He began his club career with Italian clubBolognain 2000, and remained with the club until 2004, aside from a loan spell withSpezia.He subsequently moved toPalermo,where he came to prominence during his four seasons at the club. In 2008, he moved to German clubVfL Wolfsburgfor a season, where he won the2008–09 Bundesligatitle. He returned to Italy the following season, joiningParma,and in 2013 he moved toAC Milan,before joiningCarpiin 2015; he spent the 2016–17 season on loan withVicenzainSerie B.In October 2017, he joinedMaltese Premier LeaguesideĦamrun Spartans.In January 2019, he signed with San Marinese clubTre Fiori,where he won theCoppa Titano,before announcing his retirement in July.
At international level, he represented theItaly national football teamon 17 occasions between 2004 and 2007, scoring one goal; he was a member of the Italian side that won the2006 FIFA World Cup.
A product of theBolognayouth system, Zaccardo was promoted to the first team in 2000, but was sent on loan toSpeziafor the 2000–01 season. He made his debut inSerie Aand for the Bologna first team on 18 October 2001, in a 1–0 away defeat againstLecce,under the direction of coachFrancesco Guidolin;he subsequently immediately became a regular for therossobluandItaly's under-21 national team.He left Bologna in 2004 to join his former coach Guidolin inPalermo.He was a regular starter for Palermo, and made his breakthrough with the club, appearing in 142 league matches and scoring eight goals.
After a season spent in Germany atVfL Wolfsburg,[4]in which he helped the club to its first everBundesligatitle, he rejoined Guidolin atParmain August 2009.[5]In his three-and-a-half seasons with the side, Zaccardo appeared in 118 league matches and scored ten goals.
On 24 January 2013, Zaccardo was signed byAC Milan,[6]part of a cashless swap in whichDjamel Mesbahmoved to Parma.[7]Towards the end of the 2014 summer transfer window, Milan had a deal in place with Parma in which him andJonathan Biabianywould swap clubs, but the former refused the move. On 1 February 2015, Zaccardo scored his first goal for Milan in a 3–1 home win against Parma.
On the expiration of his Milan contract in the summer of 2015, Zaccardo moved to recently promoted Serie A sideCarpion a free transfer. He signed a two-year contract.[8]He made 27 appearances for the club during the 2015–16 Serie A season, scoring one goal,[9]although Carpi were ultimately relegated to Serie B at the end of the season.[10]
On 31 August 2016, Zaccardo was signed by fellowSerie BclubVicenza Calcioon loan with an obligation to buy.[11][12]According toLa Gazzetta dello Sport,he signed a two-year contract.[13]He wore thenumber 9 shirtfor the team.[14][15]On 13 July 2017, he announced that he had cancelled his contract with the club, becoming a free agent.[16][17]
In October, he was signed byMaltese Premier LeaguesideĦamrun Spartans.[18][19]On 20 May 2018, he announced that he would be leaving the club,[20]and later became a free agent.[21]In December, he obtained his Sporting Director diploma through theCovercianoTechnical Centre.[22]
In January 2019, he stated in an interview that he had been linked with several clubs, including his former team Bologna and Canadian sideToronto FC,and that if he did not receive an offer from a team by May, that he would retire from professional football.[23]On 31 January 2019, Zaccardo announced onfacebookthat he had signed with San Marinese clubTre Fiori,but that he would be joining the team in March.[24]He won theCoppa Titanowith the club. On 9 July 2019, exactly 13 years after he won the World Cup with Italy, he announced his retirement from professional football onInstagram.[25]
Zaccardo made his senior international debut forItalyunderMarcello Lippion 17 November 2004 in Italy's 1–0 home friendly victory overFinland.[30]He began to be deployed with more frequency, and on 8 October 2005, he scored his first and only international goal in a 1–0 home win overSloveniainPalermoin a2006 FIFA World Cup qualifying match;the victory allowed Italy to qualify for the upcoming2006 FIFA World Cupin Germany.[31]Zaccardo was included in Italy's 23-man roster for the tournament,[32]and made three appearances in the final competition. He started the first two matches of the group stage,[33]helping Italy keep a clean sheet in their opening 2–0 win overGhanaon 12 June,[34]but he scored anown goaloff an attempted clearance following a free-kick in theazzurri'ssecond match on 17 June, which ended in a 1–1 draw against theUnited States;this was one of only two goals Italy conceded throughout the tournament.[35]He made one more appearance, his third during the tournament, coming on as a substitute in Italy's 3–0 win overUkrainein the quarter-finals on 30 June,[36]as Italy went on to win the 2006 World Cup.[29]Due to his mistake during the World Cup, he was often overlooked by the national team since the tournament's conclusion, and only made two more appearances underRoberto Donadoni.He made his final appearance for Italy in a 2–0 friendly win overSouth Africaon 17 October 2007.[37]In total, Zaccardo made 17 appearances for Italy between 2004 and 2007, scoring one goal.[33]
A quick, tactically versatile, and hard-working right-footed footballer, in his prime, Zaccardo was known in particular for his stamina, professionalism, and positional sense as a footballer, as well as his intelligence, versatility, and his strong mental and physical characteristics, which enabled him to play in several positions indefenceandmidfieldalong the right flank throughout his career, despite not being the most accuratecrosserof the ball. Although he was primarily a right-sidedfull-back,he was also capable of playing as awing-back,or in midfield, as awinger,or even as acentralordefensive midfielder,a role in which he was also capable of starting attacking plays after winning back possession; during his time at Parma, his manager, Francesco Guidolin, described him as a "centromediano metodista" (a term which was initially used to describe the position of acentre-half-back in theMetodoor 2–3–2–3 formation, but which later became used in Italian football jargon to describe a holding midfielder with both creative and defensive responsibilities), due to his unique playing style in this position, which essentially also saw him act both as a ball-winner and as adeep-lying playmakerin midfield. As he has lost his pace with age in his later career, he has usually been deployed as acentre-back,in both a three or four-man defence, due to his anticipation and ability in the air.[23][30][38][39][40][41]
^"Zaccardo al Parma"(in Italian).Parma F.C.29 August 2009. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015.Retrieved30 August2009.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
Slovenia
