Antonio Cabrini (; born 8 October 1957) is an Italian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

and a former

player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

. He played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, mainly with

Juventus 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 ...

. He won the

1982 FIFA World Cup The 1982 FIFA World Cup was the 12th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in Spain from 13 June to 11 July 1982. The tournament was won by Italy national footbal ...

with the Italy national team. Cabrini was nicknamed ''Bell'Antonio'' ("beautiful Antonio"), because of his popularity as a charismatic and good-looking football player. On the field, he made a name for himself as one of Italy's greatest defenders ever, and is remembered in particular for forming one of the most formidable defensive units of all time with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and Juventus, alongside goalkeeper Dino Zoff, as well as defenders Claudio Gentile and Gaetano Scirea. Cabrini won the Best Young Player Award at the 1978 World Cup, after helping Italy manage a fourth-place finish, and also represented Italy at Euro 1980, once again finishing in fourth place. He is one of the few players to have won all UEFA Club competitions, an achievement he managed with Juventus. In 2021, he was inducted into the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

Club career

Cabrini was born in

Cremona Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

, Lombardy. He made his professional football debut with the local team U.S. Cremonese in the

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

during the 1973–74 season, making three appearances and gaining a starting place the following 1974–75 season. In the 1975–76 season, he played in the

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

for

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, and in the summer of 1976 he was acquired by Juventus, the team for which he was to spend most of his career. With Juventus, he won the

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 ...

six times, the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

two times, one

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

, one

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, one

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and one Intercontinental European/South American Cup. In his final season with Juventus, he also captained the side, after inheriting the armband from Scirea. In 1989, after 13 successful seasons with the Turin club, he moved to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

for two more years before retiring as a player. He played a total of 352 Serie A matches (297 of them with Juventus), scoring 35 goals (33 of them with Juventus).

International career

Cabrini was called up to Italy's being part of the list of 20 players to participate in the 1978 FIFA World Cup despite being uncapped (he however, had 23 caps for junior teams). He earned his first cap on 2 June 1978, in Italy's opening game against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, which ended in a 2–1 win for the "Azzurri"; Italy went on to finish the tournament in fourth place, and Cabrini was named the Best Young Player of the Tournament. He soon became an international regular for the next nine years; he participated as a starter in all of Italy's games in three consecutive World Cups: in 1978, 1982 and 1986. Overall, Cabrini played 18 games during World Cup final stages, winning the 1982 edition despite missing a penalty in the final against

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

. He also represented Italy at Euro 1980 as a starter on home soil, finishing the tournament in fourth place, after reaching the semi-finals. Cabrini was part of the 1982 World Cup-winning team that included goalkeeper Dino Zoff, Gaetano Scirea, Giuseppe Bergomi, Claudio Gentile in defense,

Marco Tardelli Marco Tardelli (; born 24 September 1954) is an Italian former football player and manager. At club level, he played as a midfielder for several Italian clubs; he began his career with Pisa, and later played for Como, Juventus, and Internazion ...

and Bruno Conti in midfield, and Cabrini's Juventus teammate

Paolo Rossi Paolo Rossi (; 23 September 1956 – 9 December 2020) was an Italian professional association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He led Italy national football team, Italy to the 1982 FIFA World Cup t ...

in attack. Cabrini had a strong performance throughout the tournament, helping to lead his country to win the title, keeping two clean sheets throughout the tournament, but also scoring the crucial match-winning goal in Italy's 2–1 second round win over defending champions

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. In total, he earned 73 caps for his country and scored nine goals (an Italy international record for a defender), ending his career with the ''Azzurri'' in October 1987, earning his final appearance on 17 October 1987, in a 0–0 draw against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. He also captained the national side ten times.

