Massimo Bonini

Massimo Bonini

Personal information
Full name	Massimo Bonini
Date of birth	13 October 1959 (1959-10-13)
Place of birth	San Marino, San Marino
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position	Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1973–1977	Juvenes
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1977–1978	Bellaria Igea	33	(1)
1978–1979	Forlì	23	(1)
1979–1981	Cesena	60	(5)
1981–1988	Juventus	192	(5)
1988–1992	Bologna	112	(5)
National team
1980–1983	Italy U-21	9	(0)
1990–1995	San Marino	19	(0)
Teams managed
1996–1998	San Marino
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Massimo Bonini (born 13 October 1959 in San Marino) is a retired Sanmarinese footballer and coach, who played as a midfielder for Italian sides Bellaria Igea Marina, Forlì, Cesena, Juventus and Bologna.

Bonini played for Juventus between 1981 and 1988, in which he played 296 matches and scored 6 goals. He won 3 Scudetti, 1 Italian Cup, 1 European Champion Clubs' Cup, 1 Cup Winners' Cup, 1 European Super Cup and 1 Intercontinental Cup. He is the only Sanmarinese footballer to have won a European Cup.

Since the San Marino Football Federation was not officially recognised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) until 1990, players from San Marino were assimilated to Italian players. For this reason, Bonini was entitled to play for the Italian Football Federation and actually played for the Italian Under-21 football team. Since he always refused to give up the citizenship of San Marino, he had to wait until 1990 in order to play for San Marino’s first team, winning 19 full caps since then. He was also briefly the national coach of the San Marino national team after retirement.

For its 50th anniversary in 2004, UEFA asked each of its 52 member associations to nominate one player as the single most outstanding player of the period 1954–2003, and Bonini was chosen as the Golden Player of San Marino by the San Marino Football Federation in November 2003.[1]

External links

• UEFA.com's article on San Marino's Golden Player