Cristian Bucchi
Encyclopedia
Cristian Bucchi is a retired Italian
football striker. He was best known for his goal-scoring ability in Serie B during the peak of his career.
outfit Sambenedettese
in 1995 as an 18 year old. He made 28 appearances in his first proper season, although he scored no goals.
The Serie C2 outfit released him at the end of the season, and he took the decision to drop down a few divisions to the amateur regional leagues. From 1996–1998, he enjoyed a fine couple of years where he bagged a brilliant 52 goals in 58 games for Settempeda. The 21 year old's promising talent did not go unnoticed and it showed as Serie A
outfit Perugia
took a very big gamble in some respects for a non-league striker. Soon after that, in a massive change of fortunes for the young forward, he was called up to the Italy U-21's
.
& Fabrizio Miccoli
ahead of him in pecking order, lead to a very disappointing second season for Bucchi, after scoring just once in 7 matches for Perugia.
He played the 1999–0 season on loan to Vicenza, and scored 11 league goals, which helped his team lift the Serie B title, although they made a quick return to Serie B after failure to avoid relegation the following season.
In 2001–02, Bucchi scored 9 goals for newly-promoted Serie B side Ternana, as the newboys stayed up in their first Serie B season of the 21st century.
, Luis Oliveira
& Nassim Mendil
all above him in pecking order. He would go on to find the net just twice in thirteen appearances for the Sicilian side. He was allowed to leave in the winter and made the move to Cagliari in the winter of 2002–03. Once again, he would have to wait for his chance, although with the likes of Fabrizio Cammarata, David Suazo
and Luigi Beghetto
already the first choice strikers, Bucchi would only feature 10 times in his whole Sardinian career, scoring just once.
Bucchi joined Serie A basement boys Ancona in second-half of the 2003–04 season, after a very disappointing half-season in Sardinia, in a part exchange deal which would see Roberto Maltagliati
go the opposite way. He scored 5 goals in 12 matches, a very impressive statistic for some-one in his shoes. However once again and not for the first time in his career, his team suffered relegation, as this time round, Ancona set an all-time low in Serie A, amassing just 13 points all season long.
Bucchi signed by Ascoli
in a co-ownership deal with Chievo
in August 2004, although Ascoli would be the club he would play for.
In 2004–05, Bucchi scored 17 goals for Ascoli
(incredibly, he scored a 1/3 of the teams Serie B goal total that season, of 51 goals) and just missed one match. He became the club's top goalscorer; just 3 goals short of Serie B topscorer Gionatha Spinesi
. His contribution was a key factor in Ascoli's impressive 4th placed finish and a place in the seasons play-offs.
Despite Ascoli's play-off defeat to Torino
(A 3–1 loss on aggregate), Ascoli, in bizarre circumstances (only 1 of the 3 original promoted teams went up – Genoa demoted to Serie C1, with their involvement in the Serie B match-fixing scandal that season & Torino had to play Serie B football for the following season, due to financial difficulties), gained promotion to Serie A
fot the first time in more than a decade.
Modena
In the summer of 2005, Ascoli sold their 50% share of Bucchi to Modena
.
In 2005–06, Bucchi scored an incredible 29 goals for Modena
and in fact, 1 goal shy of contributing exactly half of the teams league goal total (59 goals). Consequently, he became Serie B topscorer that season, just one goal away from levelling Serie B's all-time topscorer, former Italian international
striker Luca Toni
, bagging 30 goals in 2003–04 for then-champions, Palermo
. Bucchi's contribution would vastly help lead Modena to a play-off place, and scored one goal in the away leg against Mantova
. Modena in the end lost out to Mantova, although the result on aggregate was 1–1. This meant that both sides' final league position's would come into the equation (Mantova finished higher than Modena in final league table, meaning Mantova would progress to the final).
for €4 million. The complicated deal also included Modena sold Tommaso Chiecchi
back to Chievo and signed Bucchi outright.
In Naples
, he scored 8 goals in 29 games and the club finished as runner-up to win promotion to Serie A. His striking partner Emanuele Calaiò
, scored 18.
Siena
A surplus of Napoli in the new season, as Napoli signed Ezequiel Lavezzi
and Marcelo Zalayeta
, he was moved to Siena on loan in summer 2007.
Bucchi missed Serie A for 3 seasons since played for Ancona in second half of 2003–04 season, but he failed to score any from his 10 appearances for Siena.
Bologna
In January 2008, he was loaned to Bologna
as one of their striker Danilevičius
asked to leave for more regular start. He scored five goals during his five-month stay at Bologna, participating in the rossoblus successful quest for promotion to the Italian top flight.
