The Great Italian Player Thread [Post-1990]

Discussion in 'Soccer History' started by Cassano, Feb 8, 2005.

  1. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Daniele Massaro's bio will be done over the course of the next few days. Feel free to suggest any players you had in mind...
     
  2. Leto

    Leto New Member

    Aug 23, 2001
    Donegal,Ireland
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Casiraghi, Corini, Di Canio, Dino Baggio..?
     
  3. Leto

    Leto New Member

    Aug 23, 2001
    Donegal,Ireland
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Oh, I got one - Antonio Conte. Now that I've thought of him I'm really curious about his early career.
     
  4. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Interesting Leto. All your requests shall be fulfilled...
     
  5. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Daniele Massaro
    [​IMG]
    Daniele Massaro was born on May 23, 1961 in Monza. Monza is usually famous for Formula 1 racing, but Daniele was interested in soccer since he was a little boy. He started out with Monza in Serie B in 1979-80 and made 24 appearances and 5 goals. The next year he made 36 appearances and 5 goals. That summer, Fiorentina bought the youngster. At Fiorentina he recieved the nickname "Beep Beep", which is the Italian name for the cartoon character Roadrunner. He was fast and agile, and had a good finishing touch. He was also very versatile, he could play forward, midfield, or even become a defender. At Fiorentina that year, he made 29 appearances, scoring 1 goal. He also made his Azzurri debut in a friendly in April. Many never realize this, but Daniele Massaro was called to the Azzurri squad for World Cup 1982. He won the World Cup but never played a game. He spent the next four seasons at Fiorentina, and in the summer of 1986 was sold to Milan. In 2 years at Milan, he made 48 appearances and 6 goals. His highlight of the 2 seasons was scoring the goal that sent Milan into European competition in the play-off vs. Sampdoria. For the 1988-89 season, Milan sent him on loan to AS Roma, where he scored 5 goals in 30 games. Milan took him back the following year because Sacchi liked him. He put faith in Massaro and he had a great year scoring 10 goals in 30 games. Despite his efforts, he was not called to World Cup 1990. Over the next 2 years he became a major part of the Milan team that won Scudetti, Champion's Leagues, and Supercups. He was also re-introduced into the National team setup after Arrigo Sacchi, the man who believed in him at Milan, became Azzurri coach. For the 1993-94 season, he scored 11 goals in 29 games and was called up to WC 1994. Also, he scored 2 goals in the Champion's League final against Barcelona where Milan cruised to a 4-0 victory. He scored a goal against Mexico in the group stage of USA '94, but missed a penalty for Italy in the loss to Brazil in the final. The goal against Mexico was the only goal he ever scored for the Azzurri, making 15 appearances. The next season was his last as Milan player. He left in the summer of 1995 for Japan. He played with the Shimizu
    S-Pulse, and then retired as a player. After a few years, he became a regular on Italy's beach soccer team. He was made captain and captained Italy's beach soccer team before retiring completely 2 years ago.
     
  6. Duck Manson

    Duck Manson Member+

    Feb 8, 2005
    Club:
    Juventus FC
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    finally my man Massago :D the only milan player the last 20 years ive really loved. great stuff!

    any chance you could do my hero Andrea Fortunato? might be hard to find alot of stuff on him since his career was cut short, but he would have become an absolute Juve legend in my opinion. fantastic player.
     
  7. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Here's the coming attractions for the next players:

    1) Pierluigi Casiraghi
    2) Dino Baggio
    3) Paolo Di Canio
    4) Eugenio Corini
    5) Andrea Fortunato
     
  8. sardus_pater

    sardus_pater Member

    Mar 21, 2004
    Sardinia Italy EU
    Club:
    Cagliari Calcio
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Gianfranco Matteoli
    Pietro Paolo Virdis
     
  9. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Of course Sardus recommends two Sardinian players.... ;) Don't worry they'll get done...
     
