notable fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he made his Euro 2004 debut under Giovanni Trapattoni, featuring in Italy's last group match, a 2–1 win against Bulgaria, despite the fact that Italy was eliminated in the first round of the tournament.

Marcello Lippi, who had previously coached Di Vaio at

, subsequently called up Di Vaio on multiple occasions.

However, Di Vaio's status in the national squad was jeopardized due to a drop in form while with Valencia, as well as the development of Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino.

In a 1–0 away defeat to Slovenia in a 2006 World Cup Qualifying match, he made his last appearance for Italy with Lippi on 9 October 2004. Di Vaio had 14 appearances for the national team, scoring two goals. After retiring from playing, Di Vaio became the manager of Bologna.

Marco Di Vaio style of play

An important

fact about Marco Di Vaio

is that he was a prolific goalscorer who was a fast, opportunistic, and flexible player who, because to his strong technique and distribution, could play anywhere in the front line, as a striker, or even as a winger.

His favourite position, though, was that of a centre-forward, where he could use his goal-scoring abilities in the area as well as his aerial ability. He also possessed a strong and accurate long-range shot and was a good penalty taker.

Marco Di Vaio’s Bologna legacy

Fans seldom hold a player in such high esteem these days; they rarely perceive an individual player as an embodiment of their club.

It's much more unusual if the athlete hasn't spent their whole career with the club. Marco Di Vaio arrived in Bologna at the age of 32, yet he quickly established himself as a local legend, and his impact is still felt today.

The label of "journeyman" is generally seen as a source of embarrassment. Underachievement is a warning that you'll never fit in or settle down. It was this mark that threw a shadow over Di Vaio when he arrived for his first day at Bologna's Casteldebole training field in 2008.

If players' careers were judged just on their resumes, Di Vaio would have received much more respect. Di Vaio made his name with Salernitana, where he was the leading scorer in Serie B when the team was promoted to the top flight in 1998.

He subsequently spent his formative years at Parma, which was nearing the end of its golden days at the time. After less successful seasons at his native club Lazio and Hellas Verona earlier in his career, Di Vaio's potential started to blossom in Emilia-Romagna.

Di Vaio was a prized commodity in Serie A due to his reputation as a clinical goal scorer. Di Vaio, like other Italian youths like as

and

, won the Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana while playing for Parma.

His big break came in the summer of 2002, when he joined Juventus for €26 million, joining former Parma colleagues Gianluigi Buffon and Lillian Thuram.

Considering Di Vaio's success at the Gialloblu, many anticipated him to continue in the same vein at the Stadio delle Alpi, particularly given the club's supply line. However, it was not to be. The most striking – and damning – statistic during his tenure with the Bianconeri was his total of 18 goals in two seasons, two less than his last season alone at Parma.

Di Vaio was withdrawn for the final after making 11 games on route to the all-Italian Champions League final at Old Trafford in 2003 (versus AC Milan).

It was a choice from which he would need years to recover. When Fabio Capello brought Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Turin a year later, Di Vaio was given the door.

After that, there were stints with Valencia and Monaco. Di Vaio's career was faltering, and he lost his spot in the Azzurri team, despite adding to his domestic prize collection. In reality, his national team career never really got off.

Di Vaio made his international debut in 2001 under Giovanni Trapattoni and went on to play 14 times for Italy. Di Vaio's last appearance was a seven-minute cameo in 2004, but with the young duo of Luca Toni and Alberto Gilardino stealing the show, Di Vaio's time had come to an end.

The Roman born striker seemed doomed to be recognized as a squandered talent, unable to recapture his spectacular peak at Salernitana and Parma. Genoa, on the other hand, threw him a lifeline and a chance to return to Italy.

However, Di Vaio failed to live up to expectations once again, and despite being a member of the team that achieved promotion to Serie A in 2007, he only scored nine goals in the second division. He only scored three times in Serie A the following season.

Things couldn't possibly be much worse. The struggling striker was shown the door once again, but this time it seemed to be for the last time.

