Mauro Germán Camoranesi Serra, Cavaliere Ufficiale OMRI[1][2], (born 4 October 1976 in Tandil, Buenos Aires Province) is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Juventus as a midfielder, usually on the right wing. He has also been used as a central midfielder. Camoranesi is a member of the Italian national team and was part of the winning squad at the 2006 World Cup. Club career Camoranesi had always been a big fan of the Argentinian club River Plate growing up, but as a youngster, he played in the squad of Club Atlético Aldosivi. Aldosivi is situated in Mar del Plata just 160 km (99 mi) away from Mauro's birthplace of Tandil. However, he moved to Mexico to begin his professional playing career at Santos Laguna. The club won the Primera División de México during the Invierno 1996 season. Camoranesi scored one goal in 13 games for the team; this was the clubs first ever championship success. Santos Laguna fans nicknamed him "El Cholo." More travels came for the young Argentine the following year, as he moved to Uruguayan club Montevideo Wanderers briefly, before returning back to his homeland to play for Banfield, solidifying himself as an impressive attacking right midfielder, while playing 38 games with 16 goals. The following season Camoranesi moved once again, this time back to Mexico and club Cruz Azul, where he played from 1998 to 2000. He caught the attention of Italian Serie A side Verona by scoring 21 goals in 79 games with Cruz Azul, an impressive achievement for a midfield player. He moved to Italy in 2000, signing with Verona where he played two years. In 2002, Camoranesi was signed on a co-ownership deal; initially Juventus paid Verona €4.8 million (reportedly £3 million) and gave them co-ownership of Max Vieri. On 26 June 2003, he was signed outright by the Bianconeri on a permanent basis for an additional fee of €5 million; this was the same day Juventus signed Marco Di Vaio and Enzo Maresca in similar deals.[3] Juventus With Juventus, Camoranesi won Serie A in 2002-03, and Italian Super Cups in 2002 and 2003. Camoranesi was also a Serie A champion with the Old Lady in 2004-05 and 2005-06, but Juventus were stripped of both of those titles as another result of the "Calciopoli" scandal. Despite his agent Sergio Fortunato linking the player to clubs such as Olympique Lyonnais, Valencia CF, and Liverpool over the summer of 2006, following Juve's relegation, Camoranesi made an announcement himself in September, pledging loyalty to Juventus: "In January, I will not ask to be sold; I'm happy to stay here."[4], he stated. Camoranesi contributed to a number of notable goals when Juventus played in Serie B after the relegation. Against Lecce in April 2007, he performed an impressive piece of skill similar to a Cruijff Turn, turning the ball through a defender's legs on the wing, before retrieving it to help set up Juve's first goal of the match. Later in the match, he scored his side's third; Camoranesi took the ball past three Lecce defenders, before hitting the ball from the edge of the box, with his left foot into the top corner.[5] Just days before he had scored a header in the 2-0 victory against close title contenders Napoli. His original shirt number was 16, but was changed to 8 for the 2007-08 season. He changed back to number 16 from 8 after just one season. Despite suffering several injuries during the 2007-08 season, he was a very important and influential player in Juventus' return season. Camoranesi had an impressive pre-season before the up and coming 2008-09 Serie A season. After struggling in the first few games in the start of Serie A season 2009-10, Camoranesi came back strongly & proved to be one of Juventus' most important players. He managed to get his name on ths scoresheet too, scoring the solitary goal against Maccabi Haifa in Champions' League, as well as a brace in a 5-2 win over Atalanta. International career Camoranesi is an Italian Argentine[6]; his dual citizenship made him eligible to play for either Argentina or Italy, but the Azzurri showed interest in him first and, on 12 February 2003, he made his international debut in a friendly match against Portugal, which Italy won 1-0, under former coach Giovanni Trapattoni. Camoranesi played for Italy at UEFA Euro 2004 and was also part of Marcello Lippi's Italy team which won the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He has been capped 51 times by Italy and has scored five goals, the first of which came in Italy's 2006 World Cup qualifier away to Belarus on 7 September 2005, which the Italians won 4-1. He also chooses not to sing Italy's national anthem before their matches because he doesn't know the words[citation needed], although he can be seen singing (at least a part of) the anthem during the World Cup celebrations in Circus Maximus on 10 July 2006. Camoranesi was not the first Juventus player born in Argentina to play for Italy; Omar Sivori before him did also. At the end of the final match in Germany's World Cup, in which Italy defeated France on penalties, Camoranesi had teammate Massimo Oddo chop off a large chunk of his long hair as the rest of the squad danced around them in a circle. Camoranesi then went up to the camera and dedicated the triumph by saying in Spanish: "Para los pibes del barrio..." (For the guys from the neighbourhood...).[citation needed] Mauro commented in an interview in regards to the World Cup victory: "I feel Argentine but I have defended the colors of Italy with dignity. That is something nobody can take away."[7][dead link] He was successively called up to Italy's squad for UEFA Euro 2008, which ended in the quarter finals with a penalty shootout loss to eventual tournament winners Spain. Camoranesi scored a headed goal during World Cup 2010 qualifying on 10 October against Ireland.