  10. graysky

    graysky New Member

    Apr 16, 2005
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    for me is franco baresi
     
  11. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Alessandro "Billy" Costacurta

    [​IMG]
    An AC Milan defensive legend, Alessandro Costacurta continues to offer experience to the Rossoneri back line and is as reliable as ever when called upon.Born in Orago, near Varese, on April 24, 1966, (he'll be 39 on Sunday) he was something of a latecomer to international football who only made his debut in late 1991 against Norway. Costacurta was soon amassing caps though, eventually making 59 appearances for Italy, prior to his retirement in 1998, having played in the 1994 and 1998 FIFA World Cups, as well as EURO 96. In the 1998 World Cup he scored one of the penalties against France in the shoot-out loss. Costacurta was brought to Milan at the age of 20 in 1986, but was loaned out to Monza to gain experience. He played 30 games and Milan took him back. Costacurta has collected 20 major honours in his career, with the great Milan side of Arrigo Sacchi and its later incarnation under Fabio Capello, including six Serie A titles, four European Champion Clubs' Cup and two UEFA Super Cups. Costacurta has remained a Milan stalwart. The major disappointments of his brilliant career were the suspensions that caused him to miss the finals of both the UEFA Champions League and World Cup in 1994, although he has played in more major showpieces than almost any other player. Costacurta only ceased to be a regular in 2001/02, when serious knee injury ended the then 36-year-old's season early, and forced him to consider retirement for the first time. He added more medals to his tremendous haul as Milan lifted the Coppa Italia and Champions League in 2003, Costacurta playing 66 minutes of the Old Trafford final. His tally of 18 Serie A matches was his joint-lowest total since the 1987/88 season, however.
    The popular defender proved both his durability and continued effectiveness, with 22 starts in Serie A after the Champion's League win. He joined Paolo Maldini in establishing a new club record of seven championship successes, just reward for signing a new contract in December until summer 2005. He has 426 Serie A appearances and has only scored 2 goals. He hasn't scored a goal since 1992 (talk about a goal drought). He just signed a one-year contract extension this year, so he will be at Milan until June 2006, when he will be 40. He is nicknamed "Billy" because he is so tall he could be a Basketball player, and he resembled a player on the Milan basketball team who also had the nickname "billy".
     
  12. Leto

    Leto New Member

    Aug 23, 2001
    Donegal,Ireland
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    It's for stuff like this that I love this thread :)
     
  13. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Pierluigi Casiraghi

    [​IMG]
    Pierluigi Casiraghi was born in Monza on March 4, 1969. He refused many offers from big Italian teams for him to join their youth teams and decided to stay with Monza. He debuted for Monza in Serie B in the 85-86 season and scored 1 goal in 12 appearances. The next two seasons Monza played in Serie C1, and he amassed 18 goals in 55 appearances. They were promoted and in 88-89 he scored 9 goals in 29 games and was noticed by Italian giants Juventus. He was sold to Juventus and scored 4 goals in 23 appearances in his first season. He was nicknamed "The Little Bison" because he was small yet very strong and powerful. His headers were very powerful. He never really took off at Juve, only scoring 16 goals in the next three seasons. He was sold off to Lazio for the 93-94 campaign and paired up with Beppe Signori. He was involved in World Cup 1994 qualifying and his 4 goals in 26 appearances was enough to get him to WC 1994, except he never played a minute. The next 2 seasons were probably his best, he scored 12 goals the following season and played in every game. In 95-96 he scored 14 in 26 games. He played in Euro '96 that summer, but Italy were eliminated in the group stages. His last season at Lazio was 97-98, and then Italy coach Cesare Maldini favored the strike pair of Vieri-Casiraghi for qualifying. He scored against Russia to get Italy to France, but was not included, like many others, for the final Tournament squad. After 97-98 he was sold to Chelsea, following in the footsteps of other Italians like Vialli and Zola. He played 10 games but in his 10th game was seriously injured. He was ruled out for the season and has several operations. The injury ended his career and was forced to retire.
     
  14. 32 BoboVieri 32

    32 BoboVieri 32 Red Card

    Apr 23, 2005
    Catholica, Sicilia
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Wheres Vieri?
     
  15. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    I'm starting with older players first, then going for newer players...
     