Ascoli
On July 2008 he agreed to return to Ascoli
in another loan deal.
Cesena
On 10 July 2009 he was loaned to Cesena
. He returned to Napoli at the start of 2010-11 season, and played a few games.
On 4 January 2011, he was transferred to Serie B club Pescara as his contract with Napoli would run out on 30 June 2011.
. During his time in the team (1998–1999), he collected 3 U-21 caps, scoring 1 goal.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
football striker. He was best known for his goal-scoring ability in Serie B during the peak of his career.
Early career
Bucchi started his career with the Serie C2Serie C2
Lega Pro Seconda Divisione is the name of the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consists of 54 teams, but in the season 2010–11 the teams are only 49 divided geographically into three divisions of 17, 16 and 16 teams each...
outfit Sambenedettese
S.S. Sambenedettese Calcio
Unione Sportiva Sambenedettese is an Italian association football club, based in San Benedetto del Tronto, Marche. The club was founded in 1923. Sambenedettese currently plays in Serie D, having last been in Serie B in 1989. The team's colors are red and blue....
in 1995 as an 18 year old. He made 28 appearances in his first proper season, although he scored no goals.
The Serie C2 outfit released him at the end of the season, and he took the decision to drop down a few divisions to the amateur regional leagues. From 1996–1998, he enjoyed a fine couple of years where he bagged a brilliant 52 goals in 58 games for Settempeda. The 21 year old's promising talent did not go unnoticed and it showed as Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
outfit Perugia
Perugia
Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....
took a very big gamble in some respects for a non-league striker. Soon after that, in a massive change of fortunes for the young forward, he was called up to the Italy U-21's
Italy national under-21 football team
The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years...
.
Perugia
After his big move to Serie A, he started straight away in his first season for the club as Perugia claimed a mid-table place in the 1998–99 season. He contributed with 5 league goals and it was a surprise he adapted so quickly, considering he was playing amateur football little over a year before. His second season did not go so well after quite an impressive first season. He returned in 2000 after a successful loan spell with promoted Serie B side Vicenza, and was ready to start afresh. Coming back to the club and seeing the likes of Ahn Jung-HwanAhn Jung-Hwan
Ahn Jung-Hwan is a South Korean football player. He made world headlines by scoring the winning golden goal for South Korea against Italy in the 2002 World Cup second round, sending South Korea into the quarterfinals.-Football career:After starting his professional career with K-League's Busan...
& Fabrizio Miccoli
Fabrizio Miccoli
Fabrizio Miccoli is an Italian football striker who currently is playing for Serie A team Palermo.-Early years:After playing at youth level with Milan, he returned to his native Apulia in 1995 to join Serie C1 team Casarano, where he made his professional debut at the age of 17...
ahead of him in pecking order, lead to a very disappointing second season for Bucchi, after scoring just once in 7 matches for Perugia.
He played the 1999–0 season on loan to Vicenza, and scored 11 league goals, which helped his team lift the Serie B title, although they made a quick return to Serie B after failure to avoid relegation the following season.
In 2001–02, Bucchi scored 9 goals for newly-promoted Serie B side Ternana, as the newboys stayed up in their first Serie B season of the 21st century.
Catania, Cagliari and Ancona
In the summer of 2002, he was signed by ambitious newly-promoted Serie B Sicilan outfit, Catania. However, things did not work out very well for Bucchi, after finding first-team opportunities hard to come by, with the likes of Czech forward Jaroslav SedivecJaroslav Šedivec
Jaroslav Šedivec is a Czech footballer. He plays for Salernitana.He was the member of Czech Republic U20 team at 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship.-External links:...
, Luis Oliveira
Luis Oliveira
Luis Airton Barroso Oliveira is a former Brazilian-Belgian football player and currently coach of the Nuorese.He spent most of his playing career in Italy.-Career:...
& Nassim Mendil
Nassim Mendil
Nassim Mendil is a French-Algerian football player who is currently playing as a forward for Villacidrese in the Italian Lega Pro Seconda Divisione.-Life:...
all above him in pecking order. He would go on to find the net just twice in thirteen appearances for the Sicilian side. He was allowed to leave in the winter and made the move to Cagliari in the winter of 2002–03. Once again, he would have to wait for his chance, although with the likes of Fabrizio Cammarata, David Suazo
David Suazo
Óscar David Suazo Velázquez is a Honduran football striker who currently plays for Calcio Catania in the Italian Serie A. He is also a member of the Honduran national team.-Early career:...
and Luigi Beghetto
Luigi Beghetto
Luigi Beghetto is an Italian footballer.- Career :Beghetto started his career with hometown club Bassano, then in Serie D. He was then signed by Vicenza in July 1994, but was sold to Serie C1's Carpi on October without making a single appearance for his previous club...
already the first choice strikers, Bucchi would only feature 10 times in his whole Sardinian career, scoring just once.
