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Giuseppe Signori

From BigSoccer Wiki

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.


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