[Cassano]

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
Giuseppe Signori
Franco Baresi
Gianfranco Zola
Ciro Ferrara
Roberto Donadoni
Fabrizio Ravanelli
Gianluca Pagliuca
Gianluigi Lentini
Salvatore Schillaci
Giuseppe Giannini
Paolo Maldini
Gianluca Vialli
Roberto Mancini
Pietro Vierchowod
Giuseppe Bergomi
Francesco Baiano
Marco Simone
Demetrio Albertini
Alberigo Evani
Daniele Massaro
Alessandro Costacurta
Pierluigi Casiraghi
Dino Baggio
Paolo DiCanio
Eugenio Corini
Andrea Fortunato
Antonio Conte
Nicola Berti
Angelo Peruzzi
Attilio Lombardo
Angelo Di Livio
Enrico Chiesa
===============================


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



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.

[DerMongerer]

Originally Posted by CassanoFutureofItaly

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



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.

Hold up here? I have to disagree with that comment. ¨he GAVE Brazil¨ their 4th World Cup????.....Italy in 1994 could only hope to play for penalties because they were Baggio in attack and nothing more.

That Brazilian team was better overall that Italys. And about WC98, yes he did good, but you seem to have discarded the fact that he (once again) missed a easy shot in overtime vs. France that would have sent them packing, and thus ended their WC hopes.

[mritalian1210]

Baggio is still my favorite player of all time. He played for so many different clubs teams yet all italians love him. Roby played for Juve, Milan, Bologna all teams i really dislike yet i still rooted him on .Even though he missed that infamous kick in 94, the people still loved him. He didn't act like a superstar and put himself above the team like many players do today.
If it wasn't for baggio i don't know if i would be so passionate over calico like i am today. Baggio was and still is one of the most classy players to ever play. He was unquie, having a ponytail, being Buduhist. But none of that mattered.
In WC2002 all i wanted to see was Baggio play, sure he was just injured but him at 60% is better than most at 100%. I could not understand why Trap didn't call him up.
Roby will never be forgotten.

[phillips10]

Originally Posted by DerMongerer

Hold up here? I have to disagree with that comment. ¨he GAVE Brazil¨ their 4th World Cup????.....

I think the article was being literal, the PK missed and ended the game...giving Brazil the victory. You can hold your opinion as you like...

great thread CassanoFutureofItaly, good memories of Baggio for sure...it is odd that someone of his ability played for 3 of the big clubs but the ability to overcome doubters and injuries is part of what I always liked about baggio. I also hold a lot of respect for what he did for Brescia at the end...

[Cassano]

Exactly, that comment was not meant in a bad way. It was just the truth that if he missed that kick, which he did, the Brazilians won the cup. So he gave them the trophy. Please, I would never offend Baggio. He's my all-time favorite player. I always defend Baggio when people say he was the reason Italy lost. Everyone forgets that Baresi and Massaro also missed penalties...anyway... Happy 38th B-day Roby! 2/18/05

PS- since it's close to his birthday (2/17), maybe I'll do Signori next.

[Cassano]

