Francesco Coco

Francesco Coco (born January 8, 1977 in Paternò) is a retired Italian football defender.

Club

Coco spent the majority of his club career with the Milan clubs; first with A.C. Milan between 1993 and 2002 and later with F.C. Internazionale between 2002 and 2007. He also had several loan spells with Vicenza Calcio, Torino F.C. and F.C. Barcelona. He won two Scudetti with Milan.

In 2002, Milan traded Coco to Inter in part exchange for Clarence Seedorf; a deal worth €28 million.Coco's career after joining Inter was blighted by injuries and has since given interviews stating the Nerazzurri made a mistake by letting him undergo back surgery in November 2003, telling him he would be out for no more than a month. In the end he had to recover for 2 years. In 2005/06, he was loaned to Livorno, after rejecting a move to Newcastle United despite playing a friendly against Yeading F.C. where he impressed in a 5-0 home victory. He played one season at Livorno, and after his loan deal he returned to Inter. During the summer of 2006 he tried to find himself a new club, but in the end all negotiations failed and Coco remained at Inter. In January 2007, he joined Manchester City on a trial but after 3 days the club told him he wasn't in their plans. Later the English newspapers alleged that Manchester City was no longer interested in him because he had turned up at a training smoking a cigarette.^[1] After a loan to Torino for the 2006-2007 season, he went back to Inter for the first part of the summer but mutually rescinded his contract with the Milan-based club on September 7, 2007,^[2] later declaring his intention to quit football in order to pursue an acting career^[3] despite the interest of MLS sides New England Revolution and Red Bull New York. He then accepted to appear to L'Isola dei Famosi, Italian celebrity adaptation of TV format Survivor, which he abandoned voluntarily days after the beginning of the show. He was recently linked with a move to Queens Park Rangers or Red Bull Salzburg.^{[citation needed]}

National team

Coco played for the Italy U18 team in the intermediary round of 1995 European Under-18 Football Championship and the Italy U21 team at the 1996 and 1998 UEFA U-21 Championship qualifying phases, playing also in the final round in the successful 2000 campaign. Also, Coco played for the victorious Italy U23 team at the 1997 Mediterranean Games.

Coco's full debut for the Italy was against Romania, on October 7, 2000, a 2002 World Cup qualifying match. He also played for Italy in 2002 FIFA World Cup, being last selected on September 2002. He achieved a total of 17 caps with the azzurri.

Off the field

• Coco is not only a football player but also a businessman. Together with his father Antonio, they own shops and has his own clothing label called "Urban 77". Coco is a celebrity in Italy, and is well known in the party and society scene in Italy. He also wrote the foreword for the recently published book "Mio marito è un calciatore" ("My husband is a footballer").

References

1. ^ "Fuma durante l'allenamento" Il Manchester City liquida Coco - Calcio - Sport - Repubblica.it
2. ^ "Coco contract dissolved". Inter.it. 2007-09-07. http://www.inter.it/aas/news/reader?N=27296&L=en. Retrieved 2007-09-07. ,
3. ^ "Francesco goes to Hollywood". Football Italia. 2007-09-07. http://www.channel4.com/sport/football_italia/sep7o.html. Retrieved 2007-09-08. 

External links

• Francesco Coco
• FootballDatabase provides profile and stats on Francesco Coco
• Francesco Coco's clothing label
• Profile at UEFA.com
• (Italian) National Team stats. at FIGC official site

v • d • e Italy squad – 2002 FIFA World Cup 1 Buffon • 2 Panucci • 3 Maldini • 4 Coco • 5 Cannavaro • 6 Zanetti • 7 Del Piero • 8 Gattuso • 9 Inzaghi • 10 Totti • 11 Doni • 12 Abbiati • 13 Nesta • 14 Di Biagio • 15 Iuliano • 16 Di Livio • 17 Tommasi • 18 Delvecchio • 19 Zambrotta • 20 Montella • 21 Vieri • 22 Toldo • 23 Materazzi • Coach: Trapattoni