2001
Serie A.. Champions (AS Roma) 2003 Italian Cup Finals (AS Roma)
Biography
Damiano Tommasi (born May 17, 1974 in Negrar, Italy) is an
Italian soccer player who currently plays for A.S. Roma of the
Serie A. Also a noted philanthropist, Tommasi arranges for
footballers' disciplinary fines to go to good causes.
Tommasi started his career playing for Hellas Verona in Serie B
from 1993 to 1996. He made his Serie A debut on September 7,
1996 with Roma, a 3-1 win over Piacenza.
Tommasi played for the Italy that won the 1996 European Under-21
Championship and for the 1996 Olympic Games squad in Atlanta. He
made his first senior squad appearance for the Azzurri on
November 18, 1998 against Spain, but did not become a regular
until 2001. He played in all four of Italy's matches at the 2002
World Cup.
He suffered a horrible knee injury in 2003 in a summer friendly
match against Stoke City, and was out of action for a long time.
In the summer of 2005 he accepted a one-year contract from Roma
with youth player wages. On October 30, 2005, he finally
returned to play, entering on the second half in place of team
mate Olivier Dacourt during a league match against Ascoli, being
even hailed with a long standing ovation by the AS Roma
supporters.