Ok everyone, he's my next bio:
Giuseppe 'Beppe' Signori


Beppe was born on February 17, 1968 in Alzano Lombardo,
Bergamo. He lived there with his mother Maria Grazia, his father
Giobattista and his younger sister Stefania. As did most
Italian boys, he loved to play and watch soccer.
His own career started as a youth team player in a club connected
to Internazionale. But he was found too small & light by the Inter
youth team trainers. So at the age of 17 he moved to a non-league team
called AlbinoLeffe (now in Serie B). He made a good first impact for AlbinoLeffe. During the first 8 games for the club he managed to score 5 goals and helped the club gain promotion to Serie C2.
Since Beppe had a magic left foot and was a fast player his manager
preferred to play him as a left-winger so the teams could take
advantage of his beautiful crosses and his pace. Beppe did as the
manager told him even though he preferred to play as a forward. The
second year in AlbinoLeffe he played 30 games and scored 3
goals. But his left foot was involved in more goals then the three
he scored by himself. He made many assists from his position on the
left side of the field.
After his promising performance at AlbinoLeffe a lot of clubs started
to show interest in him. And before the 1986/87 season Piacenza
decided to buy the talented youngster. Piacenza played in Serie C1
at that moment. But the competition was hard and young Signori
didn't have many chances to show what he was made of. During the
season he only played 14 games, many of these as a substitute.
He only managed to score one goal.
The next season Picenza let him go on loan to another Serie C
club called Trento to give him the possibility to play first team
soccer on regular basis so he would develop. Beppe was playing
great and once again he was among the best left-wingers in Serie C .
He played 31 games for Trento that year and scored one goal.
In the season 1988/89 Piacenza took him back. Now he was more
mature and had more confidence. He played regularly in the first team.
Piacenza had advanced to Serie B during Beppes time in Trento. So
now he was playing Serie B football and was once again considered
one of the most talented left wingers in the league. He played 32 games
and scored 5 goals during that season and a lot of scouts around the
country liked what they saw.
Foggia, a team on it's way up through the system decided to invest
money in the talented left winger who was causing headaches for all
right backs in Serie B. But when Foggia's manager Zednek Zeman (sound familiar?) saw Beppe's performance & qualities during the pre-season camp,
he told him he could forget his days as a left winger. Zednek saw
what other managers didn't see. This was that Beppe had world
class scoring abilities and that he made his best performance as
a striker with his remarkable pace, his technique and his left foot.
The first season as a striker was a success. Beppe scored 14
goals and he was the Foggia fans' new hero. This was only the
beginning though, Signori's left foot had a lot more to give. The
next season he scored 11 goals and helped Foggia to get
promoted to Serie A. He was now playing at the highest level in
Italy and his first season was promising. 32 matches and 11
goals, and very good overall performance was the result of his
first Serie A season. Foggia finished in 11th place.
A good result for a new team in the first division. During his Foggia
time he formed a classic attacking trio together with Roberto
Rambaudi (later Lazio) & Francesco 'Ciccio' Baiano (later Fiorentina & Pistoiese). With Beppe to the left, Baiano in the middle and Rambaudi to the right, the trio was devastating defenses.
His performance in Foggia made it possible for him to represent his
country as well. Arrigo Sacchi took over the Italy national team
short after they had failed to qualify for the European
Championship in Sweden 1992. During the World Cup qualifications between 1992-94 Signori played on a regular basis for the national team. Sometimes as a winger, and sometimes as a forward. He managed to score 3 goals during the W.C qualifying and helped Italy to qualify for U.S.A 1994.
Since he was playing so good for Foggia a lot of bigger clubs were
after his signature. When S.S Lazio and its new owner Sergio
Cragnotti hired Zeman as manager before the 92/93 season Zeman took some old Foggia players with him to his new club. Beppe was one of them, along with Chamot & Rambaudi.
Signori's first season for Lazio can only be described in one way.
Success!! He scored 26 goals in 32 games and the fans at the Stadio Olimpico had a new hero. He also played 6 games for Lazio
in Coppa Italia, and scored 6 goals. Lazio finished 5th.
The coming year was partly destroyed by injuries. But even