Footballers seldom receive a second opportunity, much less a third or fourth. Di Vaio, on the other hand, found a great match in Bologna. To understand why, one must first learn about the club's and the city's histories.

Bologna has always tried to find its position in the socio-cultural and political environment of Italy. It often performs things in a unique way. It was one of Europe's largest cities throughout the Middle Ages.

It was a learned town and quickly became known as a shelter for people who did not conform to the mainstream, thanks to its historic university — Europe's oldest.

The term La Rossa, or the Red City, refers to the city's characteristic red roof tops while also revealing its political history. Despite Mussolini's best efforts, Bologna was often perceived as a center of dissent under the fascist rule, culminating in the city's role in the wartime resistance.

was viewed as a stronghold of the political Left during Italy's internal Cold War, which erupted following the 1948 elections, opposing the western-backed conservative parties that ruled the political system until 1991.

Bologna as a city felt abandoned; it lacked a voice. This tendency has been mirrored by the city's once-famous football team. Bologna, which was founded in 1909, did not take long to establish itself as a force in Italy. The Rossoblu won their first Scudetto in 1925, thanks to goals from Angiolino Schiavio, the club's all-time leading scorer.

Bologna ended the great 1930s with five domestic championships, which were expanded in 1941. However, the Red and Blues have only won one Serie A title since then, in 1964, thanks in large part to Giacomo Bulgarelli, the club's then-enigmatic captain and all-time appearances holder.

Bologna has been on the decline since then, and the team was relegated for the first time in its history in 1982, despite the emergence of a young Roberto Mancini.

Bologna was relegated to Serie C a year later. For such a storied club, it was an all-time low. In the early 1990s, the cycle was repeated, with the team dropping from the top division to oblivion in only two seasons. With the rise of contemporary Italian mega clubs like as Roma and Lazio, Emilia Romagna's club was left behind, seen as a relic of the past.

It was time for a rebirth. Bologna resurfaced under the leadership of ambitious president Giuseppe Gazzoni.

Years of mid-table stability in Serie A followed, only to be cut short by relegation in 2005, ending a nine-year stay in the top division. When Bologna returned to the top flight in 2008, they needed a captain on the field to help them maintain their position. They went with Marco Di Vaio.

The former Parma player quickly settled well with the Rossoblu. He, like the club, had a point to make, demonstrating that his finest days were still ahead of him. He scored more goals in his first season than at any other point in his career.

His 24 goals not only guided Bologna to a 17th-place finish, but they were only surpassed by Inter's

, who scored one more than the veteran Italian striker.

Di Vaio was promoted to skipper barely 12 months after joining the club, demonstrating his immediate effect at the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara. Di Vaio's goals were crucial to the team's continuing survival in Serie A, as they had been the previous season.

Rumors of a move away from Bologna gathered momentum as his stock soared. The Rossoblu's newly adopted hero refused to transfer despite links to his previous club Lazio. It was a choice that very definitely lost him a chance to rejoin the Azzurri, but the striker never forgot the opportunity Bologna gave him.

Di Vaio and his fans at Bologna's Curva Bulgarelli developed a strong connection. Di Vaio fell in love with the city as much as they did with him. "This city and its people owe me everything," the Italian bomber stated. "Bologna is full of passion and history, and I feel really fortunate to be a part of it."

Di Vaio ended each of his four seasons with Bologna as the club's leading scorer. Under Stefano Pioli's leadership and with the outstanding combo of Alessandro Diamanti and Gaston Ramirez, the Rossoblu finished in the top half of the league in 2011-12.

Despite this, Di Vaio was the only player who appeared in every game. In reality, he only missed nine games in four seasons. An extraordinary achievement for a player nearing the end of his career.

Di Vaio was given a heroes' send-off, despite the fact that a fairy-tale conclusion of retiring with the club was not to be. A guard of respect was put up for Bologna's Di Vaio during his last game at the Dall'Ara, while the ultras in the Curva Bulgarelli raised a banner reading: "Marco, an eternal thank you." You leave the land and enter mythology," says the narrator.

