Elia Alessandrini
Alessandrini in 2015
Personal information
Date of birth (1997-03-03)3 March 1997
Place of birth Bern, Switzerland
Date of death 16 December 2022(2022-12-16) (aged 25)
Place of death Muscat, Oman
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Youth career
2003–2008 FC Schoenbuehl
2008–2015 Young Boys
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2017 Young Boys U21 38 (2)
2016–2020 Young Boys 0 (0)
2017–2018 →Thun U21 (loan) 5 (0)
2017–2018 →Thun (loan) 1 (0)
2018–2019 →Chiasso (loan) 25 (2)
2019–2020 →Kriens (loan) 20 (0)
2020–2022 Kriens 34 (0)
2022 Stade Lausanne Ouchy 5 (0)
International career
2012 Switzerland U15 6 (0)
2012 Switzerland U16 2 (0)
2015 Switzerland U18 1 (0)
2015–2016 Switzerland U19 7 (0)
2016–2017 Switzerland U20 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Elia Alessandrini (3 March 1997 – 16 December 2022) was a Swiss professional footballer who played as a centre-back.

Club career

Alessandrini began playing football at his local club Schoenbuehl in Bern, Switzerland, at the age of 6, before joining the youth academy of Young Boys in 2008, where he subsequently worked his way up their youth levels.[1] He gained national attention in 2012 as a ball boy in a match between the national teams of Switzerland and Argentina, when he snuck up on Lionel Messi to get a handshake.[2] He was captain of the Young Boys' U21s for the 2016–17 season.[3] In the 2017–18 season, he joined Thun in the Swiss Super League on loan and made his professional debut as a late substitute in a 4–0 win over his parent club Young Boys on 9 August 2017.[4] In the summer of 2018, he joined Chiasso on loan in the Swiss Challenge League.[5] He joined SC Kriens on loan on 27 July 2019, and eventually joined them on a permanent basis and became their captain.[6] Hampered by injuries, he transferred to Stade Lausanne Ouchy on 6 July 2022.[7]

International career

Alessandrini played as a youth international for Switzerland. He first represented the Switzerland U15s in 2012. He was part of the Switzerland U19s at the 2016 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.[8] He last played for the Switzerland U20s in 2017.[9]

Personal life and death

Born in Bern on 3 March 1997,[10][11] Alessandrini was a Swiss national of Italian descent through a grandfather from Abruzzo, Italy.[12]

Alessandrini died on 16 December 2022, near Muscat, Oman, while on vacation with his partner; he reportedly drowned in a swimming pool hours before his flight was scheduled to return to Switzerland. As of 17 December 2022, the exact cause of death has not been revealed.[13]

References

  1. ↑ "YB II (U21)". BSC Young Boys. Archived from the original on 24 June 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  2. ↑ Steimer, Wladimir (20 August 2017). "Sternstunde: Frecher YB-Ballbub schnappt sich Messi im Mittelkreis!". Blick (in German). Archived from the original on 20 August 2017.
  3. ↑ YB-Nachwuchs: Interview mit Elia Alessandrini. Youth Base (BSC Young Boys). 7 February 2017. Retrieved 23 December 2022 – via YouTube.
  4. ↑ "YOUNG BOYS VS. THUN 0 – 4". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  5. ↑ Schläfli, Hans-Peter (19 August 2018). "Schweizer Cup – Bellach erlebt eine Grenzerfahrung gegen Chiasso". Aargauer Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  6. ↑ Santschi, Stephan (25 September 2020). "Berührungsängste? Solche kennt der Krienser Captain nicht". Neue Luzerner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "Elia Alessandrini est Stadiste!" (in French). FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy. 6 July 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  8. ↑ "Elia Alessandrini". UEFA. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  9. ↑ "Team". Swiss Football Association. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "E. Alessandrini". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  11. ↑ "Elia Alessandrini" (in German). Swiss Football League. Archived from the original (Archived by the Wayback Machine) on 19 December 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  12. ↑ "He was a good-hearted person". Switzerland Times. 17 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
  13. ↑ "Elia Alessandrini († 25) died in the pool while on vacation". Switzerland Times. 17 December 2022. Retrieved 23 December 2022.
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