Bucchi joined Serie A basement boys Ancona in second-half of the 2003–04 season, after a very disappointing half-season in Sardinia, in a part exchange deal which would see Roberto Maltagliati
Roberto Maltagliati
Roberto Maltagliati is an Italian football player, currently playing with Canavese.During his career of more than eighteen years, including seven in Serie A, he has played for Parma, Torino , Piacenza, Ancona and Cagliari...
go the opposite way. He scored 5 goals in 12 matches, a very impressive statistic for some-one in his shoes. However once again and not for the first time in his career, his team suffered relegation, as this time round, Ancona set an all-time low in Serie A, amassing just 13 points all season long.
Bucchi signed by Ascoli
Ascoli Calcio 1898
Ascoli Calcio 1898 is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having returned to it after two seasons spent in Serie A...
in a co-ownership deal with Chievo
A.C. ChievoVerona
Associazione Calcio Chievo Verona is a professional Italian football club named after and based in Chievo, a suburb of 2,800 inhabitants in Verona, Veneto, and owned by Paluani, a cake company and the inspiration for their original name, Paluani Chievo...
in August 2004, although Ascoli would be the club he would play for.
King of Serie B
AscoliIn 2004–05, Bucchi scored 17 goals for Ascoli
Ascoli Calcio 1898
Ascoli Calcio 1898 is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having returned to it after two seasons spent in Serie A...
(incredibly, he scored a 1/3 of the teams Serie B goal total that season, of 51 goals) and just missed one match. He became the club's top goalscorer; just 3 goals short of Serie B topscorer Gionatha Spinesi
Gionatha Spinesi
Gionatha Spinesi is an Italian former footballer.-Career:Spinesi started playing for Pisa Calcio. In November 1995 he signed for Inter Milan, however, he was not able to make appearance in the first team. Sold in January 1997 to Castel di Sangro, he played two unimpressive Serie B seasons for the...
. His contribution was a key factor in Ascoli's impressive 4th placed finish and a place in the seasons play-offs.
Despite Ascoli's play-off defeat to Torino
Torino F.C.
Torino Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Torino, is a professional Italian football club based in Turin, Piedmont, that was founded in 1906. The club has spent most of its history in the top tier in Italian football....
(A 3–1 loss on aggregate), Ascoli, in bizarre circumstances (only 1 of the 3 original promoted teams went up – Genoa demoted to Serie C1, with their involvement in the Serie B match-fixing scandal that season & Torino had to play Serie B football for the following season, due to financial difficulties), gained promotion to Serie A
Serie A
Serie A , now called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since 1929. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new...
fot the first time in more than a decade.
Modena
In the summer of 2005, Ascoli sold their 50% share of Bucchi to Modena
Modena F.C.
Modena Football Club is an Italian football club based in Modena, Emilia-Romagna. The club was formed in 1912 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, after being relegated from a two year period in Serie A in the year 2004. The team's previous stay in Italy's top division ended in 1964. The team...
.
In 2005–06, Bucchi scored an incredible 29 goals for Modena
Modena F.C.
Modena Football Club is an Italian football club based in Modena, Emilia-Romagna. The club was formed in 1912 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, after being relegated from a two year period in Serie A in the year 2004. The team's previous stay in Italy's top division ended in 1964. The team...
and in fact, 1 goal shy of contributing exactly half of the teams league goal total (59 goals). Consequently, he became Serie B topscorer that season, just one goal away from levelling Serie B's all-time topscorer, former Italian international
Italy national football team
The Italy National Football Team , represents Italy in association football and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation , the governing body for football in Italy. Italy is the second most successful national team in the history of the World Cup having won four titles , just one fewer than...
striker Luca Toni
Luca Toni
Luca Toni, Ufficiale OMRI is an Italian World Cup-winning footballer who currently plays for Serie A club Juventus. He has had successful spells at top clubs such as Palermo, Fiorentina, Bayern Munich, and Roma...
