Guglielmo Stendardo (born 6 May 1981) is an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

and former player, who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

. He is currently in charge as head coach of

Eccellenza The Eccellenza (, "excellence") is the fifth level (since 2014–15) of Italian football. It is a regional league, composed of 28 divisions divided geographically. All 20 regions are represented by at least one division except for Piedmont and Ao ...

amateurs LUISS.

Club career

Early career

Stendardo began his career at

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

in 1997 and has played for a number of top Italian football clubs, including

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, ...

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, as well as early spells with

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919, commonly referred to as Salernitana, is an Italian football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recentl ...

and

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

; during his time with the latter club, he was sent on loan to

Catania Catania (, , Sicilian and ) is the second largest municipality in Sicily, after Palermo. Despite its reputation as the second city of the island, Catania is the largest Sicilian conurbation, among the largest in Italy, as evidenced also by ...

for the 2003–04 season.

Journeyman: Lazio, Juventus return and Lecce

Stendardo was signed by S.S. Lazio in August 2005 on a free transfer. His previous club

A.C. Perugia Associazione Calcistica Perugia Calcio, or simply Perugia, is a professional football club based in Perugia, Umbria, Italy, that competes in the . Founded in 1905 as Associazione Calcistica Perugia, the club folded in 2005 and were re-founded t ...

, went bankrupted at the start of 2005–06 season. After a 3–2 defeat to Juventus in late 2007, Stendardo had a falling-out with Lazio manager

Delio Rossi Delio Rossi (born 26 January 1960) is an Italian football manager and former footballer who played as a midfielder. He was most recently in charge as head coach of Serie B club Ascoli. Playing career Rossi was born in Rimini. His playing career ...

and demanded a transfer during the January 2008 transfer window. In January 2008, Juventus officially announced the signing of Stendardo to a 6-month loan deal, for €400,000, with an option to buy him outright in the summer. On 1 September he was loaned to

Lecce Lecce ( ); el, label=Griko, Luppìu, script=Latn; la, Lupiae; grc, Λουπίαι, translit=Loupíai), group=pron is a historic city of 95,766 inhabitants (2015) in southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Lecce, the province ...

in a one-year deal, and spent the 2008–09 season with the ''Giallorossi'' with little success, as the side went relegated to Serie B. Stendardo then returned to Lazio at the end of the season, and played 33 Serie A games for the club during the next 2 seasons.

Atalanta

After making no appearances in 2011–12, he left for

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

in January 2012, on loan until June. In August, he was bought outright by ''La Dea''.

Coaching career

In August 2021, Stendardo took over on his first role as a first team manager, coaching

amateurs LUISS, the football branch of the

Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli Libera Università Internazionale degli Studi Sociali "Guido Carli" (Italian for ''Free International University of Social Studies "Guido Carli"''), known by the acronym "LUISS" or "LUISS Guido Carli", is a prestigious private university loca ...

Style of play

Despite his lack of pace or notable technical skills, Stendardo has made a name for himself as a large, tall, physically strong and tenacious

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

defender.

Personal life

Stendardo's brother,

Mariano Mariano is a masculine name from the Romance languages, corresponding to the feminine Mariana. It is an Italian, Spanish and Portuguese variant of the Roman Marianus which derived from Marius, and Marius derived from the Roman god Mars (see also ...

, is also a footballer. During his playing career, Guglielmo managed to obtain a law degree; in December 2012, he was the source of controversy when he pulled out of a

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

match against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council *Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

in order to sit an exam in Salerno for his law degree, and was subsequently fined by Atalanta.

References

External links

Gazzetta profile
*
FIGC International stats

Guglielmo Stendardo
at Topforward {{DEFAULTSORT:Stendardo, Guglielmo 1981 births Living people Footballers from Naples Italian footballers Serie A players Serie B players S.S.C. Napoli players U.C. Sampdoria players U.S. Salernitana 1919 players Catania S.S.D. players A.C. Perugia Calcio players S.S. Lazio players Juventus F.C. players U.S. Lecce players Atalanta B.C. players Delfino Pescara 1936 players Association football central defenders