Nicola Ventola (born 24 May 1978) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a forward. Ventola played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had a loan spell with English side Crystal Palace. At international level, he was a member of the Italian under-23 squad at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney; he received his only senior call-up for Italy in 1998, although he did not come off the bench. At youth level, he also represented the Italy under-21 side, and was a member of the team that won the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, also winning a gold medal at the 1997 Mediterranean Games with the under-23 side. He retired from football in February 2011.