Early career Born in
Cantù but growing up in
Ischia, Brienza began his footballing career with local club Campagnano, before moving to
Florence at the age of 15 to play for Isolotto. In 1997–98 he joined
Serie B club
Foggia and stayed when the team was relegated to Serie C1 in 1998 and to Serie C2 in 1999.
Palermo Under Sensi In 2000, he was signed by
A.S. Roma along with teammates
Attilio Nicodemo and
Giuseppe Di Masi, which cost Roma 100 million
Italian lire for Brienza (€51,646). Roma loaned out Brienza and Nicodemo along with Roma youth products
Daniele De Vezze and
Luca Ferri to sister club
Palermo, which Roma president
Franco Sensi had acquired in March 2000. Brienza helped his club to win the league and achieve promotion to Serie B in 2001. On 30 June 2002, he permanently joined Palermo in a co-ownership deal for €5.5 million, as part of the deal to sign
Davide Bombardini, priced €11 million.
Under Zamparini After Sensi sold the club to
Maurizio Zamparini in July 2002, Brienza was out of favour at Palermo, as Zamparini bought players from his other club
Venezia. The co-ownership deal was terminated on 13 August 2002 for 1 million lire (€516). However, the "write-down" was actually through
Articolo 18-bis Legge 91/1981, which only left over the toxic asset "worth "€4,500,516" list in asset side and amortize in 10-year period. On 31 August 2002, he moved to
Ascoli on loan, re-joining teammate
Vincenzo Montalbano, where Brienza scored 7 goals playing as
second striker. In 2003, he returned to Palermo, playing for the
Rosanero for the first half of the season before being loaned out to
Perugia in January 2004 as part of an agreement that brought
Fabio Grosso to Palermo, making his
Serie A debut at
Stadio San Siro, in an away match lost 2–1 to
A.C. Milan. He again returned to Palermo as the club won promotion to Serie A. In the
2004–05 Serie A campaign, Brienza scored an impressive 10 goals in 33 games playing just behind
Luca Toni, earning a call-up to the national team. In
2005–06, new Palermo boss
Luigi Delneri, who always showed a preference to play a 4–4–2 formation, ruled out a 'free role' for Brienza, who had little space during the first half of the season. After Del Neri's dismissal, Brienza later found more space in the starting lineup with new coach
Giuseppe Papadopulo. He scored only one goal in 27 matches, being also featured 13 times in the
UEFA Cup, scoring three goals in the continental competition. Following
Francesco Guidolin's return to Palermo in the
2006–07 season, Brienza failed to find a stable place in the regular lineup, being featured mostly as a substitute, playing only 22 league and five
UEFA Cup matches. On the 37th matchday, after a 2–1 home win to
Siena, Guidolin declared his choice to use Brienza mostly as a reserve as one of his main mistakes in a troubled season which ended in a fifth place. Brienza, who originally declared his intention to leave Palermo to find more space in the lineup, remained for the
2007–08 season, later stating to have changed his mind following a meeting with new boss
Stefano Colantuono.
Reggina On 17 January 2008, it was announced that Brienza had joined
Reggina on loan for €300,000. Before leaving Palermo, Brienza was the only player still contracted to Palermo who played with the
rosanero in both Serie A, B and C1 divisions. On 2 July 2008, Brienza joined Reggina permanently. The club paid around €2.2 million to buy out his
Palermo contract.
Siena Brienza joined
Siena following their relegation from the Serie A in the 2010–11 season for about €700,000, signing a three-year contract. He helped the club to win an immediate return to the top flight and established himself as a first choice in the 2011–12 season under the guidance of new head coach
Giuseppe Sannino, who regularly featured him as attacking midfielder.
Third stint at Palermo On 6 June 2012, Palermo confirmed to have signed Brienza from Siena for €1.4 million on a two-year contract. The announcement came only a few hours after Palermo unveiled the hiring of Giuseppe Sannino, Brienza's former boss at Siena, as new head coach. On 18 August 2012, in the
Coppa Italia match against
Cremonese, Brienza reached the milestone of 200 appearances with
Palermo: 168 in the league, 15 in
UEFA Cup, 15 in Coppa Italia and 2 in the
Supercoppa Serie C.
Atalanta On 31 January 2013 he moved to
Atalanta from Palermo for €950,000.
Cesena On 13 August 2014 Brienza joined Serie A newcomers
Cesena.
Bologna On 24 July 2015 Brienza joined newly promoted Serie A side
Bologna as a
free agent after leaving relegated Cesena. On 6 July 2016, he signed a new one-year contract.
Bari On 30 August 2016 Brienza was sold to
Bari from Bologna. After the club's exclusion from professional football and its refoundation under the ownership of
Aurelio De Laurentiis, Brienza re-signed for Bari in August 2018, agreeing to remain at the club also in the
Serie D league. After helping the team with promotion to
Serie C in the 2018–19 season, he left the club at the end of the campaign when his contract expired.
Ischia In November 2022, 43-year-old Brienza went out of retirement to join hometown club
Ischia in the
Eccellenza fifth-tier amateur league, with the aim to help them win promotion to
Serie D. He left the club by the end of the season after being part of Ischia's squad that won promotion to Serie D. ==International career==