with injury problems, Signori managed to score 23 goals. The fact that
he only played 24 Serie A games that year makes it even more
impressive. He had an average of 0.96 goals / game. Imagine
how many he could have scored if he had been injury free. Since Lazio
had finished 5th the season before they got the opportunity to play in
Europe. But Beppe missed the UEFA Cup adventure and only played one
game in Europe that year. He also played 3 Coppa Italia games, but scored in
none of them.
After his 1993/94 season journalists all over the world were writing
that Signori could get his big international break in the
upcoming World Cup. In Italy's first game against Ireland Signori
played up front together with Roby Baggio. He was replaced in the 84th
minute by Nicola Berti and Italy lost the game 1-0.
Right before Italy's 2nd game against Norway, Beppe's girl friend
(and later wife) Viviana told him that she was pregnant. That game
was one of the best in Beppe's career. He played with an amazing
enthusiasm. Italy had a rough start though. After 21 minutes of the game
Italy's keeper Gianluca Pagliuca (later teammate with Beppe in Bologna)
was sent off. Sacchi then chose to take superstar Roberto Baggio off
the field and replace him with 2nd keeper Marchegiani, instead of
substituting Beppe or Gigi Casiraghi who were playing up front together
with Roby. Beppe played amazing and in the 69th minute he hit a beautiful free kick from the left of the field. Dino Baggio got his head on the ball and
Italy got three vital points. Signori played the whole game.
In the 3rd group game he also played the whole game.
Italy drew with Mexico (1-1) and was ready for the knockout round.
In the first playoff game they faced Nigeria. Nigeria took the lead
after 26 min and in the 63rd minute Singori was replaced by Zola.
Zola didn't have a good day though. He was sent of only after a few
minutes on the pitch. Italy managed to win though, after two goals
by Roby Baggio.
In the quarter final against Spain Signori once again had a decisive
part. He substituted Albertini at halftime and played the last 45
minutes. The score was 1-1 until the 88th minute. Signori snapped
up a ball right before a Spanish defender stole it and gave Roberto Baggio
the opportunity to shoot Italy to the Semi Final. Baggio made no
mistake and Italy was ready to face Bulgaria.
In the semi final Signori substituted an injured Baggio in the 71st minute.
Baggio had already scored two goals by then and the result was
Italy 2 - Bulgaria 1. This is also how the game ended. Before the
game Beppe had refused to play as a winger, and told Sacchi he
wanted to start as a forward. For this he was placed on the bench,
and it also have consequences for Beppes participation in
the World Cup Final. Signori felt that he deserved a chance as a
striker. The general opinion among the experts of the world was that
Signori was missused as a winger, and that a player who had scored
49 Serie A Goals in 56 Serie A games the past two years should play
as a forward. Beppe, like Baggio, didn't get along with Sacchi.
Italy was now ready for the World Cup Final. But when Sacchi picked
the starting eleven he chose not to use Beppe who was dropped
from the final after he had participated in all the other games in the
tournament. He didn´t choose to play him as a substitute either
even if Italy only made two substitutions during the game. The final
went to penalties and Italy lost. Baresi missed the first penalty, Albertini
& Evani then scored, but Massaro missed. Now the score was 2-3 and
Brazil had the lead. Baggio took the last penalty for Italy and everyone knows what happens next. And Italys dreams of a new World Cup trophy were now over. Sacchi never put in Beppe, and if he did, Beppe is an excellent penalty taker and probably would;ve scored in the shootout. Beppe has later said that he regrets the decision not to play as a winger when Sacchi told him to.
And to play a World Cup final is only a once in a lifetime oppertunity.
The decision to not let Beppe play in the final led to a friction
between Signori and Sacchi that continued in the following years.
Signori only played 6 national games after the World Cup. His last
match took place against Slovenia on the 6th of November 1995.
The next season Signori and his Lazio finished 2nd in Serie A.
Beppe scored 17 goals in 27 matches. He also scored 4
goals in 5 Coppa Italia matches. And played 7 European games.
He continued to be the big star in Lazio and was now captain of the
team as well. He also became a father. His first daughter Denise
was born on the 6th February 1995.
In the season 1995/96 Signori reclaimed his top scoring title.
He scored 24 goals in 31 games and shared the title with Bari's Igor