  16. 32 BoboVieri 32

    32 BoboVieri 32 Red Card

    Apr 23, 2005
    Catholica, Sicilia
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Alright. (Cannavaro,Nesta,Vieri,Totti should b there :cool: )
     
  17. romanista31

    romanista31 New Member

    Apr 1, 2005
    Toronto, Canada
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    good work man but ur mising a view such as bruno conti, dino zoff, and paolo rossi and you might even wanan throw in francesco totti casue right now hes the best in italy and most likeley without a doubt top five in the world!

    FORZA TOTTI!

    And to the guy who posted above mine sorry man cannavarom vieri and nest i dun think so maybe just vieri and even that i doubt it.
     
  18. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Thanks for posting Romanista, but if you had read the thread from the beginning, you would've known the thread is for players that played from 1990-present. So Conti and Zoff, despite being great, are disqualified. Totti will be done in the future...
     
  19. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Dino Baggio

    [​IMG]

    First off, as many think when hearing about Dino Baggio for the first time, he is in no way, shape, or form related to Roberto Baggio. They just coincidently have the same name. But, let's get to Dino Baggio's facts. Dino Baggio was born on July 24, 1971 in a town named Camposampiero, near the city of Padova. He was spotted by AC Torino scouts when he was young and taken into the Torino youth squad. He made his debut as a 19 year old in the match Torino-Lazio. Ironically, he would later go on to play for Lazio. He then became a Torino regular and was a promising youngster. He was a defensive midfielder with strength, pace, and even could go up and score a goal or two. He was sold to Inter at the age of 20 in 1991 for the 1991-92 season. He also made his international debut against Cyprus. That was the same game Gianluca Pagliuca and Demetrio Albertini made their debuts. He attained 60 caps and 7 goals in his international career with the Azzurri. He also won the 1992 European U-21 Championship with the "Azzurrini", and palyed in the '92 Olympic games. At the end of the 91-92 season, Juventus bought the promising youngster. He played with city rivals Torino, and at first the fans did not like the move. His solid play won the fans over, and quickly became a mainstay in the Juventus midfield, winning a UEFA Cup in 1993. In 1994, He was called to the World Cup and played a prominent role in Italy's midfield, scoring a goal against Norway and a goal against Spain. Italy won both games. After the World Cup, Parma wanted to buy Dino Baggio. Be sure to read this interesting little story. At first, Dino Baggio rejected the offer by Parma and wanted to stay at Juventus. Juventus were ready to offer Parma youngster Alessandro Del Piero instead of Baggio. Parma accepted, and with Del Piero all ready to go to Parma, Dino Baggio thought over the decision and decided he would make the move to Parma. A little off-topic, but imagine if Del Piero went to Parma? Back to Dino Baggio. He moved to Parma for the 1994-95 season and even won the UEFA Cup in '95 for a second time. He played for Italy in Euro '96 and played every game in the 1998 World Cup. That was his last major tournament with the Azzurri. He stayed with Parma until the the 2000-2001 season was finished. In the summer of 2001, he was sold to Lazio.He was utilized very little in 2001-2002 and in 2002-2003, was loaned to Blackburn Rovers in England for the season. He was somewhat of a flop, only making 9 appearances. In 2003-2004, he was in talks with Wolverhampton Wanderers, newly promoted to the Premier League, over a loan deal. Instead, Lazio loaned him out to newly promoted Serie A side Ancona. He made 15 appearances and scored 2 goals, but Ancona finished dead last. He remained with Lazio for this season, but has not played a game yet in any competition. Who knows what the future will bring for former standout Dino Baggio...
     
