Gabriel Paletta

Gabriel Alejandro Paletta (pronounced [paˈletta]; born 15 February 1986) is an Argentine-born Italian footballer who plays as a defender for Atalanta, on loan from Milan, and the Italy national team.

Paletta is primarily known for his aerial ability and for being an attentive man-marker.

Born in Argentina to parents of Italian descent, Paletta represented his birth nation at the under-20 level, participating in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. He started all seven matches as Argentina won the title. In 2014, Paletta was called up to the Italian national team and made his debut in a friendly against Spain.

Club career

Banfield

Paletta came through the youth divisions of Club Atlético Banfield and reached the first team in 2005. When Banfield qualified for the knockout stages of the Copa Libertadores, they altered their 25-man squad for the event to include Paletta and immediately threw him into action against the Colombian team Independiente Medellín. Paletta played well and Banfield progressed, but Paletta was to play no further part in the tournament after being called up to the Argentina Under-20 team to participate in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship.

Serie A

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, was created for the 2010–11 season. Serie A is regarded as one of the best football leagues in the world and it is often depicted as the most tactical national league. Serie A is the world's second strongest national league according to IFFHS and 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 La Liga, Bundesliga and Premier League, which is based on the performance of Italian clubs in the Champions League and the Europa League during the last five years. Serie A led the UEFA ranking from 1986 to 1988 and from 1990 to 1999.

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan (Italian pronunciation: [assotʃatˈtsjoːne ˈkaltʃo ˈmiːlan]), commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 and 1982–83 seasons, in the top flight of Italian football, known as Serie A since 1929–30.

With 18 officially recognised UEFA and FIFA titles, they are the second most successful club in the world in terms of number of international titles, together with Boca Juniors and Real Madrid, and behind Al Ahly with twenty titles. Milan has won a joint record of three Intercontinental Cups and one of its successor, the FIFA Club World Cup. Milan have also won the European Cup/Champions League on seven occasions, second only to Real Madrid. They have also won the UEFA Super Cup a joint record five times and the Cup Winners' Cup twice. Milan has won every major competition in which it has competed, with the exception of the Europa League (in this competition they have lost two semi-finals in 1972 and in 2002). Domestically, with 18 league titles Milan is the joint-second most successful club in Serie A behind Juventus (31 titles), along with local rivals Inter. They have also won the Coppa Italia five times, as well as six Supercoppa Italiana triumphs.

Gabriel

In the Abrahamic religions, Gabriel (Hebrew: גַּבְרִיאֵל, Modern Gavri'el, Tiberian Gaḇrîʼēl "God is my strength"; Biblical Greek: Γαβριήλ, Gabriēl) is an angel who typically serves as a messenger sent from God to certain people.

Gabriel is mentioned in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible. In the Old Testament, he appears to the prophet Daniel, delivering explanations of Daniel's visions (Daniel 8:15–26, 9:21–27). In the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel appeared to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, foretelling the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively (Luke 1:11–38). In the Book of Daniel, he is referred to as "the man Gabriel", while in the Gospel of Luke, Gabriel is referred to as "an angel of the Lord" (Luke 1:11). Gabriel is not called an archangel in the Bible, but is so called in Intertestamental period sources like the Book of Enoch. In the Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel are also referred to as saints. In Islam, Gabriel is considered an archangel whom God is believed to have sent with revelation to various prophets, including Muhammad. The 96th chapter of the Quran, al-Alaq, is believed by Muslims to have been the first chapter (surah) revealed by Gabriel to Muhammad.

Defense

Defense or defence may refer to:

Tactics and strategy

Politics and economics

Concepts in law

Other uses