Euro 2008 Player Profile: Tranquillo Barnetta

Full Name: Tranquillo Barnetta
Date of Birth: May 22nd, 1985
Place of Birth: St. Gallen, Switzerland
Height: 1.76m
Current Club: Bayer Leverkusen (DEU), Number 7 – 93 games, 13 goals
Club History: 1991-1996 FC Rotmonten St. Gallen, 1996-2002 St. Gallen (youth clubs), 2002-2004 St. Gallen, 2004-2005 Hannover 96, 2005-onwards Bayer Leverkusen
Switzerland Stats: 32 games, 6 goals. Number 16. First Game: Switzerland – Ireland 1-1 (08.09.04)

Tranquillo Barnetta is part of the exceptional Swiss under-17 team that won the European Championship in 2002 on a penalty shootout drama with France. He played in central defence with Senderos during this tournament but was later discovered to be better in midfield at St. Gallen, where the current coach at the time, Gerard Castella, says he’s not “calm at all” (tranquillo meaning calm in italian).

He doesn’t play at Euro 2004 but his debut game vs. Ireland shows the Swiss public that Switzerland finally has an exceptional talent who has a great sense of creativity and enthusiasm. He plays an unlucky game vs. Israel where a dreadful fowl by Omri Afek brings upon the rupture of the ligaments of his knee. The doctors make a terrible sentence: 1 year away from the pitch. Yet Barnetta shows once again that he isn’t truly tranquillo, he recovers swiftly and even manages to score some goals for his club, Hannover. This sudden recovery convinces Leverkusen to keep the player and ever since he’s become the pillar of this team.

He played at the World Cup 2006 and provided the assist for Frei’s goal vs. Togo and scored the second goal. Unfortunately he hit the crossbar in the dramatic penalty shoot-out vs. the Ukraine. He was nominated (but not awarded) the title of best young player of that World Cup. He played all 4 games at the World Cup.

Curious facts: He’s considered the heir of Alain Sutter.
The terribly injury led him to say: “It made me stronger. It made me understand how easy it is to fall and how lucky I am to be a professional player”.
In his teen years he worked part-time at a textile industry and thus had to organize his time which according to his father was essential to make him become what he is now.
His girlfriend, Sandra, works in a pharmacy in St. Gallen.
His father says he sleeps way too much.
Barnetta has signed contracts with McDonald’s, Amag, Carlsberg, Sporttip and Credit Suisse.

Thoughts about the Future: Barnetta, together with Frei, is the real star of the Swiss team. A game without Barnetta is a completely different game for Switzerland and the latest friendlies without him have proved how important he is to Switzerland. If he plays well, Switzerland can go far, an Inler – Fernandes – Barnetta midfield is an exceptional one that has nothing less than its opponents’ counterparts.
Barnetta is, and will be, one of the main players of the football market. Apparently AS Roma, Fiorentina and Napoli are interested in buying the player who more than once has stated his desire to play in Italy (his parents are Italian).

A video with some of his greatest feats as a Switzerland player.