text: sergio pellissier sergio pellissier ( born 12 april 1979 ) is an italian footballer who plays as a striker and captains chievo verona . he started his career playing for torino 's youth team , having been called up once as part of torino 's senior team . after two years at torino , pellissier moved to a.s. varese 1910 in 1998 , and subsequently to chievo in 2000 . he was promptly loaned for two seasons to spal 1907 . upon his return to chievo , pellissier established himself as a first team player . he helped chievo to reach the uefa europa league and the uefa champions league , and played for the team in those competitions . he remained at the club after chievo were relegated to serie b in the 2006 – 07 season and became the squad 's captain in the following one . pellissier has achieved historical records for the club and became an idol for chievo . pellissier has played five times for italy 's national youth squad and appeared in a single match for the senior team . club career early career pellissier was born in aosta , and started playing football in the region of aosta valley . he was 12 when he scored three goals against torino f.c. on a tournament in and for the local team , and torino showed interest on him . he then moved alone to turin but after some time he wanted to return to his home ; when pellissier was 14 he returned definitively to torino . he made his senior debut and played one match in serie b during the 1996 – 97 season against salernitana . in 1998 , pellissier was on the team that won the under - 21 tournament torneo di viareggio , and also appeared in a coppa italia match . he moved on loan to the serie c1 side varese , where he made 53 appearances and scored nine goals between september 1998 and 2000 . he was then signed by chievo verona , but was loaned in his first year to ferrara - based club spal , for which he scored 17 goals in 44 appearances during one and a half seasons . chievo 2002 – 2008 pellissier returned to chievo for the 2002 – 03 season , making his serie a debut on 22 september 2002 , when he played for 46 minutes in a 2 – 1 loss against brescia calcio . on 3 november , pellissier played as a 63rd - minute substitute for luigi and scored his first goal — the only in that match — against parma f.c. during that season , he played 25 matches in the league and scored five goals — two of which were scored in consecutive matches against piacenza calcio and como calcio . outside the italian league , pellissier appeared four times in the coppa italia , and once in the 2002 – 03 uefa cup as a 79th minute for massimo in the second match against red star belgrade . the following season , pellissier made 27 league appearances , scored three goals — two of which were scored against robur siena in a 2 – 1 victory . during the 2004 – 05 season , he scored seven times in 34 appearances . he scored twice in a 3 - 1 victory against brescia . 2005 – 06 was pellissier 's breakout season ; he made a significant contribution to chievo 's campaign , scoring 13 league goals of chievo 's 54 . among them , pellissier scored in four consecutive matches and twice in the matches against u.s. lecce and reggina calcio . the season was an important one ; the 2006 italian football scandal ensured that chievo finished in fourth place because of various points deductions to other sides , qualifying chievo for the 2006 – 07 uefa champions league . in the champions league , chievo were eliminated by levski sofia after losing two matches 2 – 0 and 2 – 2 ; pellissier played these matches and did not score in either . chievo were also knocked out of the uefa cup by sporting braga in two matches , in which pellissier was not on the team 's lineup . for pellissier it was a good season ; he was voted chievo 's best player by its supporters , winning the " cangrande del " . he scored 9 league goals in 36 appearances , but on the final day , chievo were relegated to serie b for the first time . pellissier chose to stay with chievo despite their relegation and was made captain in the 2007 – 08 season . he was a key player of their return to serie a , scoring a career best 22 goals for the year and winning the cangrande award again . his total of 22 surpassed raffaele cerbone 's record of 20 goals in a single season for chievo . 2008 – present in 2008 – 09 , pellissier played all of chievo 's 38 serie a matches and scored 13 goals , including two on 15 march 2009 in a 3 – 0 victory over lazio at the stadio olimpico . three weeks later , on 5 april , he scored the first hat - trick of his career in a 3 – 3 draw against juventus in turin ; this was followed on 19 april by a brace in a match against siena . pellissier 's 2008 – 09 performance won him the cangrande award for the third consecutive season . he played 35 matches and scored 11 goals in the 2009 – 10 season , with consecutive scores in the third and fourth round , in the 21st and 22nd , and in the 34th and 35th . in 2010 – 11 , pellissier made the same numbers of appearances and scored the same number of goals as in the previous season . he scored two braces in the season — the first in a 3 – 1 win against napoli and the other in a 3 – 0 win against brescia . he made his 100th appearance for chievo on 6 february 2011 in a 2 – 1 loss against lazio . in a 2 – 1 victory against novara calcio on 2 february 2012 , pellissier scored his 100th goal for chievo . on 18 february , he was accused of being involved on the 2011 – 12 italian football scandal , which affected his performance . nevertheless , he also scored in consecutive matches against fiorentina and catania calcio , and a brace in a 4 – 4 draw against palermo . he scored a 8 league goals in 35 appearances in the 2011 – 12 season , when he won his fourth cangrande award . on 26 august 2012 , in his 300th serie a match for the , he scored his first goal of five in his 24 appearances of the 2012 – 13 season . in july 2013 , pellissier renewed his contract with chievo for two years . starting the 2013 – 2014 season as a first - team man , he eventually became a substitute under the coach eugenio . he made 22 appearances in the season and scored his only goal in a 2 – 1 victory over udinese calcio on 21 september 2013 . on 22 august 2014 in a 1 – 0 defeat by pescara calcio during the coppa italia , pellissier reached 400 appearances for chievo . during the 2014 – 15 season , he played 27 matches and score seven goals in serie a ; among them , on 9 november 2014 , pellissier came as 46th - minute substitute and scored two goals on a 2 – 1 victory against cesena after more than a year of his last goal . international career pellissier made five appearances for italy national under - 17 football team between april and may 1997 ; he scored no goals . in may 2009 , pellissier received his first call up to the italian national team by coach marcello lippi to play in a friendly against the northern ireland . in the match , he entered as a substitute for giampaolo in the 62nd minute and scored a goal 11 minutes later . about reaching the national squad , he declared , " it 's a dream that came true . l is the cherry on the cake of an extraordinary season . but the merit is not mine , but all of chievo . " international goal scores and results list italy 's goal tally first . personal life in 2001 , during the time pellissier was playing for spal in ferrara , he met gian micaela in a restaurant she worked . after some time exchanging e - mails with micaela , they started a relationship . since 19 june 2004 he is married to micaela , and he is the father of a son , matteo , and a daughter , sofia . career statistics club statistics updated up to 9 april 2016 . international