Giancarlo Antognoni

Giancarlo Antognoni

Personal information
Full name	Giancarlo Antognoni
Date of birth	(1954-04-01) 1 April 1954
Place of birth	Marsciano, Italy
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Attacking Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1970–1972	Astimacobi	27	(4)
1972–1987	Fiorentina	341	(61)
1987–1989	Lausanne Sports	51	(7)
Total		419	(72)
National team
1974–1983	Italy	73	(7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Giancarlo Antognoni, (Italian pronunciation: [dʒaŋˈkarlo antoɲˈɲoni]; born 1 April 1954 in Marsciano) is a former Italian footballer. His position was that of an attacking midfielder and he played most of his career with Fiorentina. He won the 1982 FIFA World Cup with the Italian national team. On the 11th October 2010, he was awarded the "Legends of football" Golden Foot award.^[1] Antognoni is regarded as one of the best Italian players of his generation, and as one of the best Italian advanced playmakers of all time, due to his vision, control, technical ability, and accurate passing range. He was also a fast and elegant player when dribbling with the ball, and he was capable of passing or striking the ball accurately with both feet and from set pieces.^[2]

Clubs

His career started in the Italian Serie D with the club of Astimacobi, when he was only sixteen. In 1972, Nils Liedholm convinced him to join Fiorentina.

He made his debut in Italian Serie A in October 1972 with Fiorentina whom he later captained. He won the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) during the 1974-75 season, as well as the 1975 Anglo-Italian League Cup that season, over West Ham. He narrowly missed out on the Serie A title with Fiorentina during the 1981-82 season, losing out to rivals Juventus by a single point on the final match-day. Antognoni played 412 games with Fiorentina and scored 61 goals. Antognoni is regarded as a Fiorentina legend, and as one of the club's best ever players, as he played for the club throughout his entire Italian professional career between the 70s and 80s. He holds the record for the most appearances in Serie A for Fiorentina, with 341 appearances.^[3]

In 1987, Antognoni joined Lausanne Sports. He made 51 appearances and scored 7 goals. He retired in 1989 while at Lausanne.

National team

Antognoni's senior international career with Italy started on the 20th November 1974, in a 3-1 away loss to the The Netherlands at the age of twenty, in a Euro 1976 qualifying match. Antognoni took part in the 1978 World Cup with Italy, where the team finished in fourth place after a semi-final defeat to the Netherlands. He also reached another fourth place finish at the 1980 European Championship on home soil. His greatest achievement with the national team came when he won the 1982 FIFA World Cup, however. Antognoni made six appearances throughout the tournament, including the semi-final match against Poland, but he was not able to participate in the final due to an injury sustained in the semi-final.

In total, he received 73 caps for Italy, scoring 7 goals. His last appearance came against Czechoslovakia, on the 16th November 1983. He captained of the national team on four occasions. Antognoni is currently the Fiorentina player with the most appearances for the national side.^[4]

Club statistics

^[5]

National team statistics

^[6]

Honours

Club

Fiorentina

• Coppa Italia: 1974-75.

International

Italy

• FIFA World Cup: 1982

Individual

• Golden Foot "Football Legends": 2010^[7]

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Giancarlo Antognoni.

• Official Website (Italian)

Italy squad – 1978 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Zoff (c) 2 Bellugi 3 Cabrini 4 Cuccureddu 5 Gentile 6 Maldera 7 Manfredonia 8 Scirea 9 Antognoni 10 Benetti 11 Pecci 12 Conti 13 P. Sala 14 Tardelli 15 Zaccarelli 16 Causio 17 C. Sala 18 Bettega 19 Graziani 20 Pulici 21 Rossi 22 Bordon Coach: Bearzot

Italy squad – UEFA Euro 1980 Fourth Place 1 Zoff (c) 2 F. Baresi 3 G. Baresi 4 Bellugi 5 Cabrini 6 Collovati 7 Gentile 8 Maldera 9 Scirea 10 Antognoni 11 Benetti 12 Bordon 13 Buriani 14 Oriali 15 Tardelli 16 Zaccarelli 17 Altobelli 18 Bettega 19 Causio 20 Graziani 21 Pruzzo 22 Galli Coach: Bearzot

Italy squad – 1982 FIFA World Cup Winners (3rd Title) 1 Zoff (c) 2 Baresi 3 Bergomi 4 Cabrini 5 Collovati 6 Gentile 7 Scirea 8 Vierchowod 9 Antognoni 10 Dossena 11 Marini 12 Bordon 13 Oriali 14 Tardelli 15 Causio 16 Conti 17 Massaro 18 Altobelli 19 Graziani 20 Rossi 21 Selvaggi 22 Galli Coach: Bearzot