, bagging 30 goals in 2003–04 for then-champions, Palermo
U.S. Città di Palermo
Unione Sportiva Città di Palermo is an Italian football club from Palermo, Sicily which currently plays in Serie A, the top level of Italian football. Formed in 1900 as Anglo Panormitan Athletic and Football Club, the club had various names before assuming its final form in 1987 and is currently...
. Bucchi's contribution would vastly help lead Modena to a play-off place, and scored one goal in the away leg against Mantova
A.C. Mantova
Mantova Football Club is an Italian football club, based in Mantua, Lombardy. Mantova had played consecutively in the Italian Serie B from the 2005–06 season to 2009–10 as Associazione Calcio Mantova, when they were relegated after ending the season in 20th place.During the summer 2010, the club...
. Modena in the end lost out to Mantova, although the result on aggregate was 1–1. This meant that both sides' final league position's would come into the equation (Mantova finished higher than Modena in final league table, meaning Mantova would progress to the final).
Napoli and loans
During the 2006 January transfer window, rumours had linked him to S.L. Benfica. After a year with Modena, he was sold to newly-promoted, and ambitious NapoliS.S.C. Napoli
Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli, commonly referred to as Napoli, is a professional Italian football club based in Naples and founded in 1926. The club has spent most of its history in Serie A, where it currently plays its 2011–12 season....
for €4 million. The complicated deal also included Modena sold Tommaso Chiecchi
Tommaso Chiecchi
Tommaso Chiecchi is an Italian footballer.-Biography:He started his career at native club Chievo, but after playing 22 Serie B games, he was loaned to various Serie C1 clubs for 4½ seasons , and sold to Foggia and Vittoria in co-ownership deal until July 2005 staying in Modena of Serie B...
back to Chievo and signed Bucchi outright.
In Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...
, he scored 8 goals in 29 games and the club finished as runner-up to win promotion to Serie A. His striking partner Emanuele Calaiò
Emanuele Calaiò
Emanuele Calaiò is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A side A.C. Siena.-Football career:Calaiò started his football career at Torino making his league debut against Reggina on 6 January 2000, he scored a goal for Torino three minutes into his debut...
, scored 18.
Siena
A surplus of Napoli in the new season, as Napoli signed Ezequiel Lavezzi
Ezequiel Lavezzi
Ezequiel Iván Lavezzi , nicknamed "El Pocho", is an Argentine football striker of Italian descent, who currently plays for Italian Serie A club Napoli and the Argentine national team.-Atlético Estudiantes:...
and Marcelo Zalayeta
Marcelo Zalayeta
Marcelo Danubio Zalayeta is an Uruguayan football striker, who currently plays for Peñarol.-Club career:...
, he was moved to Siena on loan in summer 2007.
Bucchi missed Serie A for 3 seasons since played for Ancona in second half of 2003–04 season, but he failed to score any from his 10 appearances for Siena.
Bologna
In January 2008, he was loaned to Bologna
Bologna F.C. 1909
Bologna Football Club 1909, known simply as Bologna, is an Italian Football League club based in Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, formed in 1993. The club are nicknamed the rossoblù because of the red and blue striped shirts they wear. Red and Blue are the official colours of the town.During its history...
as one of their striker Danilevičius
Tomas Danilevicius
Tomas Danilevičius is a Lithuanian professional footballer currently playing for Juve Stabia. A striker, he stands 1.91m tall and weighs 82 kg.-Club career:...
asked to leave for more regular start. He scored five goals during his five-month stay at Bologna, participating in the rossoblus successful quest for promotion to the Italian top flight.
Ascoli
On July 2008 he agreed to return to Ascoli
Ascoli Calcio 1898
Ascoli Calcio 1898 is an Italian football club based in Ascoli Piceno, Marche. The club was formed in 1898 and currently plays in Italian Serie B, having returned to it after two seasons spent in Serie A...
in another loan deal.
Cesena
On 10 July 2009 he was loaned to Cesena
A.C. Cesena
Associazione Calcio Cesena is an Italian football club based in Cesena, Romagna. The club was formed in 1940 and won the first promotion to Serie A in 1973. Since then, the club have been in the Italian Premier League for a total of in 11 seasons, reaching the best achievement in 1976 with the 6th...
. He returned to Napoli at the start of 2010-11 season, and played a few games.
On 4 January 2011, he was transferred to Serie B club Pescara as his contract with Napoli would run out on 30 June 2011.
International career
For Italy, he has only represented his country at Under-21 levelItaly national under-21 football team
The Italy national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Italy and is controlled by the Italian Football Federation.The team competes in the UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, held every two years...
. During his time in the team (1998–1999), he collected 3 U-21 caps, scoring 1 goal.