var playerInfo={"07FC4394D7BF000AA5BFC85E2D0D6D63":"Italy","5B991257A722E1E0F74ECF7A8C1C2945":"","C1F9C3B7B448DF0B30693C46CF342E45":"A player able to match grace with grit when required, Matteo Ferrari is a talented central defender in the mould of the men ahead of him in the Azzurri ranks, Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro Nesta.

National team

Born in Algeria to an Italian father and Guinean mother, Ferrari enjoyed a long and distinguished career in Italy's youth sides which concluded with victory against the Czech Republic in the final of the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. He made his full debut in a 1-1 draw against Turkey in November 2002 and has since been a regular in Italy squads.

UEFA EURO 2004? qualifying

His first competitive appearance for Italy came in the final qualifier against Azerbaijan, when he replaced Alessandro Nesta with 14 minutes left. Ferrari was an unused substitute for the previous game with Serbia and Montenegro.

Club

Ferrari was included in FC Internazionale's first-team squad for the 1995\/96 season, having joined from Spal Calcio. The Nerazzurri had identified him as one for the future and loaned Ferrari to Genoa 1893, US Lecce and AS Bari - where he played 26 matches in Serie A in the 1999\/00 campaign - to further his development.

2000: Ferrari returned to the San Siro to stake a claim for a regular berth, starting half of Inter's games as they finished fifth in Serie A and featuring in the UEFA Cup. Rather than pushing on in 2001\/02, he was loaned to Parma AC where he did enough in 16 outings to earn a permanent move to Emilia Romagna. Ferrari did not disappoint in his first season on Parma's books, missing just two top-flight matches as the Gialloblu took fifth place to qualify for the UEFA Cup.

Did you know?

His brother Luca was also a promising footballer, although he did not make it into the professional ranks.

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