Damiano Pecile

Damiano Daniele Pecile (born April 11, 2002) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays for Italian club Vis Pesaro on loan from Venezia.

Early life
Born in Vancouver, he grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia. He began playing youth soccer at age five with Cliff Avenue United. He later played with the Burnaby Selects and Mountain United FC, and was also a part of the British Columbia provincial program. In 2013, he had a training stint with the Italian club Cremonese's youth teams. In 2014, he had a two month trial with the AC Milan Academy and was invited to remain with the academy, but his family was not ready to make the move to Italy permanently. In August 2015, he joined the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy. In May 2021, he was loaned to Italian club Venezia FC's youth teams through June 2022, which included a purchase option. With Venezia's Primavera team, he scored nine goals in 23 appearances across all competitions, including 22 starts.

Club career
In February 2020, at age 17, he signed a homegrown player contract with Vancouver Whitecaps FC in Major League Soccer. He made his debut for the club, in a substitute appearance, against Los Angeles FC on November 8, 2020.

While on loan to Italian club Venezia's youth team, he made the bench for the first team for a Serie A match against Inter Milan in January 2022. In July 2022, Venezia signed Pecile on a permanent contract, after he had been on loan with the club's youth sides for the previous season. He made his first team debut on August 7, 2022, starting in a Coppa Italia match against Ascoli in a 3–2 victory. In February 2023, he was sent on loan to Finnish club KTP in the Veikkausliiga through December 2023. On May 17, 2023, he score two goals in a 14–0 victory over fourth tier side MyPa in the 2023 Finnish Cup.

On February 1, 2024, Pecile was loaned to Vis Pesaro in Serie C.

International career
Pecile is an Italian, Canadian, and American citizen.

In 2014, he represented Canada at the U12 Danone Cup. In November 2016, he made his debut in the Canadian national program, attending an identification camp for the Canada U15 team. In 2019, he played with the Canada under-17 at the 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship and the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup.

Style of play
Pecile has been described as a box-to-box midfielder, as he has shown versatility, a high work-rate, notable technical skills and good athleticism. Mainly used in a defensive role, he is also able to operate as a center-back, a holding playmaker or a ''mezzala', while his offensive abilities allow him to provide team-mates with assists or finish by himself.