Stefani Miglioranzi

Stefani Miglioranzi
Stefani Miglioranzi (2008)
Personnel
birthday	20th September 1977
place of birth	Poços de Caldas ,  Brazil
size	185 cm
position	midfield
Juniors
Years	station
1995-1998	St. John's Red Storm
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1999-2002	Portsmouth FC	35 (2)
2002-2006	Swindon Town	124 (8)
2006	Los Angeles Galaxy	3 (0)
2007-2008	Columbus crew	37 (3)
2009	Los Angeles Galaxy	23 (0)
2010–	Philadelphia Union	34 (0)
1 Only league games are given. As of June 19, 2011

Stefani Miglioranzi (born September 20, 1977 in Poços de Caldas ) is a Brazilian football player . The midfielder has played for the US first division club Philadelphia Union since 2010 .

Player career

Youth and college

Born in Brazil, Miglioranzi moved to the United States with his family at the age of 12. After high school he attended by a sports scholarship to St. John's University in New York City and played college soccer for St. John's Red Storm. With the team he won the NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship in 1996 and was named to the All-American selection in 1998.

In the 1999 MLS College Draft, he was drafted by Chicago Fire. However, he did not accept the offer because he had already signed a contract in England.

The beginnings in England

In 1998 he went to England and had trial training at Everton FC and Portsmouth FC. Portsmouth coach at the time, Alan Ball , offered him a three-year contract and Miglioranzi agreed.

Change to Swindon

In July 2002 he moved to Swindon Town . Due to a knee injury that he sustained in Portsmouth, his contract was only extended monthly. He made his debut on the first day of the 2002/2003 season for Swindon. He missed just five league games in his first season, despite previous concerns that he might be unfit due to the injury. After one year, he received a one-year contract in May 2003 with the option for another. In the following season he showed again good performances, despite various injuries. In May 2004 he received a new contract for two years.

In the following season he was not spared from injuries. After the first five league games, he injured himself again and had to pause two games. In September 2004 he injured a muscle and had to take a break for the next four months. In mid-December he played 70 minutes for the reserve team in the Wiltshire Football League, but described his performance in the encounter as appalling. A month later he returned to the first team and was part of the regular formation again after the first use. Due to a lack of fitness, he had to be replaced again and again in the upcoming games. At the end of the season he again missed two games due to a cyst in his knee. He then had to play in the unfamiliar position of a defensive midfielder.

After a season full of injuries, which he himself described as disappointing, he returned early to the preparation for the 2005/2006 season in order to quickly find his way back to his old strength. During the preparation he explained that he had not felt as good in a long time. In a friendly game he injured himself again and was unable to play the first four games of the season. He returned in late August before injuring himself again a month later. After another month off, he came back with a very good performance in his first game. Miglioranzi could not find the good performance in the first two years for Swindon during the season. Usually he was substituted in or out. In mid-March 2006, the Irish Gareth Whalley took over his position. In mid-April he stood for the team for the last time. He then injured his knee and was out for the rest of the season. At the end of the season he announced his intention to change so that he could start over. After 35 games in the Football League Championship and 124 games in Football League One , he left England for the United States.

Return to the USA

In 2006 he moved to Los Angeles Galaxy . After only three missions, he was handed over to the Columbus crew in 2007. In the next two years he was part of the team's regular squad and was able to celebrate some successes.

He returned to Los Angeles Galaxy on January 9, 2009.

In the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft on November 25, 2009, he was selected by the Philadelphia Union.

Web links

• Stefani Miglioranzi in the database of weltfussball.de
• Stefani Miglioranzi in the database of MLSSoccer.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Stef's 'no' to U's . Swindon Advertiser . Archived from the original on May 20, 2006. Retrieved May 9, 2006.
2. ↑ Union select 10 players in expansion draft