Quick Facts
Biography
Carl Valeri (born 14 August 1984) is an Australian professional footballer who is the captain of Melbourne Victory. He plays for Melbourne Victory and the Australia national football team as a defensive midfielder.
Early life
Valeri is the son of former Australian National Soccer League player Walter Valeri. He is married to Whittney Canning from Gisborne, Victoria, and the couple have one daughter. He grew up in Canberra and trained at the Australian Institute of Sport on a football scholarship. He attended St Mary McKillop College in Wanniassa and later Lake Ginninderra College in Belconnen. Valeri grew up supporting A.C. Milan.
Club career
Valeri was signed as a teenager by Italian giants Inter Milan. He was loaned out to various clubs in Italy to gain further experience, including Grosseto, and both football clubs owned 50 percent of his contract from summer 2005 until June 2007 (for €20,000), when Grosseto bought all the rights by blind auction between the two clubs, for €15,000.
In January 2010 Valeri joined Sassuolo in co-ownership for Euro250,000 fee. Representing Australia in the starting 11 for the 2010 World Cup is his greatest achievement to date.
In May 2013, Valeri and his club Sassuolo finished as Serie B champions, thus securing automatic promotion to Serie A for the first time in their history.
In January 2014, struggling for game time he opted to return to Serie B with relegation battling Ternana until 30 June in hopes of saving his World Cup place with the Socceroos
In June 2014, Carl Valeri returned to his home country signing a 3 year deal with Melbourne Victory. In September 2015 he was appointed captain of the team.
International career
Valeri has played for Australia at all international youth levels; Under-17, Under-20 and Under-23.
He captained the Australian Under-17 team, the 'Joeys', at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship and competed with the Under-23 squad, the 'Olyroos', at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
After being an unused substitute in an 2007 Asian Cup qualifier against Bahrain in 2006, the 22-year-old received his second call up to the senior Australian national team in March 2007, as a replacement for the injured defensive midfielder Vince Grella.
He made his international debut on 24 March 2007 in a friendly game against China, which Australia won 2–0. This made him the 501st player to be capped for Australia. He made his home debut in a friendly against Uruguay.
Former Socceroos coach Graham Arnold has described Valeri as a key player of the future, and possible successor to Grella. This led to certain sections of the Australian media dubbing him "Mini Vinnie."
Honours
With Melbourne Victory:
A-League Championship: 2014–2015- A-League Premiership: 2014–2015
- FFA Cup: 2015
With Grosseto:
- Serie C1: 2006–07
- Supercoppa di Lega di Prima Divisione: 2007
With Sassuolo:
- Serie B: 2012–13
Individual
- Melbourne Victory Goal of the Season: 2014–15
- Melbourne Victory Players' Player of the Season: 2014–15
- Victory Medal: 2016-17
Career statistics
Club
| Season | Club | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| 2004–05 | SPAL | Serie C1 | 25 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 27 | 0 |
| 2005–06 | Grosseto | 27 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 29 | 1 | |
| 2006–07 | 30 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | 33 | 2 | ||
| 2007–08 | Serie B | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 38 | 2 | |
| 2008–09 | 28 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 30 | 1 | ||
| 2009–10 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 10 | 1 | ||
| Grosseto total | 133 | 7 | 11 | 0 | – | – | 144 | 7 | ||
| 2009–10 | Sassuolo | Serie B | 14 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 0 |
| 2010–11 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 23 | 0 | ||
| 2011–12 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 32 | 2 | ||
| 2012–13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 5 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | Serie A | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0 | 0 | |
| Sassuolo total | 70 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 5 | ||
| 2014–15 | Melbourne Victory !Melbourne Victory | A-League | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 2 |
| Melbourne Victory total | 29 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 254 | 10 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 272 | 10 | ||
International caps
| Australia national team | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2007 | 4 | 0 |
| 2008 | 10 | 0 |
| 2009 | 5 | 0 |
| 2010 | 10 | 0 |
| 2011 | 16 | 1 |
| 2012 | 5 | 0 |
| 2014 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 52 | 1 |
International goals
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | 25 January 2011 | Al-Gharafa Stadium, Doha, Qatar |  Uzbekistan | 6–0 | Win | 2011 Asian Cup |