Nicola Ventola
Nicola Ventola (born 24 May 1978) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Ventola played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had a loan spell with English side Crystal Palace. At international level, he was a member of the Italian under-23 squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney; he received his only senior call-up for Italy in 1998, although he did not come off the bench. At youth level, he also represented the Italy under-21 side, and was a member of the team that won the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, also winning a gold medal at the 1997 Mediterranean Games with the under-23 side. He retired from football in February 2011. Club career Born in Grumo Appula, Bari, Nicola Ventola's career began with Bari in 1994 as a youth player. He made his Serie A debut on 6 November 1994 against ACF Fiorentina, at the age of 16 and 166 days. He left the club in 1998 after three more seasons (one in Serie B, winning the 1996–97 title, and two in Serie A), after scoring 12 goals in 45 appearances with the club (ten of which were scored in