Protti (now on Livorno). Protti later joined Lazio in the season of 96/97, but was not a success at all. He played 4 games in Coppa Italia and 3 games in the UEFA-cup. He scored 1 goal in each competition. During the
summer rumours had been raised that Signori maybe should be transferred to Parma. This was not popular among the Lazio fans and lead to massive demonstrations. The transfer was hailed and Signori continued to play with the biancoceleste. Lazio had another top spot in the league this
year. They finished 3rd. And when Signori wasn't picked for
the Euro 96 squad that year it was considered a scandal by
many journalists. It was also one of the reasons that Italy's
manager Arrigo Sacchi got fired after the tournament. Italy
didn´t preform well at all during this tournament.
In 1996/97 Signori scored 15 goals in 32 games and his Lazio
dropped another place in the league. This year they ended in 4th
place. After the season Cragnotti decided he wanted a new coach.
Old goalkeeper and World Cup winner Dino Zoff had coached the team
for a while, after Zeman had left, but Cragnotti wanted someone else
then Zoff. He chose Sven-Göran Eriksson who was coaching
Sampdoria at the time. Eriksson had already signed a contract for English
side Blackburn. But when he heard about Lazio´s interest he ripped that
contract apart. This choice of trainer would have big consequences
for Beppe´s future career. Signori was at the moment was Lazio´s
biggest star & the fan favorite, captain of the team, and top scorer
for the club during the last 5 seasons. .
When Eriksson moved in he brought with him his favorite player,
Roberto Mancini from Sampdoria, and he also brought back Boksic
who had played for Juventus for a season. Suddenly Eriksson
counted Signori as a 4th forward, after Mancini, Casiraghi (Beppe's
partner for many years) and Alen Boksic. Eriksson tried to play with
Signori-Mancini-Casiragi up front for a while. But it didn't work
out that well. Signori and Mancini were to similar. And when Eriksson had to choose between Mancini & Signori,it was no surprise he chose the first one. During the game between Rapid Wien & Lazio in the UEFA Cup, Beppe had enough. Eriksson had told him to warm up and prepare for a substitution. When Beppe stood and waited by the side line for the substitution, Mancini, the player he was supposed to replace got his second yellow card
and was sent off the field. Eriksson then changed his name and
ordered Pavel Nedved to quick come over, and he put Pavel on the
field instead of Beppe.
The relationship between Eriksson and Signori was already infected,
and Signori responded to the descision to not put him on the field by
gathering his things and leaving the stadium. This was the last time
Beppe sat on the Lazio bench or played for Lazio at all. A few weeks
later he went on loan to Sampdoria, where he had a period that was
marked by injuries and bad form. The truth is that when Eriksson
played Signori, Beppe preformed very well. In total Signori played
805 minutes under Eriksson. And scored 10 goals! That´s one goal
every 80 minutes of play (approx.). The other forwards in Lazio didn´t
preform as good. In Serie A Mancini played 34 games, and scored
5 goals. Casiraghi only scored three goals this year. Best goalscores
were Boksic (26 games, 10 goals) and Nedved (26 games, 11 goals).
While at Samp, Signori played 17 games and scored 3 goals. When he got a
opportunity to play for Lazio in the beginning of the season he
made some good performances though. 6 Serie A games and 2 goals.
4 Coppa Italia games and 6 goals. And 3 games in Europe which
resulted in 2 goals. Many of this games he came on as an
substitute. 13 games and 12 goals were what he performed in
his last games for Lazio. The season ended with a leg injury and
at the end of the season he decided to look for a new club to
play with. He had seen what his old friend Roberto Baggio had
done with his career at Bologna FC. And Bologna also searched
for an replacement for Baggio who had moved on to Inter. So
Signori signed for Bologna during the summer to build up his
career again.
Even if the season wasn't so good for Beppe he had other things
to feel joyous about. On the 28th of June 1997 he wed his
girlfriend of many years, Viviana Natale.
Beppe arrived to Bologna focused on getting his career started
again. He became a major icon for the Bologna fans after the
first season. He scored 15 goals in 28 games in Serie A and
was also one of the reasons behind Bologna´s successful UEFA-cup
run. The team was only minutes away from reaching the final,
but lost to Marseille on the "away goal" rule. After that Marseille
had received a penalty in the last minutes. He played 12 games
for Bologna in the UEFA-Cup (witch they reached through the
