Claudio Gentile

Claudio Gentile

Personal information
Date of birth	27 September 1953 (1953-09-27)
Place of birth	Tripoli, Kingdom of Libya
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Central Defender, Full back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1971–1972	Arona	34	(4)
1972–1973	Varese	34	(1)
1973–1984	Juventus	283	(9)
1984–1987	Fiorentina	70	(0)
1987–1988	Piacenza	20	(0)
Total		441	(14)
National team
1975–1984	Italy	71	(1)
Teams managed
2000–2006	Italy U-21
Honours Competitor for Italy Men's Football Bronze 2004 Athens Team Competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Claudio Gentile (Italian pronunciation: [ˈklaudjo dʒenˈtile]; born in Libya, 27 September 1953 from a Sicilian family). Is an Italian football coach and former defender of the 1970s and 1980s. Gentile appeared for Italy in two World Cup tournaments, including playing in the winning Italian team in the 1982 final. His club career was notably spent with Juventus for whom he made almost 300 league appearances, winning six national titles and two major European trophies.

Club career

In 1972–73 he played in Serie B with Varese.

He then moved to Juventus and first played for them in a Coppa Italia match against Ascoli Calcio on 29 August 1973, with his Serie A debut following on 2 December 1973 against Verona. In all he played 414 senior matches for Juventus, including 283 in Serie A. In over a decade in Turin, Gentile won two major European club competitions (1976-77 UEFA Cup and 1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup), six Serie A championships, and two Coppa Italias.

In 1984 he moved to Fiorentina where he spent three further years in Serie A, and he then played a final season in Serie B with Piacenza before retiring.

International career

Gentile was capped on 71 occasions by Italy between 1975 and 1984.

He man-marked Diego Maradona in a match at the 1982 World Cup, after which he famously quipped, "Football is not for ballerinas!"

Coach

Gentile later coached the Italy national under-21 football team which won the 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship, and the under-23 team which won a bronze at the Athens Olympic Football 2004.

Playing honours

• FIFA World Cup: 1982
• UEFA Cup: 1976–77
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1983–84
• Serie A: 1974–75, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84
• Coppa Italia: 1978–79, 1982–83
• Coppa Italia: 1978–79, 1982–83

External links

• Interview at FIFA.com