Luca Marchegiani

Luca Marchegiani

Marchegiani in 2003
Personal information
Full name Luca Marchegiani
Date of birth (1966-02-22) February 22, 1966
Place of birth Ancona, Italy
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position Goalkeeper
Youth career
Jesi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1985 Jesi 0 (0)
1985–1986 → Aurora Latini (loan) 0 (0)
1986–1987 Jesi 33 (0)
1987–1988 Brescia 1 (0)
1988–1993 Torino 146 (0)
1993–2003 Lazio 243 (0)
2003–2005 Chievo 66 (0)
Total 489 (0)
National team
1992–1996 Italy 9 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Luca Marchegiani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluka markeˈdʒani]; born 22 February 1966) is an Italian former footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He represented several Italian clubs throughout his career, in particular Torino F.C. and S.S. Lazio, where he won several titles. At international level, he represented the Italian national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the final. He currently holds the joint seventh-highest unbeaten streak in Serie A, alongside Morgan De Sanctis and Gianluigi Buffon, having gone 745 consecutive minutes with out conceding a goal in the Italian top division.[1]

Club career

After beginning his professional career with Jesi in 1986, for one season in the lower divisions, and subsequently Brescia for a season, in Serie B, Marchegiani spent the majority of his career at Torino F.C. and S.S. Lazio. With Torino (1988–1993), he won the Coppa Italia in 1993, and a Serie B title and a Mitropa Cup in 1991, earning promotion to Serie A; he also finished runner-up in the 1993 Supercoppa Italiana and the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, and managed a third-place finish in Serie A during the 1991–92 season, whilst playing for the club.[2]

At one point in his career, Marchegiani was the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, when he joined Lazio from Torino in 1993 for £6m;[3] during this period he was regarded as one of the best and most reliable goalkeepers in Italy and in world football. During his time with Lazio he won the Serie A, two Italian Cups, two Italian Supercups, an UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and an UEFA Super Cup, also reaching another UEFA Cup Final in 1998. In 2003 he moved to and ended his playing career at Chievo Verona, where he remained until retiring in 2005.[2]

International career

Marchegiani played for Italy national football team on 9 occasions between 1991 and 1999, and was a participant at the 1994 FIFA World Cup under manager Arrigo Sacchi, where, despite being Italy's second choice keeper, he played in three matches,[4] including two in the group phase. His first appearance was as a substitute against Norway, following the sending off of first choice Gianluca Pagliuca, coming on for Roberto Baggio, and helping the 10-man Italian squad to keep a clean sheet and win the match 1–0. He also appeared in the final group match against Mexico (a 1–1 draw), and in the 2–1 extra-time victory over Nigeria in the round of 16.[5] Italy reached the final where they lost to Brazil on penalties.[6]

Style of play

A consistent, intelligent, composed and complete goalkeeper, during his prime, Marchegiani was regarded as one of the best goalkeepers in the world as one of the greatest Italian goalkeepers of his generation. He was known in particular for his agility, positional sense, reactions, and his speed when rushing off his line, as well as his efficient technique, reliable handling, and his ability to read the game; in particular, he stood out throughout his career for his outstanding ability to come out and claim crosses. In addition to his shot-stopping abilities, he was also remembered for his professionalism, as well as his dedication.[2][7][8][9][10][11][12] Although he was initially not particularly adept or confident with the ball at his feet following the establishment of the back-pass rule, he possessed excellent vision, and later worked to improve this aspect of his game, and his distribution and ball skills showed notable developments throughout his career.[13] He was also effective at stopping penalties; in his career, he stopped 18 penalties in Serie A from 69 attempts, with a career save percentage of 26.1%; during the 2003–04 season, he saved five spot kicks.[14][15] Despite his goalkeeping ability, in his later years, he earned a reputation for being error-prone.[16]

Retirement

Marchegiani currently works as a pundit for Sky Italia. He features in the Pro Evolution Soccer series from the 2012 edition as technical commentator, with Pierluigi Pardo until the 2014 edition, and with Fabio Caressa from the 2015 edition.

Honours

Club

Torino F.C.[17]
S.S. Lazio[17]

International

Italy[18]

References

  1. ↑ "Strisce di imbattibilità: Buffon sesto" [Unbeaten streaks: Buffon sixth] (in Italian). Eurosport. 22 December 2013. Retrieved 30 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 Enrico Maida. "Treccani: MARCHEGIANI, Luca" (in Italian). Treccani: Enciclopedia dello Sport (2002). Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  3. ↑ £9m custodian who breaks football's No 1 rule
  4. ↑ FIFA Player Statistics: Luca Marchegiani
  5. ↑ "1994 FIFA World Cup USA". FIFA.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Nazionale in cifre: Marchegiani, Luca". www.figc.it (in Italian). Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  7. ↑ "Luca Marchegiani: "storia di un portiere vero".". Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  8. ↑ "Sarti vota Marchegiani" (in Italian). La Stampa. 26 February 1995. p. 41. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  9. ↑ Alessio Bernardini (10 February 2013). "Marchegiani svela: "Ho avuto la possibilità di giocare nella Roma, ma...". Poi su Gascoigne..." (in Italian). lalaziosiamonoi.it. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  10. ↑ Bruno Bernardi (11 November 1991). "In porta si cambia Marchegiani spera" (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 15. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  11. ↑ LICIA GRANELLO (7 July 1994). "LA PARTITA DEI PORTIERI E' COMINCIATA" (in Italian). La Repubblica. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  12. ↑ Giorgio Dell’Arti (6 May 2014). "Luca Marchegiani" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "Intervista a Luca Marchegiani: "Giocare con i piedi, che trauma!"" (in Italian). Il Numero 1. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Davide Martini (27 January 2014). "I 7 portieri pararigori della storia della Serie A" (in Italian). Today.it. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  15. ↑ Tomaselli Paolo (25 October 2008). "Rigori, riparte la sfida degli Infallibili" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  16. ↑ "IL PAGELLONE Punti di (s)vista sul massimo campionato italiano di calcio" (in Italian). La Gazzetta GialloRossa.it. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  17. 1 2 "Luca Marchegiani" (in French). Eurosport. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  18. ↑ "L. Marchegiani". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
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