Domenico Criscito

Domenico Criscito (born 30 December 1986 in Cercola, Naples) is an Italian football central defender.

Criscito started his professional career at Genoa C.F.C., for which made his debut in Serie B in June 2003 at the age of 16. In the summer of 2004 Genoa sold 50% of the rights to Juventus for €150.000. He played for the youth team of Juventus in the following two seasons, winning the Italian youth championship in 2006 and scoring the opening goal in the final match against Fiorentina. In 2006-2007 he went to play for Genoa, this time in the first team, proving himself as one of the best Serie B defenders and earning a place in Italy's Under-21 national team.

In January 2007, Juventus bought the remaining 50% of Criscito for a combined price of €7.5 million. This was paid by the co-ownership of Andrea Masiello and Abdoulay Konko to Genoa C.F.C., and €5.25 million. He also signed a new contract with Juventus which will last until June 30, 2011.

Criscito made his Serie A debut with Juventus on August 25, in Juve's comeback game in Serie A versus Livorno, a crushing 5-1 victory.

On January 4, 2008, Criscito was loaned back to Genoa C.F.C. due to a lack of playing time with the Juventus first team.

International career

Criscito made his U-21 debut as a substitute for Andrea Mantovani in a friendly match against the Czech Republic on November 14, 2006. He scored his first U-21 goal against Albania on June 1, 2007.