Voted Fiorentina's player of the season in 2007/08, Alessandro Gamberini is a dependable defender capable of operating as a full-back but more often found in his favoured position of centre-half.
Born in Bologna, he graduated from his hometown club's youth academy and made his Serie A debut for them against Lazio in January 2000. A season on loan at Verona gave him more of a chance to impress. On his return to Bologna, he became an integral part of Carlo Mazzone's team for the following two seasons, during which time he also helped his country to victory at the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
In 2005 he made the move to Fiorentina, taking a season to settle in before forming one of the tightest central defensive partnerships in the land with Viola captain Dario Dainelli.
Not known for his ventures forward, Gamberini nevertheless scored a notable brace in a 5-1 defeat of Torino in March 2007, his first league goals in 134 games in the top flight.
Although called up by Marcello Lippi for a pre-Germany 2006 training get-together, he missed out on a place at the finals, and would have to wait until October 2007 before winning his first cap. He replaced the injured Fabio Cannavaro in Italy's squad for UEFA EURO 2008 and has made two further appearances for the Azzurri since Marcello Lippi's reappointment.
