The Great Italian Player Thread [Post-1990]

[Cassano]

Cassano was doing profiles of players who were famous since 1990.

Cassano, are there going to be anymore profiles or have you finished with them? Just wondering.

I'm not finished. Nicola Berti will be finished soon.

[Cassano]

Nicola Berti

http://www.interfc.it/Berti.jpg

Nicola Berti was born in Salsomaggiore Terme, near Parma, on April 14, 1967.
He was a tough-tackling central midfielder and was a lynchpin in the the Inter midfield for most of the 1990's. He began his career as youngster at Parma, and later impressed many teams but was bought by Fiorentina. Some great years in Florence attracted the attention of Inter. Inter brought him in for the 1988-89 season. Also, it was in October of 1988 that he made his Azzurri debut, one of 39 caps with Italy, scoring 3 goals in total. He was a protagonist in Inter's scudetto winning campaign that season, playing in 32 games and scoring 7 goals, proving to be one of Italy's best midfielders at the time. He also is credited with being 100% anti-Milan and once said, ""meglio sconfitti che milanisti" (Losses are better than Milanisti). The next season, he played 25 games and scored 5 goals, and was called up to the World Cup squad. Once Sacchi took over as Azzurri coach, Berti was a mainstay in the Italian midfield. In 93-94, he was injured the whole year and only made 9 appearances. But Sacchi still brought him to USA '94. He played in every game at the World Cup, but Italy lost to Brazil on penalties. His 95-96 season was also disturbed by injury, so he didn't take part in Euro '96. He continued to be a mainstay with Inter until the 97-98 season, where he only made 4 appearances. After that, Inter sold him to Tottenham in England. He played a decent season in the Premier League, scoring some decisive goals and playing hard. After that season, he started to move around. He had a stint in Mexico then he moved to Alaves in Spain, and finally he ended his career trying to promote soccer in Australia, playing for the Northern Spirit. He is now an Inter fan through and through and can be seen watching matches at the San Siro.

[Cassano]

Now that I am done with all suggested players, I am open to suggestions once again. I know that the next one will be Angelo Peruzzi, so don't suggest him.

[phillips10]

how about Attilio Lombardo or Vierchowod?..

[Cassano]

Vierchowod is actually done already, but Attilio Lombardo sounds good!

Vierchowod:
http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4563422&postcount=58

[dor02]

I'm surprised that he played in Australia. I hardly paid attention to the NSL.

That was a very good profile of him. At times it overshadows my usual thoughts of him. I've only seen a bit of footage of him at Italia 90 and USA 94 and out of all Azzurri players, he didn't impress me that much. By the sound of things, he must have been much greater with Inter than with the Azzurri.

[delp_07]

Cassano when are you gonna do players like totti and del piero and vieri and montella and inzaghi

[Cassano]

Cassano when are you gonna do players like totti and del piero and vieri and montella and inzaghi

Actually, pretty soon because I'm getting limited suggestions.

[Cassano]

Angelo Peruzzi

http://web.tiscali.it/angeloperuzzi/foto/10.jpg

Angelo Peruzzi was born on February 16, 1970 in Blera, a town in the Viterbo province, which is in the Lazio region. His nicknames are Orsone (big bear) and 'Tyson', because of his big physique. Peruzzi was part of the Roma youth system, and made his Serie A debut at 17 on December 13, 1987 against Milan. Peruzzi came in for Tancredi, who was hit by a bottle cap, and Roma won 2-0. For the next season he was loaned out to Verona, where he played a superb season, and was essential to Verona avoiding relegation. It was in this season that Peruzzi said he made his best ever save. He saved Roberto Mancini's penalty kick in a game where Verona had to win to avoid relegation. After that season, Roma took him back and made him starting keeper. After 4 games, Peruzzi and ex-Napoli forward Andrea Carnevale were found positive for drug use after the game Roma - Bari on September 23, 1990l. They took Lipopill, a pharmaceutical drug that contained a banned substance called Fentermina. They were both suspended for one year, and Peruzzi did not get along with the Roma officials and wanted a transfer. Juventus came to his aid and brought the young keeper to Torino. In '92 coach Trapattoni made this announcement: "I'm sorry for Tacconi (Juve's starting keeper) but from today on Juve's #1 is Peruzzi". Tacconi was very bitter because of this, and the two never spoke and were never friends. Peruzzi has actually said that Tacconi was the worst teammate he's had, and the best was other Juve keeper Michelangelo Rampulla. Peruzzi spent 8 solid seasons at Juventus, winning 3 Scudetti, 1 Champion's League, 1 Inter continental cup, 1 European SuperCup, 2 Italian SuperCups, 1 UEFA Cup, an 1 Coppa Italia. During this time, he also became Italy's #1 keeper. With the National Team he played in Euro '96, but was injured for World Cup '98, leaving Gianluca Pagliuca with the starting job. For Euro 2000, Zoff called him in as a third keeper, but Peruzzi refused the call, saying "The mascots for Euro 2000 are already chosen..." Christian Abbiati took his spot. After the solid years at Juventus, he went to play for Inter under Lippi. Inter had a horrible year, and after that he agreed a switch to Lazio. The main reason he went to Lazio was because of the distance between his hometown Blera, and the Formello training ground (30 miles). He has since played some great games for Lazio and is still a very solid keeper. He has won a Coppa Italia, and last year Trappatoni called him in as the third keeper for the Euro 2004 squad (this time, he accepted).

