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Fabrizio RavanelliFrom BigSoccer WikiRevision as of 11:04, September 30, 2006; view current revision
←Older revision | Newer revision→ "White Feather", "Silver Fox", "Penna Bianca": These are all nicknames for the great Fabrizio Ravanelli. All these nicknames derive from his grey hair, from which he had since a teenager. He is also famous for his shirt over the head celebration. Sometimes sponsors paid him to wear their t-shirts and show the sponsor's name when he scored. He started small in Itay. He started playing with his hometown club Perugia and then went to Avellino, Casertana and Reggiana. Then he went from Reggiana, who were in Serie B, to Juventus. Many talked about how a great club would pick up a Serie B player. Ravanelli was a powerful, robust, and talented forward. The 94-95 season at Juve was memorable and was Lippi's debut. Juve had a ferocious attacking pair of Vialli-Ravanelli with Roberto Baggio supporting or the emerging talent Del Piero. He scored the go-ahead goal against Ajax in the 1996 Champion's League final, which Juve won in PK's. He was loved by Juve's fans but was a little hot-tempered. He felt betrayed when he was sold to Middlesborough, expecting the captain's armband from Juve after the departure of Vialli. He debutted for Boro with a hat-trick against Liverpool, a Premiership record. He helped them to win the European Cup that year. He is then sold to Marseille. He helps Marseille to first place, but many referee scandals occurred at the time. Also, he is a big part of Italy's World Cup qualifying campaign for France '98. But like Zola, he is also cut from Maldini's '98 squad. After a three year absence, he returns to Italy in December 1999 with Lazio. He helps Lazio to the Scudetto that year, but leaves for Derby County. He spends a couple of seasons there, then moves to Scotland with Dundee. Dundee goes into administration and he offers to get a pay cut, but it doesn't help. Last season, Perugia, desperate for a star player after the departure of Miccoli, bring Ravanelli back to his hometown. His objective is to lead Perugia away from the relegation zone. He leads valiantly, leading Perugia out of the automatic relegation spots, finishing in a play-off spot. Perugia had to play 6th place Serie B side Fiorentina and win to stay in Serie A. A loss would mean Serie B, and Fiorentina going to Serie A. Fiorentina won the playoff 2-1 on aggregate, and Perugia dropped down to B. He stayed with Perugia in the second division and then retired following that season. |