Maccarone training with Palermo in 2010
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Personal information | |||
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Date of birth | 6 September 1979 | ||
Place of birth | Galliate, Italy | ||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
Playing position | Striker | ||
Club information | |||
Current team
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Empoli | ||
Number | 7 | ||
Youth career | |||
1996–1998 | Milan | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1998–2000 | Milan | 0 | (0) |
1998 | → Modena (loan) | 0 | (0) |
1998–1999 | → Prato (loan) | 21 | (4) |
1999 | → Varese (loan) | 3 | (0) |
1999–2000 | Prato | 28 | (20) |
2000–2002 | Empoli | 68 | (36) |
2002–2007 | Middlesbrough | 80 | (24) |
2004–2005 | → Parma (loan) | 7 | (4) |
2005 | → Siena (loan) | 17 | (7) |
2007–2010 | Siena | 113 | (40) |
2010–2011 | Palermo | 18 | (2) |
2011–2014 | Sampdoria | 38 | (6) |
2012–2014 | → Empoli (loan) | ||
2014– | Empoli | ||
National team | |||
1995 | Italy U15 | 2 | (1) |
1995–1996 | Italy U16 | 4 | (1) |
1998–1999 | Italy U20 | 5 | (3) |
2000–2002 | Italy U21 | 15 | (11) |
2002 | Italy | 2 | (0) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11:48, 6 July 2016 (UTC). |
Massimo Maccarone (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmassimo makkaˈrone]; born 6 September 1979) is an Italian association football striker currently playing for Empoli.
He made headlines in March 2002 when he became the first Serie B player in twenty years to be picked for the Italian national side. He is nicknamed Big Mac.
Maccarone started his career at A.C. Milan's youth system. In 1998, he went on loan to Modena, but did not make a single appearance. In 1999, he was transferred to Serie C2 team Prato (in a co-ownership deal), scoring 20 goals in 28 league matches, finishing the season as the top scorer in the 1999–2000 Serie C2 season. In 2000, he was bought back by Milan and transferred to Empoli F.C., helping the club get promoted to Serie A during the 2001–02 season. In the same period, he was one of the most outstanding players of the Italian U21 team which reached the semi-finals in the 2002 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship. As a result, he was noticed by several teams.
Maccarone was signed by English Premier League team Middlesbrough on 9 July 2002 for £8.15 million (€12.7 million).
Maccarone was an unused substitute when Middlesbrough won the 2004 Football League Cup Final. Despite showing fine early form in his first few matches for Middlesbrough, the remainder of his spell at the club was a struggle to justify his price tag and during the first half of the 2004–05 season he was loaned out to Serie A club Parma, and in January 2005 to Siena.