Iacopo La Rocca (born 17 February 1984) is an Italian-Australian professional footballer & coach, who played as a defensive midfielder or central defender.
 La Rocca playing for Western Sydney Wanderers in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Iacopo La Rocca[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 17 February 1984 | ||
| Place of birth | Rome, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
| Position(s) |
Defensive midfielder Central defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Preston Lions U23 Head Coach | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2001–2004 | Pro Vercelli | 36 | (1) |
| 2004–2005 | Chieti | 1 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | Fermana | 8 | (1) |
| 2006–2007 | Sassari Torres | 5 | (0) |
| 2007–2011 | AC Bellinzona | 89 | (3) |
| 2011–2012 | Grasshopper | 19 | (0) |
| 2012–2015 | Western Sydney Wanderers | 58 | (6) |
| 2015–2017 | Adelaide United | 30 | (0) |
| 2017–2019 | Melbourne City | 20 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2024– | Preston Lions U23 (Head Coach) [1] | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 May 2019 | |||
Club career
editLa Rocca started his youth career at Lazio, before moving to his first club Pro Vercelli. He signed 3 years deal with Treviso.
He joined various clubs on loan from Treviso Italy, likes of Chieti, Fermana, Sassari Torres but he was unlucky to got injured every years and than he decided to moving to Switzerland, where he joined for four yearsAC Bellinzona where he won the Challenge League and he played the Final Swiss Cup against Basel. After 4 years in Super League where he played also 6 games in UEFA Cup he joined Swiss Super League club Grasshopper.
On 11 September 2012, he signed a one-year deal with A-League club Western Sydney Wanderers.[2] La Rocca scored his first goal for Western Sydney Wanderers on 18 November 2012 in just his second game, to defeat Perth Glory.[3] In February 2013, he signed a new two-year deal with the Wanderers.[4]
On 23 March, La Rocca was sent off in the last minute of stoppage time in the third Sydney Derby of the season for elbowing Sydney midfielder Terry Antonis in the temple. The subsequent ban meant La Rocca missed the semifinal and the final.[5] His club nonetheless won the title in their debut season. On 2013 he played the Grand Final he got the man of the match with Broich and won the Joe Marston Medal but Western Sydney Wanderes lost in extra time 2–1 but the year after he won the 2014 AFC Champions League, with La Rocca starting both legs of their triumph over Al-Hilal in the final and became the first Italian to win that trophy.
At the 2014 FIFA Club World Cup in Morocco, La Rocca opened the scoring against Cruz Azul of Mexico in an eventual 1–3 loss after extra time.[6]
In June 2015, La Rocca signed a two-year contract with Adelaide United.[7][8] After overcoming injury, he featured heavily for Adelaide in the second half of the season and played a crucial role in the central defensive position along with teammate Dylan McGowan in the club's successful attempt at the Premier's Plate and inaugural Championship title.
In November 2016, La Rocca became an Australian citizen, allowing him to be called up to the Australian national team and to be considered as a domestic player for his club.[9]
Melbourne City announced the signing of La Rocca on 15 July 2017 with 2 years deal.[10] La Rocca played is first official game with Melbourne City on 13 September 2017 in FFA Cup against Sydney FC. After his retirement in 2019 he started his coaching career by taking the UEFA B License for coaching in Italy.
Honours
editClub
edit- Western Sydney Wanderers
Adelaide United FC
Individual
edit- Joe Marston Medal: 2014 (shared with Thomas Broich)
References
edit- ^ "FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2014: List of Players" (PDF). FIFA. 15 December 2014. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 July 2015.
- ^ "Wanderers Complete Foreign Quota". Australian FourFourTwo. 11 September 2012. Archived from the original on 2 January 2013. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
- ^ "Ten-Man Wanderers Stun Glory". Australian FourFourTwo. 18 November 2012. Archived from the original on 22 November 2012. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ "La Rocca extends Wanderers contract". ESPN FC. 8 February 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
- ^ "La Rocca out for the season". Australian FourFourTwo. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.[permanent dead link]
- ^ "Cruz Azul 3–1 Western Sydney Wanderers". BBC Sport. 13 December 2014. Retrieved 14 December 2014.
- ^ "Reds secure La Rocca". Adelaide United. 27 June 2015. Archived from the original on 29 June 2015. Retrieved 27 June 2015.
- ^ "La Rocca leaves Wanderers for Adelaide United". The World Game. SBS. 27 June 2015.
- ^ "As exclusively revealed on our show last Saturday, @AdelaideUnited's Iacopo La Rocca is now an Aussie!". Twitter. 16 November 2016.
- ^ "La Rocca joins Melbourne City". The World Game. 15 July 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
External links
edit- Iacopo La Rocca at Soccerway