[delp_07]

Actually can you go back a bit and do Gianni rivera to me he is the best italian there ever was.

[dor02]

Angelo Peruzzi

http://web.tiscali.it/angeloperuzzi/foto/10.jpg

Angelo Peruzzi was born on February 16, 1970 in Blera, a town in the Viterbo province, which is in the Lazio region. His nicknames are Orsone (big bear) and 'Tyson', because of his big physique. Peruzzi was part of the Roma youth system, and made his Serie A debut at 17 on December 13, 1987 against Milan. Peruzzi came in for Tancredi, who was hit by a bottle cap, and Roma won 2-0. For the next season he was loaned out to Verona, where he played a superb season, and was essential to Verona avoiding relegation. It was in this season that Peruzzi said he made his best ever save. He saved Roberto Mancini's penalty kick in a game where Verona had to win to avoid relegation. After that season, Roma took him back and made him starting keeper. After 4 games, Peruzzi and ex-Napoli forward Andrea Carnevale were found positive for drug use after the game Roma - Bari on September 23, 1990l. They took Lipopill, a pharmaceutical drug that contained a banned substance called Fentermina. They were both suspended for one year, and Peruzzi did not get along with the Roma officials and wanted a transfer. Juventus came to his aid and brought the young keeper to Torino. In '92 coach Trapattoni made this announcement: "I'm sorry for Tacconi (Juve's starting keeper) but from today on Juve's #1 is Peruzzi". Tacconi was very bitter because of this, and the two never spoke and were never friends. Peruzzi has actually said that Tacconi was the worst teammate he's had, and the best was other Juve keeper Michelangelo Rampulla. Peruzzi spent 8 solid seasons at Juventus, winning 3 Scudetti, 1 Champion's League, 1 Inter continental cup, 1 European SuperCup, 2 Italian SuperCups, 1 UEFA Cup, an 1 Coppa Italia. During this time, he also became Italy's #1 keeper. With the National Team he played in Euro '96, but was injured for World Cup '98, leaving Gianluca Pagliuca with the starting job. For Euro 2000, Zoff called him in as a third keeper, but Peruzzi refused the call, saying "The mascots for Euro 2000 are already chosen..." Christian Abbiati took his spot. After the solid years at Juventus, he went to play for Inter under Lippi. Inter had a horrible year, and after that he agreed a switch to Lazio. The main reason he went to Lazio was because of the distance between his hometown Blera, and the Formello training ground (30 miles). He has since played some great games for Lazio and is still a very solid keeper. He has won a Coppa Italia, and last year Trappatoni called him in as the third keeper for the Euro 2004 squad (this time, he accepted).

A very good profile on Peruzzi and as for his transfer to Juve, it was one of Juve's best moves.

[Cassano]

Actually can you go back a bit and do Gianni rivera to me he is the best italian there ever was.

I was actually thinking, since this thread is coming to an end, that I'll probably start an "Great Italian Player Thread: Pre-90's edition".

[phillips10]

cassano if you are still looking to do some more how about Attilio Lombardo, Enrico Chiesa or Di Livio??...

[Cassano]

Attilio Lombardo will be done, and I was actually thinking of Chiesa too. All 3 will be done. So here's the "Coming Attractions":

Attilio Lombardo
Angelo Di Livio
Enrico Chiesa

[phillips10]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to CassanoFutureofItaly again.

somebody pick me up....