  20. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Up next:

    Paolo Di Canio
    Eugenio Corini
    Andrea Fortunato
    Antonio Conte
    Gianfranco Matteoli
    Pietro Paolo Virdis
    Nicola Berti
     
  21. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Paolo Di Canio

    [​IMG]

    Paolo Di Canio was born on July 9th, 1968 in Italy's capital, Rome. He was a Lazio fan from birth, his father was also a Lazio fan and Di Canio went to the Olimpico many times as a youngster to watch the Biancocelesti play. He was also a good player and joined the Lazio youth academy. As a 17 year old, he was placed on Lazio's first team for the 1985/86 season, but never played a game all season. The next year he was loaned to Ternana to gain experience and played 27 games, scoring 2 goals. For the 1987/88 season he was brought back to Lazio, but still did not make one appearance. The 1988/89 season was finally Di Canio's breakout year, and played in 30 games, scoring 1 goal. He also played in 24 games for Lazio the following year and scored 3 goals. That summer, Juventus bought the young Roman and brought him to Turin. He spent 3 years with Juventus, attaining 78 appearances and 6 goals.
    For the 1993/94 season, he was sent on loan to Napoli. He made 26 appearances and scored 5 goals. He was sent back to Juventus for 1994/95 but never played a game until December when AC Milan bought Di Canio and he made 15 appearances in his first season, scoring one goal. In 1995/1996 he scored 5 goals in 22 appearances and won the Scudetto. After that season, he decided to go abroad. He made a move to Scotland's Celtic. He made an impact, scoring 12 goals in 26 games. He was a fan favorite, but fell out with the coach and was placed on the transfer list. Sheffield Wednesday decided to bring him to England. In 1997/98 he made 35 appearances and scored 12 goals, and in 1998/99 he stayed only until mid-season, but scored 3 goals in 6 games. He controversally pushed referee Paul Allcock after the referee decided to send him off. He was sold to West Ham in mid-season and these seasons at West Ham were probably the best in his career. He scored 4 goals in 13 games after arriving in December. The next season was his best ever, scoring 16 goals in 30 games. In Januray of the 2001-2002 season, Sir Alex Ferguson was actually interested in bringing Di Canio to Old Trafford to bolster his Champion's League hopes. But United could not offload Dwight Yorke, so they did not purchase Di Canio. Ferguson wasn't interested anymore in teh summer. Also at West Ham, he showed great sportsmanship. While playing a game, the goalkeeper was down, and a West Ham player crossed the ball to Di Canio, who had an open net. Di Canio, instead of scoring, caught the ball with his hands and stopped play. For this act, he won the Fifa Fair Play Award in 2002. 2002/2003 was his last for West Ham, scoring 9 goals in 18 games. At the end of the season, Charlton sigend him to a one year deal. He played 31 games and scored 4 goals, but did not extend his contract. For 2004/2005 he made a dream move by going to Lazio on a free transfer. He was the best player in the derby vs. Roma, leading Lazio to a 3-1 victory. He gave fascist salutes to the Lazio fans, and even has a chapter in his autobiography dedicated to Mussolini. He recieved a fine for his salutes. He hopes to end his career at Lazio. He currently has 9 goals in 19 games.
     
  22. Leto

    Leto New Member

    Aug 23, 2001
    Donegal,Ireland
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Was Di Canio more of a midfielder in his early career? I only saw him play from his Sheff Wed days on so I assumed he was always a withdrawn forward, but 6 goals in 78 appearances for Juve (and so on with the rest of his Italian clubs) isn't great for a forward, even when it's not his main job.
     
  23. Cassano

    Cassano Member

    Jul 16, 2004
    Club:
    AC Milan
    Nat'l Team:
    Italy
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    Yeah, he was more of a "creative midfielder" in his early career and didn't really score many goals. It was only later, when he came to British shores, that he was utilized more as a forward...
     
  24. 08_Lampard_08

    08_Lampard_08 New Member

    Apr 14, 2005
    Stamford Bridge
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    I can assure you Vieri has done more for his club and country then Totti has :D
     
  25. acmilan_barcelona

    acmilan_barcelona Nou Camp-San Siro

    May 11, 2002
    Barcelona Monteserat
    Re: The Great Italian Player Thread

    My greatest was Baggio straight from 1990 world cup when as an exciting youngster, Beppe was phenomenon, pure touch of class. Baresi to me remains the greatest sweeper of all time, he just revolutionalized the way we play sweeper till now. Great player. However i think Dino Baggio should be at the end of the list, and what about Enrico chiesa he had some great moments with the national team and club wise. salvatore schillaci was a superb too.

    some of my votes will go to roberto mussi and antonio benarrivo
     

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