Intertoto cup) and scored 6 goals. He played 5 Coppa Italia games
and netted once. Bologna finished 9th in the championship. During
his first season in the team he formed a dangerous attacking
formation together with Kennet Andersson. They had a great
cooperation and most of Kennet's goals were results from crosses
from Beppe's left foot. And many of Beppe´s goals came after
headers from Andersson. He also got another child during the
spring of 1999. A daughter named Greta was born on the 18th of March.
In 1999/2000 Signori scored another 15 goals and played good
soccer again, only one of those 15 goals was from the penalty spot.
Once again he and Andersson formed an attacking duo. He played
31 games that year. He also signed a new contract with Bologna
that would keep him at the club until the season 2002/2003.
Bologna finished in 11th place.
In 2000/2001 Signori had injury problems again and only scored
a few goals before Christmas. But after that he got going and when
the season was over he had scored 16 goals, in only 23 games!!
Almost as good as he was when he had his best seasons for Lazio.
Bologna had another season in the middle of the table and finished
in 12th place. He and his wife also got their 3rd child during the
beginning of 2001. Their son Niccola was born (28-03-2001).
Beppe named his son Niccola to honour Bologna´s promising youngster
Niccola Galli who had died in a traffic accident.
The season 2001/2002 started out great for Signori. In the first
game against Atalanta he scored the game´s only goal. A beautiful
free kick. Signori continued to play good in the coming games and made
some assists as well. But in the third game against Parma he got
injured. He was out of play for several weeks but made a comeback
November against Atalanta. After 16 minutes of play he had to
leave the field, injuried again. This time it took him a longer time to get
back on the field. He made it against Hellas Verona (02-24-2002).
He substituted Pecchia in the 72 minute. The score then was
Bologna 0 - Verona 1. Signori changed this, he hit two beautiful
corners which both resulted in goals for Bologna. And Bologna won
the game. This season ended as a disappointment for Signori though,
it got spoiled by injuries, and he only managed to score 3 goals
in Serie A. He only played 12 games and not all of them as a starter.
So even if the season started great with the beautiful free kick
against Atalanta, the overall judgment was bad. Bologna had a
pretty ok season got an intertoto place.
The season 2002/2003 was also partly spoiled by injuries. Not
as bad as the last season though. Beppe played 24 games and
scored 12 goals. 5 of them on penalties. During the season Beppe
had a small friction with the coach Guidolin. Beppe was out of the
team for some games when he was fit to play and the papers talked
about a friction. The fans also showed their disappointment with
Guidolin and supported Signori's case.
Beppe wasn't offered a new contract at first, and was looking at
other offers from abroad and from Italy. Rumours said that Chelsea,
Lazio, Siena, and clubs from Arabia & Quatar were interested. The tifosi
of Bologna went out on the streets of Bologna to protest against the
fact that their captain didn´t get a new contract and the board changed
their mind. Guidolin also resigned before the season started and was
replaced by Carlo Mazzone who had been Beppe's coach in Bologna
when he first arrived there.
Beppe had problems with injuries during the first half of the season of
2003/2004 and scored only two goals. Signori played 23 games
and scored 6 goals. After the season, Signori said he couldn't take the physical demands of Serie A anymore and wanted to play in a less competitive league. He signed with Iraklis in the Greek first Division, but didn't paly well. He canceled his contract in January and Mazzone said if Bologna hadn't bought Marco Ferrante, Signori would've made a return. He ended his Serie A career with 186 Serie A Goals, only 14 away from the 200 goal milestone. Signori was a great player. If Sacchi had utilized him more on the '94 squad, him and Baggio would've led Italy to glory.

[phillips10]

an excellent read again, one of my all-time favorites.....

I got to see Bologna at Lazio several years ago, alas he was out with an injury....

Are you writing these yourself or finding them somewhere??

[Cassano]

I gather information from various websites and then put them in my own words...

I'm leaning towards Franco Baresi for the next one...

[SueB]

Baresi would be a good one. Good thread, BTW. Thanks for your efforts.

[Panzo]

I agree, Baresi would be a great choice. Baggio, Beppe, and Baresi are my 3 favorite italian players ever so thank you very much for starting this thread, Cassano.