Sophomore soccer player Andrea Giombetti hopes to keep his team on the winning track for the second half of the season. Starting in all nine games, in which five of them were shutouts, the goalkeeper wants to build on a strong first half of the season.
Giombetti is an international student athlete from Rome, who has been influenced by soccer for a large part of his life. He began to play the position of goalkeeper when he was just seven years old.
Two years ago, he was given the opportunity to move to the United States, with a chance to both receive a college education and to focus on his dream of becoming a professional soccer player.
Giombetti is currently a sport and recreation management major at NSU. He hopes his studies will provide a backup career in case he does not make it as a professional soccer player.
Giombetti’s career at NSU started off strong last year when he started 14 matches and recorded four shutouts. By the end of the 2011-2012 season, he had recorded a save percentage of .765 and played for a total of 1,224 minutes. Last season, he finished second in the Sunshine State Conference for shots saved with 62, only 10 behind the leader who played seven more games than Giombetti. After one season, Giombetti also found himself ranked eight on the NSU All Time Saves List.
So far this season, Giombetti has already improved from his freshman year. At the midway point of this season, he has recorded one more shutout, ranking him first in the conference with five. At the midway point, he has only allowed seven goals in nine games and has an average of 2.2 saves per game.
Giombetti was recently awarded Defensive Player of the Week for the Sunshine State Conference due to his shutout of number-one-ranked Lynn University.
I spoke with Giombetti and asked him a few questions:
What are your career goals for soccer?
My focus is to be a professional soccer player. It does not matter whether it is here or in Europe.
Did you come to the United States just to play soccer?
No. While being a professional player is my dream, my mom encouraged me to come here, since it was a better opportunity for school than in Italy.
Who is your favorite pro athlete? Your favorite soccer club?
My favorite pro athlete is Julio Cesar, Brazilian goalie. And, my favorite club is Lazio in Italy.
What was your reaction to winning SSC defensive player of the week?
I was really happy. I hope to keep my head up and to keep playing even better for the rest of the season.