Di Vaio departed the club in the summer of 2012 to join the Montreal Impact of Major League Soccer. He'd be the top guy once again in Canada, and he'd have a close bond with the home crowd.

Following his retirement in 2014, Di Vaio returned to his adoptive footballing home as the club manager of Bologna. In this job, which he still has today, the former striker is responsible for all aspects of the club's operations, both on and off the field, and is once again a vital member of the team.

Many people will look back on Di Vaio's career and wonder what may have been. He should have scored and earned more goals, and he should have played on Italy's 2006 World Cup-winning team. Despite the fact that it took him a long time, he eventually found his real home in Bologna.

Di Vaio embodies both the city and the club's authentic soul. And it was because of his battling spirit and reluctance to give up that he became a bandiera and the Rossoblu's personification.

Some more facts about Marco Di Vaio:

Growing up in the youth teams of Lazio, with whom he made his Serie A debut, he later played for Verona, Bari, Salernitana, Parma, Juventus, Valencia, Monaco, Genoa, Bologna, and Montréal Impact.

With 142 goals, he is the 29th most prolific player in Serie A, alongside Christian Vieri, Benito Lorenzi, and Paolo Pulicic.

He was the product of Lazio youth academy.

, the then-Biancoceleste coach, decided to add him to the first team for the 1993-1994 season, at the age of 17, and he played in two official matches.

The Capitoline team made their UEFA Cup debut on September 29, 1993, in an away match against PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv, which they won 0-2.

The second appearance of the season occurs in the second round of the Italian Cup in the first leg match at the Olimpico for a 0-2 victory over Avellino. In the championship, Di Vaio is unable to find a place among the most experienced attacking teammates, including Giuseppe Signori, Alen Boki, and Pierluigi Casiraghi.

The following season, Zdenk Zeman, who was appointed to replace Zoff (who later became president of Lazio) in the summer of 1994, fielded him 13 times. The attacker's first game as a starter is against Modena (1-4) in the second leg of the Italian Cup, after Lazio won the first leg 5-0.

In the league, he has three goals in eight games: his debut is on November 20, 1994, in Lazio-Padova (5-1), when he replaces Casiraghi in the second half and scores the partial 4-1 goal.

The other two league goals were scored in Lazio-Fiorentina and Lazio-Genoa. During the same season, he also scored his first UEFA Cup goal against Trabzonspor of Turkey.

Lazio loaned him out to Verona in November 1995, and then to Bari the following season. In 1997, the biancoceleste company decides to transfer him outright for 5 billion lire to Serie B (historical record for the category) to Salernitana, which results in his second promotion to Serie A in the 1997-1998 season by winning the league's top scorer title with 21 goals.

Salernitana was relegated the following season, and Di Vaio scored 12 goals. The player was then purchased by Parma, allowing him to remain in Serie A.

An important fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he won the Italian Cup and finished fourth in the Serie A top scorers with 20 goals in the 2001-2002 season.

In August 2002, just a few days before the start of the next championship, he was purchased by Juventus for 7 million euros (plus an option of 14 million in three annual installments), just a few days after playing and scoring against the latter in the Italian Super Cup final.

He graduated as Italy's champion with the Bianconeri, winning the Scudetto in 2002-2003 and his second Italian Super Cup. He was sold to Valencia in Spain for more than 11 million euros in the summer of 2004.

Here he spends a year scoring 11 goals and winning the European Super Cup, in which he scores a goal against

in the final. He was loaned to Monaco in December 2005, where he scored 5 goals in 15 French league games.

He also began the 2006-2007 season at Monaco before being acquired by Genoa in Serie B in January 2007. With the rossoblù, he was promoted to Serie A with the Ligurians on June 10, 2007, thanks to his third-place finish and his 9 goals in 21 games.

His playing time decreases the following season, and he is usually used off the bench. At the end of the championship, he has three goals in 22 games.

Genoa loaned him to Bologna in August 2008, and he was immediately decisive, scoring the game-winning goal in the Italian Cup against Vicenza.

He also scored on the first day of the championship, helping

to a 2-1 victory. On May 17, 2009, he scored his hundredth goal in the top flight in a 2-1 win over Lecce.

