Fabricio Coloccini (born 22 January 1982) is an Argentine football defender who plays for Newcastle United and the Argentine national team. At the age of 28, Coloccini has already represented numerous football clubs, however it was his successful spell at Deportivo La Coruña where he earned his reputation as a top-level defender. After beginning his career at Boca Juniors in his native Argentina, Coloccini attracted the attention of AC Milan. He failed to establish himself there however and subsequently went on loan to four different clubs.

Coloccini is known for his "classy" approach to defending.

Coloccini also holds an Italian passport due to his Italian ancestry.[1]

Club career

Boca Juniors

Born in Córdoba, Córdoba Province, Coloccini started his career in the youth team of Argentinos Juniors, but made his professional debut in 1998 with Boca Juniors.

AC Milan

In 1999, at the end of the Apertura championship, he moved to AC Milan. Coloccini was at the centre of a controversy between Boca and Milan, because the transfer from Argentina to Italy wasn't agreed between the clubs. Instead, Milan arranged terms with Coloccini's father (also a former football player), who exercised his parental rights to remove the minor from Argentina. After that, FIFA ordered Milan to pay Boca compensation.

Loan moves

In 2002, Coloccini was loaned to San Lorenzo de Almagro where he helped the team to win the 2001 Clausura tournament. From 2001-04, Coloccini served three consecutive loans in La Liga: Deportivo Alavés (netting an impressive 6 league goals), Atlético Madrid, and Villarreal, where he was always first-choice.

Deportivo La Coruña

After having only appeared once for Milan officially, Coloccini joined Deportivo La Coruña in January 2005, on a six-year deal.[2] During his three-and-a-half seasons stint, he was an undisputed starter, and appeared in all the matches during 2007-08 netting four goals, good enough for a UEFA Intertoto Cup berth for the club.

Newcastle United

Coloccini joined Newcastle United on a five-year contract in August 2008 for a fee of up to £10.3 million.[3] Two days later, he made his debut against the reigning league champions, Manchester United, playing 90 minutes in a 1-1 away draw.

Since his debut, Coloccini has been one of the most consistent inclusions in Newcastle's squad, and formed a partnership with fellow newcomer Sébastien Bassong in his first season. Despite this, he hasn't been immune to the pressures of representing Newcastle's infamous defence, coming under his most intense criticism for his performance in Newcastle's 28 December defeat to league leaders Liverpool, which the North East club lost 5-1. Despite his mistakes in the game, manager Joe Kinnear voiced his support for Coloccini, stating that he believed his "Mr. Reliable" would bounce back.[4] On 1 February, Coloccini was substituted against Sunderland in the 93rd minute. Up until this point, Coloccini had appeared in every minute of every game for Newcastle in the 2008-09 season. He was dropped for the 1-1 draw with Stoke City but played in United's 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa which saw United relegated. Despite Newcastle's relegation Coloccini stayed on. He has since been the mainstay of Newcastle's defence all season, partnering the likes of Steven Taylor, Mike Williamson, Fitz Hall and Tamás Kádár in the sturdiest rearguard of the league. He scored two goals for Newcastle since relegation, a header at Cardiff City[5], and another header at Watford. The club was eventually promoted back to the Premier League as champions, and Coloccini's great contributions awarded him a place in the Championship's Team of the Year.

International career

Coloccini was part of the Argentina Under-20 that won the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship, as well as the gold medal winning Argentine team at the 2004 Summer Olympics.

With the main squad, he made his debut in 2003 and first participated in the 2005 Confederations Cup, scoring one goal in the game against Cameroon. In the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Coloccini played in two games, as a substitute against the Netherlands, and starting against Germany in the quarter-finals penalty shootout loss. Coloccini was an unused substitute in Argentina's World Cup qualifier against Brazil on 6 September 2009.

Honours

Club

Boca Juniors

Argentine League: Apertura 1998

Argentine League: Clausura 1999

San Lorenzo

Argentine League: Clausura 2001

Newcastle United

Football League Championship (1): 2009–2010

International

Argentina

FIFA World Youth Championship: 2001

Summer Olympics: 2004 Gold medal

Individual

PFA Championship Team of the Year (1): 2009-10