Serie A (Italian pronunciation: [ˈsɛːrje ˈa]), also called Serie A TIM due to sponsorship by Telecom Italia, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and has been operating for over eighty years since the 1929-30 season. It had been organized by Lega Calcio until 2010, but a new league, the Lega Serie A, had been created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A has produced the highest number of European Cup finalists: Italian clubs have reached the final of the competition on a record twenty-six different occasions, winning the title twelve times. Serie A is ranked 4th among European leagues according to UEFA's league coefficient behind the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, and German Bundesliga, which is based on the performance of Italian clubs in the Champions League and the Europa League. It also ranked 5th in world according to the first trends of the 2011 IFFHS rating.
In its current format, the Italian Football Championship was revised from having regional and interregional rounds, to just one solid league from the 1929–30 season onwards; the Serie A system carries on today. The championship titles won before 1929 are officially recognised by FIGC as a championship in the same way the ones since then are. The 1945–46 season, when the league was played over two geographical groups due to WWII destructions, is not statistically considered, even if its title is fully official.
Mateo Kovačić (born 6 May 1994) is a Croatian professional footballer who currently plays for Prva HNL team Dinamo Zagreb. He also playing in the Croatia national under-19 football team and Croatia national under-21 football team in the Attacking Midfielder role.
Born in Linz in Austria to Bosnian Croat parents who had moved there in 1991 from Kotor Varoš in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kovačić began playing at an early age at the local LASK Linz's academy. In 2007, when Kovačić was 13, the talented midfielder was spotted by scouts from several prominent European clubs including VfB Stuttgart, Ajax, Juventus and Bayern Munich, but his family opted to move to Zagreb instead where he joined Croatian giants' Dinamo Zagreb academy.
Kovačić suffered a serious injury in 2009 in which his leg was broken, but he returned to the pitch after a lengthy recovery on 31 May 2010, appearing in the last match of the Croatian U17 academy league, a 5–0 win against RNK Split U17s.
The young midfielder started training with the club's senior squad under manager Vahid Halilhodžić four months later on 6 October 2010, but continued to appear for the club in academy league matches during October. Later that month it was reported by the local sports daily Sportske novosti that Arsenal's chief scout Steve Rowley had arrived in Zagreb to watch him perform in U17 matches against Cibalia and NK Zagreb.
Mattia Destro (born 20 March 1991) is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Siena, on loan from Genoa.
Son of former footballer Flavio Destro, Mattia Destro started his career with Ascoli, from his born place and one of the former clubs of his father. He was the member of Giovanissimi Nazionali in 2004–05 season, while his father Flavio was the coach of Allievi Nazionali team at that time. In mid-2005, he joined Internazionale's youth system.
Destro was the team top-scorer of Giovanissimi Nazionali team in 2005–06 season, the second team top-scorer of Allievi Nazionali in 2006–07 season (behind Mario Balotelli) and the second team top-scorer of Primavera team in 2008–09 season (behind Aiman Napoli). Destro won the league title with Allievi Nazionali team in 2008, and he also played for Primavera – the senior youth team that season, scored 4 goal in the league group stage; 1 in Primavera league playoff, winning 2008 Torneo di Viareggio and losing to Sampdoria in the final of the Primavera League.
Fernando José Torres Sanz (Spanish pronunciation: [ferˈnando ˈtores]; born 20 March 1984), nicknamed El Niño (The Kid in Spanish), is a Spanish footballer who plays for Chelsea and the Spain national team as a striker.
Torres started his career with Atlético Madrid, progressing through their youth system to the first team squad. He made his first team debut in 2001 and finished his time at the club having scored 75 goals in 174 La Liga appearances. Prior to his La Liga debut, Torres played two seasons in the Segunda División for Atlético Madrid, making 40 appearances and scoring seven goals. He joined Premier League club Liverpool in 2007 after signing for a club record transfer fee. He marked his first season at Anfield by being Liverpool's first player since Robbie Fowler in the 1995–96 season to score more than 20 league goals in a season. Torres became the fastest player in Liverpool history to score 50 league goals after scoring against Aston Villa in December 2009. He left the club in January 2011 to join Chelsea for a record British transfer fee of £50 million, which also made him the most expensive Spanish player in history.