Victoria Marie DellaPeruta (born March 21, 2004) is a professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Serie A Femminile club Sampdoria, on loan from Serie A club Roma. Born in the United States, she represents Italy at youth international level.
 DellaPeruta with North Carolina in 2023 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Victoria Marie DellaPeruta[1] | ||
| Date of birth | March 21, 2004[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Sampdoria (on loan from Roma) | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022–2023 | North Carolina | 40 | (8) |
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2022 | Pomigliano | 9 | (4) |
| 2024 | Sampdoria | 10 | (8) |
| 2024– | Roma | 0 | (0) |
| 2024– | → Sampdoria (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| International career | |||
| 2022–2023 | Italy U19 | 9 | (3) |
| 2023 | Italy U23 | 1 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of May 5, 2024 | |||
DellaPeruta signed with Pomigliano CF at the age of 17 before playing college soccer for the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Early life and college career
editDellaPeruta was born in Atlanta, Georgia, to Barbara and Adam DellaPeruta, and has an older sister, Talia, who is also a soccer player.[1] Her grandmother is from Pescara and her grandfather from Naples.[2] She was originally a goalkeeper but moved to midfield at age five.[3] She played club soccer for United Futbol Academy (UFA) of the Elite Clubs National League (ECNL) until age 12, then Tophat Soccer Club from 2018 to 2020, and UFA again from 2020 to 2022.[1][3] She committed to the University of North Carolina as a high school freshman in 2019.[4][5]
DellaPeruta played her only year of high school soccer at West Forsyth High School as a junior in 2021, leading the team to a 19–2 record, and set a school record with 54 goals in one season.[4][6] She scored the lone goal of the GHSA Class 7A final to beat undefeated Lambert and secure West Forsyth's first state title.[4][7] She was recognized as a United Soccer Coaches All-American and the USA Today Girls Soccer Player of the Year.[6] She graduated early from high school in December 2021, intending to enroll at North Carolina in the spring, but instead began looking to play in Italy when she received her Italian passport the same month.[3][6]
North Carolina Tar Heels, 2022–2023
editAfter her stint with Pomigliano, DellaPeruta played two fall seasons for the North Carolina Tar Heels in 2022 and 2023. She had 8 goals in 19 starts and 40 appearances, missing a few games each year to play with the Italian youth national team.[1][8] Her sister, Talia, was her teammate both seasons.[9]
Club career
editPomigliano, 2022
editAfter high school, 17-year-old DellaPeruta tried out for Serie A Femminile club Pomigliano during the 2021–22 season.[3] She spoke little Italian and her coach and teammates little English, but she made the first team ten days into training. On her debut as a halftime substitute, she scored the 2–1 game winner against Empoli on January 22, 2022. She made her first start in a 1–0 win over Internazionale on March 6 and stayed in the starting lineup for the rest of the season. Pomigliano needed to win the last game of the season to prevent relegation and trailed Napoli at halftime on May 14 before DellaPeruta equalized to start a 3–1 comeback.[3][10] She had four goals in nine appearances for the club.[3]
Sampdoria, 2024–
editFollowing her two years in college, DellaPeruta signed with UC Sampdoria of Serie A along with her sister, Talia.[11][12] She made her debut as a late substitute against Como on January 14, 2024.[13] On March 16, she entered the starting lineup and scored four goals in a 5–0 rout of Pomigliano, her former club.[2][13]
Seria A club AS Roma announced on July 26, 2024, that they had signed DellaPeruta to a four-year contract lasting until June 30, 2028, but would loan her back to Sampdoria for the 2024–25 season.[14]
International career
editDellaPeruta has United States and Italian citizenship.[1] She was called into a virtual camp for the United States national under-18 team in 2021.[15] After her stint at Pomigliano, she played for the Italian national under-19 team at the 2022 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship.[3] She was called up to the Italian under-23 team in September 2023.[8]
DellaPeruta received her first senior national team call-up with Italy for a training camp before UEFA Women's Euro qualifying in May 2024.[14]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f "Tori Dellaperuta – Women's Soccer". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
- ^ a b "Vent'anni, il college, quattro gol in 90 minuti e 'il successo per diffondere la parola di Dio'. La Samp è già pazza di Della Peruta" (in Italian). Italian Football Federation. March 21, 2024. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e f g Hindle, Tom (July 19, 2022). "Tori DellaPeruta Found Stardom in Italy". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ a b c Smith, Jacob (June 18, 2021). "Soccer: 2021 All-County Girls Soccer Player of the Year: Tori DellaPeruta, West Forsyth". Forsyth County News. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ Shealer, Sheldon (April 1, 2019). "Recruiting Roundup: April 1–7". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ a b c Clark, Douglas (September 21, 2021). "USA Today High School Sports Awards Girls Soccer Player of the Year Tori DellaPeruta fueled by competitive spirit". USA Today. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ Smith, Jacob (May 15, 2021). "Soccer: West girls top Lambert to win program's first state title". Forsyth County News. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ a b Laible, Anna (October 9, 2023). "Tori DellaPeruta juggles time between Italian national team and UNC women's soccer". The Daily Tar Heel. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ "Talia Dellaperuta – Women's Soccer". University of North Carolina Athletics. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ "Victoria Della 2021–2022 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ Clark, Travis (February 26, 2024). "Tracking Pro Signings, Early Departures". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ Arrichiello, Valerio (March 21, 2024). "Tori e Talia Della Peruta, la famiglia del gol della Sampdoria Women: 'Segnare su assist di una sorella è un'emozione unica'". Il Secolo XIX (in Italian).
- ^ a b "Victoria Della 2023–2024 Match Logs". FBref.com. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "Welcome, Tori Della Peruta". AS Roma. July 26, 2024. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
- ^ Eskilson, J.R. (April 21, 2021). "U18/U19 WNT Virtual Camp Roster". TopDrawerSoccer. Retrieved May 12, 2024.
External links
edit
- Tori DellaPeruta at Soccerway