Stefano Colantuono

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Personal information
Stefano Colantuono
Full name	Stefano Colantuono
Date of birth	October 23, 1962 (age 44)
Place of birth	Rome, Italy
Playing position	Manager
Club information
Current club	Atalanta
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1981-1983 1983-1984 1984-1985 1985-1986 1986-1988 1988-1989 1989-1991 1991-1992 1992-1993 1993-1994 1994-1995 1995-1999 1999-2000 2000-2001	Velletri Ternana Arezzo Pisa Avellino Como Ascoli BNL Roma (futsal) Frosinone Fermana Sambenedettese Maceratese Sestrese Sambenedettese	46 (2) 16 (3) 36 (1) 24 (0) 53 (2) 23 (1) 38 (0) ? (?) 27 (1) 28 (5) 25 (2) 112 (6) 34 (2) 31 (5)
Teams managed
2001-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005-	Sambenedettese Catania Perugia Atalanta
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Stefano Colantuono (born October 23, 1962 in Rome) is an Italian football (soccer) manager. He is currently head coach of Serie A club Atalanta.

[edit] Playing career

Colantuono, a centre back, started his playing career for Serie D side Velletri in 1981. In 1983 he moved to Ternana of Serie C1, then Arezzo of Serie B, and finally made his Serie A debut for Pisa. He played Serie A until 1990 for several teams. In 1991 he accepted to play in the national futsal league for BNL Roma, winning a scudetto. Following this experience, Colantuono played mostly at lower levels, especially Serie C2 and Serie D, and even Eccellenza for Sambenedettese in 1994/1995. After a long list of experiences in different Italian regions, Colantuono returned to play for Sambenedettese in November 2000, leading his team to an immediate promotion to Serie C2.

[edit] Managing career

The 2001/2002 Serie C2 season for Sambenedettese was going to be very hard, with two coaches fired throughout the season. After the sack of third coach Enrico Nicolini, Colantuono, a player for the team, was appointed to manage Sambenedettese together with Gabriele Matricciani for the last nine matches. Surprisingly, Colantuono managed to win all these nine matches, leading his team to a fifth place, qualifying and successively even winning the promotion playoffs.

Colantuono's Serie C1 coaching debut, in 2002/2003, ended in another fifth place, securing a place in the promotion playoff, then lost to Pescara. In the meanwhile, Luciano Gaucci, owner of Sambenedettese, Serie B team Catania and Serie A team Perugia at the time, appointed Colantuono at the helm of the Sicilian side. Colantuono, again supported by Matricciani because of his lack of a regular coaching license, led Catania to a fairly good season in ninth place. In 2004/2005, after Catania was sold by the Gaucci family, Colantuono, finally authorized to act as first team coach, signed for Perugia, just relegated to Serie B. He led the team to a spot in the promotion playoff, then lost to Torino. After the cancellation of Perugia, in 2005/2006 Colantuono accepted the offer of Atalanta, leading the nerazzurri to a clear Serie B win. He is now coaching Atalanta in Serie A with good results.