In this tournament, he scores 24 goals, matching Diego Milito: only Ibrahimovi, with 25 assists, does better. The Bologna club makes its final engagement at the end of the championship. He is appointed captain and plays an important role in the team's salvation in 2009-10.

On November 14, 2010, he equaled Bulgarelli in terms of goals with the rossoblu shirt when he scored the game-winning goal against Brescia.

On February 26, 2011, the Petronians win a double on the Juventus field, which they had not won since 1980: these goals allow him to pass Rivera and catch Bettega in the all-time Serie A scorers A ranking (with 130 realizations).

On March 6, in a match against Cagliari, he reaches 100 appearances in rossoblu: he is then presented with a commemorative plaque by Gianni Morandi (honorary president of the club) and is awarded the Golden Neptune by the city.

Following his involvement in a disability pass scandal, the player will return the award, but after his position is filed, the distinction is awarded again. Bulgarelli, Pierluigi Collina, and Alberto Tomba were the only other athletes to receive the award.

With 10 goals, including a brace at Inter, he helped the team to ninth place in the 2011-12 season (3-0 defeat by the Emilians). Following that, he bids the Bolognese farewell.

On May 24, 2012, his transfer to the Montréal Impact, a militant MLS team, was made official. In the new club, he meets fellow countrymen Matteo Ferrari and Bernardo Corradi, who will soon be joined by Alessandro Nesta, a teammate from the Lazio youth teams.

In his first season, he scored five goals in seventeen league games. With two goals in three appearances, he contributes to the Montreal Impact's victory in the 2013 Canadian Championship. In 2013, he appeared in 40 games and scored 22 goals in the league, cup, and Champions League.

An important

fact about Marco Di Vaio

is that he announced his retirement on his Facebook page on October 3, 2014, thanking his family, the clubs and coaches for whom he played, and his fans.

The farewell to football will take place on October 25, the date of the final league match, in which Di Vaio scores in a 1-1 tie against DC United. He has appeared in 27 games and scored 12 goals this season.

In his two and a half years in Montreal, he appeared in 84 games and scored 39 goals. In total, he appeared in 697 games for the clubs and scored 268 goals.

On September 5, 2001, he made his national team debut in a friendly win over Morocco (1-0). In 2003, he scored two goals in blue, against Azerbaijan and Romania. Giovanni Trapattoni, his coach, invited him to the 2004 European Championship, where he earned a spot.

Under Lippi, he only played two games after joining the Italian bench before being ruled ineligible for the national team.

On 21 January 2015, Bologna, in the meantime relegated to Serie B and with a new North American ownership (the same that leads Montréal), appointed him Club Manager with responsibility for the activities related to the management of the first team, under the supervision of the new director of the technical area Pantaleo Corvino.

In addition, in collaboration with the designated areas, he will participate in the club's communication initiatives.

A notable fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he received the Sports Director Diploma on November 30, 2015, with a thesis on the role of the Club Manager.

Involved in the football betting investigation as a Bologna player, he was referred by federal prosecutor Stefano Palazzi on July 26, 2012, for failure to report in relation to Bologna-Bari in 2010-2011.

On 3 August, Palazzi requested a one-year suspension, but on 10 August, the Football Federation's Disciplinary Commission acquitted him because the repentant who had accused him, Andrea Masiello, was not considered credible. Palazzi appealed his acquittal on August 13, but he was acquitted again on August 22.

An important fact about Marco Di Vaio is that he has played 720 games for clubs, senior national teams, and youth teams, scoring 272 goals and averaging 0.38 goals per game.

Marco Di Vaio social media

Regarding

Marco Di Vaio social media

, it should be mentioned that he has a Twitter account (

) with more than 100K followers

Marco Di Vaio body measurements

Speaking about

Marco Di Vaio body measurements

, it should be mentioned that the player is 180cm and 76kg.

Marco Di Vaio net worth and salary

Marco Di Vaio's net worth

is estimated to be around $8 million, according to Wikipedia, Forbes, and Business Insider.

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