[Cassano]

Attilio Lombardo

http://attiliolombardo.interfree.it/images/title.jpg

Attilio Lombardo was born on January 6, 1966 in Santa Maria la Fossa, in the province of Caserta in the Campania region. He began his career in 1983 at US Pergocrema, a team from the city of Crema, near Cremona. They were in Serie C2. In his first season he played 7 games and scored 2 goals. In his second season, he became a starter, and played 32 games, scoring 7 goals. Cremonese, a Serie B team, bought Lombardo. He played in 4 successful seasons at Cremonese, only missing 2 matches over a 4-year span. At Cremonese, he was noticed as a superb winger, with a ferocious shot and excellent touch. Paolo Mantovani, the Sampdoria owner, watched a Cremonese game and was determined to buy Lombardo. He did, and Lombardo played every game of the 89-90 season. It was at Samp that Lombardo earned the nickname "Braccio di Ferro", which is the Italian name for the cartoon character "Popeye". Look at his picture and you'll see a resemblance. He was also known for his humor and was an excellent motivator in the dressing room. He started his international career on December 22, 1990 in a Euro qualifier against Cyprus. He even scored on his debut. Altogether, he collected 18 caps during his career, but never represented Italy at a major tournament. He was part of the Samp team that won so much. He won a Cup-Winners Cup, a Scudetto, a Coppa Italia, and an Italian Supercup. He stayed at Samp until June 1995, when Juventus bought the winger. He didn't play much in his first season, only playing in 13 games, but he won the Champion's League, and the next season he won the Euro SuperCup and the Intercontinental Cup. He only played 22 games in the 96-97 season and looked to move abroad. For the 97-98 season, Crystal Palace took him to England. He was still nicknamed "Popeye", and played 25 games, scoring 2 goals. In March of 1998, Palace were in relegation trouble, and they named Attilio Lombardo and ex-Parma player Tomas Brolin to be player/managers. It didn't work out and Palace were relegated. Lombardo stayed on for the following season, and played 24 games, scoring 3 goals before being sold to Lazio in January of 1999. He played 14 games in the second half of the season, scoring one goal. He won the Cup-Winner's Cup that year, and the next season played in 11 games, and Lazio went on to win the Coppa Italia and the Scudetto. He then went back to Sampdoria in Serie B, where he played for two seasons, and ended his career in 2002. He is now a youth team coach at Samp.

[dor02]

Another great summary, Cassano. Great picture too.

[Cassano]

Another great summary, Cassano. Great picture too.


Thanks! Up next, Angelo Di Livio.

[petersoccer]

I want to create a thread where I will post biographies and pictures of the best Italian players of 1990-present.

Thread Index:
Roberto Baggio (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4122735&postcount=1)
Giuseppe Signori (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4140376&postcount=6)
Franco Baresi (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4164490&postcount=11)
Gianfranco Zola (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4262008&postcount=17)
Ciro Ferrara (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4349388&postcount=26)
Roberto Donadoni (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4398823&postcount=30)
Fabrizio Ravanelli (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4399174&postcount=31)
Gianluca Pagliuca (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4428957&postcount=39)
Gianluigi Lentini (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4480644&postcount=43)
Salvatore Schillaci (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4510958&postcount=47)
Giuseppe Giannini (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4522959&postcount=48)
Paolo Maldini (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4533127&postcount=49)
Gianluca Vialli (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4546970&postcount=50)
Roberto Mancini (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4562178&postcount=57)
Pietro Vierchowod (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4563422&postcount=58)
Giuseppe Bergomi (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4564546&postcount=60)
Francesco Baiano (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4592789&postcount=69)
Marco Simone (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4603105&postcount=70)
Demetrio Albertini (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4611204&postcount=74)
Alberigo Evani (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4619347&postcount=75)
Daniele Massaro (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4673807&postcount=80)
Alessandro Costacurta (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4739114&postcount=86)
Pierluigi Casiraghi (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4746160&postcount=88)
Dino Baggio (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4791974&postcount=94)
Paolo DiCanio (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4849905&postcount=96)
Eugenio Corini (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4938764&postcount=102)
Andrea Fortunato (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5041178&postcount=104)
Antonio Conte (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5150923&postcount=106)

===============================


I hope everyone will like it. I'll start off with the best Italian player of the modern era:

Roberto Baggio aka Il Divino Codino

http://www.pro-paul.net/baggio/pics/paul/worldcup94/21.jpg

On the 18th of February, 1967, this legend started in Caldogno, a small town in the north of Vicenza in Italy. In the Baggio family, which had had 5 children -- Gianna, Walter, Carla, Giorgio and Anne Maria; our soccer hero was born -- Roberto! As a person who loved soccer, he always thought of football, and didn't want to live without it. Roby's career began in the place where he had been there for 9 years. Just after a few matches, Roberto had become a little star, always scored. At the end of a game in which he had 6 goals, a scout Antonio Mora persuaded him to join Vicenza, a Serie C team at that time.
However, under the coach Cad, Baggio didn't have much chance to play, and his first season just went pass. But a good news was that a new man arrived in the next season, Baggio therefore had more chances to play, he then gave his first career goal to Bruno Giorgi as a present, thanked the coach for putting him in a such important place. Furthermore, his good performance in this season brought him an under 16 national team place.
The 84-85 season, Baggio was on track, he got 12 goals in 29 league games, this helped Vicenza to climb to Serie B. But on the 3rd of May, Roberto went pass Serie B, joined a Serie A team, Fiorentina.
Baggio finished his first season in Fiorentina quietly. But in the next season, he finally took part in a Serie A game on the 21st of September, 1986, against Sampdoria. However, he hurt his knee in this season! Oh God! This is unfair, Baggio had just got a chance to show his talent, and now......wait a minute, he scored his first Serie A goal in the game vs Napoli on the 10th of May, 1987, not bad then! At least had a goal!
Good things continued to come, in the next season, he totally recovered, and had 9 goals. On the other hand, he was called by national team for the first time in November, 1988, to play in Rome against Holland. Moreover, everyone will get married one day, and no exception for a soccer player, Roby stopped his long run with girl friend Andreina, formally became a couple after the end of this season.
The following season, Baggio finished beautifully with 17 goals in 32 league matches. He also took the team to the final of UEFA Cup, but unfortunately they were beaten by a Torine team, Juventus, couldn't bring the cup back to Florence. The UEFA Cup winner Juventus, however, signed Baggio with a world record transfer fee -- US$17 million, it was about 7.5 million pounds. But this announcement made Fiorentina fans angry, caused riots in the streets.
Anyway, Baggio's great form gave him a place in Azeglio Vicini's Italian national team in World Cup '90. However, as he was not brought up by Vicini from junior team, in Italy's 1-0 winning first and second match, there was no Baggio. But these poor results forced the coach to change. In the last match in the first round, Baggio and Schillaci partnered in front aimed at beating Czechoslovakia. They successfully combined together! And Roby scored the best goal in this tournament.
After that, Italy went into the semi-final against Argentina. Before the match started, Vicini told Baggio that he was to be in the bench when the game began, the reason was he looked tired, but Roberto rebutted "I am 23! I will have eaten grass to play." No effect, he only played in the second half. 120 minutes over, the result was still leveled, penalty! Baggio luckily scored 1. But the game belonged to Argentine goalkeeper, who kicked Italy out......the host only got a third place.
The sad memory of the World Cup forgotten, Baggio had a good start in Juventus, he scored 14 goals in 33 league games. On the 2nd of December, his wife brought a third person! Calm down, she just born their first child, Valentina. In the next season, Roberto played in 32 Serie A matches, got 18 goals. The 92-93 season was Baggio's best season in Juventus, he put the ball into the net 21 times in 27 league games. Baggio also led Juventus to play in the UEFA Cup, he took part in 9 games and scored 6 goals, and Juventus became the champion, this was Roberto's first major title that he had ever won.
The following season, Baggio put his 100th Serie A goal in the net vs. Genoa. In December, he was recognized by the World, he won the double of Balon D'Or and FIFA World Player of the Year. Baggio scored 17 goals in 32 league matches this season. In May, 1994, shortly before the World Cup, his wife born their 2nd child, named Mattia. Roby then embarked on one of the best parts of his career.
In World Cup '94, Roberto's ponytail and his excellent goals brought him a lot of supporters. He single-handedly led Italy to the final, saving them from embarresment in Overtime against Nigeria in the Round of 16 and bringing them to the semi's with a last minute goal against Spain. Against Stoichkov's suprising Bulgaria, Baggio scored twice to get Italy to the final. That he could play the final was good news, but Baggio hurt his thigh during the semi-final, and quite serious, the doctor told him not to play in the final. But he didn't want his fans disappointed, so he ignored his injury, went into the field again. However, his hurt thigh held him down, he couldn't find a way to score, but the most unfortunate was that during penalty shootout, Baggio missed the most important kick, therefore gave the cup to their opponent -- Brazil. Since then, the relationship between him and Sacchi has been worse. He was not called to the national team for the rest of Sacchi's reign.
