Jonathan Bachini (; born 5 June 1975) is an Italian former footballer who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

In his earlier years, Bachini was considered a promising midfielder, even making two appearances for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team () has represented Italy in men's international Association football, football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing body for fo ...

in 1998, under manager

Dino Zoff Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is the oldest ever ...

; an offensive winger with good feet and goalscoring ability, he was known in particular for his speed, work-rate, strength, and stamina. Throughout his club career, Bachini played for

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

Juventus FC Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

, and

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. While at Juventus he helped them win the

1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup The 1999 UEFA Intertoto Cup finals were won by Montpellier, Juventus, and West Ham United. All three teams advanced to the UEFA Cup. Qualified teams First round First leg ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ...

. On 3 July 2001, he joined

from Juve as part of

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is ...

's deal. However, Bachini returned to Brescia on loan in September 2001, with

Aimo Diana Aimo Stefano Diana (; born 2 January 1978) is an Italian football manager and a former player. A player of wide range, he was capable of playing both as a wide midfielder or as a defender on the right flank. He is the head coach of club Union ...

moved to opposite direction. The loan was renewed in June 2002. In July 2003 Brescia finally signed Bachini outright, along with Parma teammate

Matuzalém Matuzalém Francelino da Silva (born 10 June 1980), commonly known as just Matuzalém, is a Brazilian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder. Club career Early career Matuzalém began his career at Salvador-based Vit� ...

Drug bans

On 22 September 2004 Bachini tested positive for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

usage while at Brescia; on 25 November 2004, he was suspended for 9 months. Following the termination of his suspension, he was acquired by Siena in 2005; in January 2006, however, Bachini's urine sample collected from the match against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

on 4 December 2005 tested positive for cocaine again, and as a result, he was banned for life by the

Italian Football Federation The Italian Football Federation (, ; FIGC ), known colloquially as (), is the governing body of football in Italy. It is based in Rome and Centro Tecnico Federale di Coverciano, the technical department is in Coverciano, Florence. It manages a ...

(FIGC) as of 10 January 2006.

References

External links

Serie A profile
1975 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers Footballers from Livorno Serie A players Serie B players SS Juve Stabia players US Lecce players Udinese Calcio players Juventus FC players Brescia Calcio players Parma Calcio 1913 players Siena FC SSD players Italian sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in association football Men's association football midfielders Sportspeople banned for life 20th-century Italian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-midfielder-1970s-stub

Club career

Drug bans

See also

References

External links