Federico Balzaretti born 6 December 1981 in Turin, Piedmont is an Italian footballer who currently plays as a left back for Serie A club Palermo.
Known as 'Balzac' by most fans, he grew up since the age of 6 in the Torino youth system, debuting for the granata in season 2002�03. After a couple of seasons on loan to Varese and Siena, 'Balzac' was heavily involved in the 2004�05 Serie B campaign of Torino, which brought the team to a Serie A promotion.
However, as Torino disbanded right after that promotion, 'Balzac' was released in a free transfer, and was signed by city arch-rivals Juventus. In 2005�06 he was part of the first team for the bianconeri, often playing as regular under orders of coach Fabio Capello, and finally winning the Serie A league.
'Balzac's' first ever senior goal game on 17 February 2007, in Serie B, as Juventus beat Crotone 5�0. He was sold to Fiorentina on July 2007, but failed to impress with the viola as he made only six appearances in the first half of the Serie A 2007-08, and was subsequently signed by Palermo in a permanent move during the January transfer market. At Palermo, he took the #42 jersey as a homage to his father, who was born in 1942; in his tenure with the Sicilian side, he immediately established himself as a mainstay, playing regularly for the rosanero also in the following seasons and establishing as one of the most praised Italian left backs.
After playing with a number of youth selections between 2000 and 2002, Balzaretti received his first senior call-up in November 2010 from Italy national football team coach Cesare Prandelli (and a former boss of him while at Fiorentina) and made his debut in a friendly match against Romania.
Date of birth: December 6, 1981
Place of birth: Turin, Italy
Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position: Left back'
Club information
Current club: Palermo
Number: 42
Youth career
Torino
Senior career
1999�2001 Varese 44 (0)
2001�2002 Siena 16 (0)
2002�2005 Torino 94 (0)
2005�2007 Juventus 57 (2)
2007�2008 Fiorentina 6 (0)
2008� Palermo 111 (2)
National team
2000�2002 Italy U-20 23 (1)
2002 Italy U-21 4 (0)
2010� Italy 1 (0)
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