The injury from the World Cup made Baggio only played in 17 league matches and only got 8 goals. Although Juventus won both Serie A and Coppe Italia, the team moved towards Del Piero. And they said if Baggio accepted a decrease of 1/3 of the original salary, then he could stay. But of course Roby was not that foolish, he chose to leave, to either AC Milan or Inter Milan. Finally, on the 6th of July, he moved to the red and black AC Milan.
However, this was a really bad decision, because he was only a substitute, and was not in the mind of coach Fabio Capello. He played 28 matches but only got 7 goals. As a result, Roby had contributed very little to the winning of the scudetto.
At the beginning of the next season, Baggio got some hope, because Capello left the team, Taberez arrived. But when everyone thought that he might go up again, the poor performance of Milan cost him the place in the starting 11. Towards the end of the season, things went worse as Sacchi returned to Milan. Enemy met everyday, there was no chance for Baggio to stay. At last, in order to prove himself as a great player, he moved to a medium sized team -- Bologna, on the 18th of July, 1997.
No more ponytail, Baggio proved his move to Bologna was totally right. He regained his form with helps from teammates, for example, Swedish Kennet Andersson, Russian Igor Kolyvanov, Italian Fontolan, and defender Paramatti, etc......Baggio finished this season with a career best 22 goals, just 5 fewer than German Bierhoff, and 3 fewer than Brazilian, his future Inter Milan teammate -- Ronaldo. Inter therefore once again invited Roby to join. And he decided to go back to San Siro Stadium after World Cup '98.
The over-importance of Del Piero, and under-importance of Baggio by Cesare Maldini was one of the factors which caused the failure of the Italian team in World Cup France 98. The no.18 player did very good in France, with 2 goals. However in the third round, when the Italians met the host, although Baggio redeemed himself by scoring the first kick during the penalty shootout, Italy was once again eliminated on PK's.
After a season of good performance in Bologna and World Cup '98, many people did expect Baggio to continue this in Inter, since he had Ronaldo as his partner. However, as everybody could see, Roby's first season playing for Inter was not so good. The beginning of the season was not so well, they had lost 4 Serie A matches before the wonderful return of Baggio, he scored twice when Real Madrid travelled to San Siro. Since then Inter's supporters thought they could have a smoother season, but injuries to Baggio, Ronaldo, Zamorano and Ventola totally broke down Inter's forward line, plus the poor defence at the back, ended up with a bad season without any trophy. They finished Serie A in 8th place, and were out of Italian Cup being beaten by Parma; while most importantly, they lost to Manchester United in the Champion's League, who later beat Juventus and Bayern Munich to win the Cup.
The beginning of the 1999/2000 Season was full of expectation, with Vieri joining Inter, Baggio should be able to make a great combination with him. But unluckily the coach was the one who dumped Roby in Juventus -- Marcello Lippi. When he said that Baggio was in his Inter plan, everyone was satisfied, but soonly afterward they all realized that the coach's plan was to leave Roby outside the first team. With limited appearance, he didn't only lose a bit of form, but also a National Team place in EURO 2000, where the Italians lost the final match to the French.
Overall, the season might have been disappointing, but Roby did a wonderful job in his last game for the Milan team, as he scored two brilliant goals in the Champions League play-off match against Parma. After that he was eventually out of contract with Inter on June 30th.
After thinking for about four months, Baggio finally made a decision in September 2000 to join newly promoted club Brescia, mainly due to the fact that he could play much more than he could in bigger teams, and that it is close to his home in Vicenza. After two games against Juventus, it is obvious that going to Brescia was not a bad decision, and in fact he made history with a club that never stayed in Serie A for two consecutive seasons.
During the first three years with Brescia, captain Baggio led the team to three consecutive salvations in Serie A, and personally he scored 33 goals in 70 league games. The main reason for his success in these seasons was the understanding and belief from coach Mazzone, so that he had the chance to get the most out of himself, and show off his strengths. Also, Baggio had a number of high-quality teammates, including Spanish star Guardiola, winger Bachini, midfield rising star Appiah, defenders Petruzzi, Calori, Bonera, Martinez, as well as stable keeper Sereni. They had been in great assistance to Baggio, who could take the advantage and concentrate on organizing attacks.
The 2003/2004 season was Baggio's final year as a player, as he led Brescia to a historic 4th consecutive salvation. He scored his 200th Serie A goal in the match against Parma on 14th March 2004, after which he received a standing ovation from all the spectators at Parma's Tardini Stadium, a great honor to a great soccer player.
Baggio played his final match on 16 May 2004, against an A.C. Milan led by his former teammate Paolo Maldini, when he left the field in the second half, all the players, coaches and staffs from both teams, as well as all the spectators at the San Siro Stadium gave him the biggest standing ovation to farewell one of the greatest soccer player in soccer history. Baggio will never be forgotten.

http://www.pro-paul.net/baggio/images/bio/brescia03.gif



Baggio has gotten a bad rap for that miss, most people fail to point out had he scored and brazil scored on thier next kick Italy would of lost anyway.

[ikerbm]

http://web.tiscali.it/samia/5_165x200.jpg
Marazola
Cassano really great thread. Thanks.