Cristiano Doni

Doni eventually signed a two-year contract, then proceeded to continue, in spite of his age, to be an indispensable offensive unit – 34 league goals in his first three years combined – as well as team captain. In 2010–11 the 37-year-old scored 12 Serie B goals as Atalanta returned to the top division after one year, as champions.

On 9 August 2011, Doni was banned from football for 3½ years for his role in match fixing during the campaign, effectively ending his career at the age of 38. On 19 December, he was arrested together with 16 other people in connection with another match-fixing and betting investigation.

Doni played seven times for Italy, the first cap arriving on 7 November 2001 as he found the net in a 1–1 friendly with Japan. Subsequently, he was picked for the squad at the 2002 FIFA World Cup by manager Giovanni Trapattoni, making two starting appearances throughout the tournament, the opening 2–0 win against Ecuador and the subsequent 1–2 defeat to Croatia where he provided the assist for Christian Vieri.

He made his Serie A debut in 1997–98 for Brescia Calcio against Inter Milan, moving after two years to Bergamo with Atalanta BC. He quickly made a name for himself at the club with his hard-working style, combined with scoring ability, and netted in double digits in three out of five seasons.

Cristiano Doni (Italian pronunciation: [kriˈstjaːno ˈdoːni] ; born 1 April 1973) is an Italian retired footballer who played as an attacking midfielder, on either flank or in the middle.

Born in Rome, Doni started playing professionally for Modena F.C. at age 18, subsequently moving on to A.C. Rimini 1912, A.C. Pistoiese and Bologna F.C. 1909.