Federico Balzaretti born 6 December 1981 in Turin, Piedmont is an Italian footballer who currently plays as a left back for Serie A club Palermo.
Known as 'Balzac' by most fans, he grew up since the age of 6 in the Torino youth system, debuting for the granata in season 2002–03. After a couple of seasons on loan to Varese and Siena, 'Balzac' was heavily involved in the 2004–05 Serie B campaign of Torino, which brought the team to a Serie A promotion.
However, as Torino disbanded right after that promotion, 'Balzac' was released in a free transfer, and was signed by city arch-rivals Juventus. In 2005–06 he was part of the first team for the bianconeri, often playing as regular under orders of coach Fabio Capello, and finally winning the Serie A league.
'Balzac's' first ever senior goal game on 17 February 2007, in Serie B, as Juventus beat Crotone 5–0. He was sold to Fiorentina on July 2007, but failed to impress with the viola as he made only six appearances in the first half of the Serie A 2007-08, and was subsequently signed by Palermo in a permanent move during the January transfer market. At Palermo, he took the #42 jersey as a homage to his father, who was born in 1942; in his tenure with the Sicilian side, he immediately established himself as a mainstay, playing regularly for the rosanero also in the following seasons and establishing as one of the most praised Italian left backs.
After playing with a number of youth selections between 2000 and 2002, Balzaretti received his first senior call-up in November 2010 from Italy national football team coach Cesare Prandelli (and a former boss of him while at Fiorentina) and made his debut in a friendly match against Romania.
Date of birth: December 6, 1981
Place of birth: Turin, Italy
Height: 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position: Left back'
Club information
Current club: Palermo
Number: 42
Youth career
Torino
Senior career
1999–2001 Varese 44 (0)
2001–2002 Siena 16 (0)
2002–2005 Torino 94 (0)
2005–2007 Juventus 57 (2)
2007–2008 Fiorentina 6 (0)
2008– Palermo 111 (2)
National team
2000–2002 Italy U-20 23 (1)
2002 Italy U-21 4 (0)
2010– Italy 1 (0)