Style of play

A fast and powerful attacking left-back, Cabrini is considered one of the greatest full-backs of his generation and of all time, as well as being regarded as one of the best defenders in the history of Italian football. A former left winger, he was also capable of playing on the left side of an attacking trident; he was later switched to left-back by his manager Ivanoe "Babo" Nolli during his time with the Cremonese youth side. Cabrini's attacking prowess, eye for goal, intelligence, and crossing ability, along with his passing, flair and technical ability, enabled him to revolutionise the role of the modern full-back in Italian football, and he added a new attacking dimension to the position: he was known for being prolific in front of goal, despite his defensive playing role, courtesy of his striking ability from distance, and his ability to make attacking runs up the flank; due to his timing and elevation, he was also strong in the air, and was an effective free kick and penalty kick taker. These skills, combined with his precociousness, consistency, and defensive ability, as well as his athletic, and physical qualities, made of him one of the best full-backs in the world in his prime. Despite his popularity off the pitch and open character, he was known for being a man of few words throughout his career; moreover he also stood out for his discipline as a footballer, as he neither smoked nor drank.

Managerial career

Club coaching career

Cabrini started a coaching career in 2000 with

Serie C1 Serie C1 was the third highest football league in Italy. It consisted of 36 teams, divided geographically into two divisions. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Se ...

club

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, replacing Serse Cosmi and losing promotion on playoffs. He then coached

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

with little fortune, and later served as head coach for Serie C1 clubs

Pisa Pisa ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Tuscany, Central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for the Leaning Tow ...

and

Novara Novara (; Novarese Lombard, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont (Italy), Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous ...

, although with dismal results. He was announced to become the head coach of the Syria national team in September 2007, but soon after the announcement, problems started in the Syrian FA between the board of Directors and the Syrian National Teams Sponsors and thus the agreement with Cabrini was finally terminated in February 2008, before he actually managed the team. He was planned to take the Syrian team through the World Cup 2010 Qualifiers and to make a preparation camp in Italy, but all that was canceled after the financial problems within the FA.

Italy women's national team

On 14 May 2012, Cabrini was appointed coach of Italy women's national team. On 4 August 2017, after five years as coach, he was replaced by Milena Bertolini.

Personal life

Later in 2008, he briefly contested the Italian TV reality show '' L'Isola dei Famosi'' (localized version of Celebrity Survivor). In June 2009 he entered politics by joining

Italy of Values Italy of Values (, IdV) is a populist and anti-corruption political party in Italy. The party was founded in 1998 by former ''Mani pulite'' prosecutor Antonio Di Pietro, who entered politics in 1996 and finally left the party in 2014. IdV has ai ...

, as party responsible for sports issues in the

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 ...

region.

Honours

Juventus *

: 1976–77, 1977–78, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1983–84, 1985–86 *

: 1978–79, 1982–83 * Intercontinental Cup:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a n ...

: 1984–85 *

: Runner-up: 1982–83 *

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

: 1983–84 *

: 1976–77 *

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

Italy *

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

1982 Events January * January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00). * January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street Bridge in Washington, D.C. ...

: Semi-finals:

1978 Events January * January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213. * January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd ...

UEFA European Football Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

: Semi-finals:

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...

Individual * FIFA World Cup Best Young Player Award:

*''Sport Ideal European XI'': 1978, 1979, 1980 * Onze Mondial: 1978, 1982, 1983, 1985 * Serie A Team of The Year: 1982, 1984, 1986 * Italian Football Hall of Fame: 2021

References

External links

Profile and Statistics
on the Italian FA website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cabrini, Antonio 1957 births Living people Footballers from Cremona Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Italian football managers US Cremonese players Atalanta BC players Juventus FC players Bologna FC 1909 players UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League–winning players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players FC Crotone managers Pisa SC managers Novara FC managers SS Arezzo managers 1978 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 1980 players 1982 FIFA World Cup players FIFA World Cup–winning players 1986 FIFA World Cup players Participants in Italian reality television series Italy women's national football team managers Men's association football fullbacks 20th-century Italian sportsmen