Bruno Giordano (; born 13 August 1956) is an Italian

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 former player, who was deployed as a forward and is mostly remembered for winning the title of Serie A capocannoniere (top goalscorer) achieved with

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 ...

as well as for his successful time at

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. Giordano was a prolific striker with good technique and

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

ability, and also possessed an accurate and powerful shot with either foot; due to his characteristics, he was regarded as the heir of

Giorgio Chinaglia Giorgio Chinaglia (; 24 January 1947 – 1 April 2012) was an Italian association football, footballer who played as a striker (association football), striker. He grew up and played his early football in Cardiff, Wales, and began his career with ...

Club career

Born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Giordano played for most of his career with

, debuting 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 ...

on 5 October 1975. He soon established himself as one of the most effective Italian strikers, winning the Serie A capocannoniere title during the 1978–79 season, scoring 19 goals. In 1980, he was arrested under the charge of participating in the national footballing betting scandal, and he was banned from the Italian championship until 1982. Lazio had been demoted to 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 ...

following their involvement in the scandal, and upon his return to competitive football, Giordano became the Serie B top goalscorer during the 1982–83 season, helping his team to finish in second place behind

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

to re-gain promotion to Serie A the following season. He is currently Lazio's all-time top goalscorer in 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 ...

. In 1985, Giordano was sold to

for 5 billion lire. In

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, along with

Diego Maradona Diego Armando Maradona Franco (30 October 196025 November 2020) was an Argentine professional association football, football player and manager. Widely regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport, he was one of the two ...

and later Careca, he formed the famed "Ma-Gi-Ca" front line. Giordano was instrumental in Napoli's first historical ''

scudetto The ''scudetto'' (; Italian for 'little shield') is a decoration having the colors of the flag of Italy which is sewn onto the jersey of the Italian sports clubs that won the highest level championship of their respective sport in the previous ...

'' win of

1987 Events January * January 1 – Bolivia reintroduces the Boliviano currency. * January 2 – Chadian–Libyan conflict – Battle of Fada: The Military of Chad, Chadian army destroys a Libyan armoured brigade. * January 3 – Afghan leader ...

; he also helped the team to win a rare domestic double that season by capturing the 1987 Coppa Italia that year, finishing as the top scorer of the competition with ten goals. He later played for

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 ...

and Ascoli, before turning to a coaching career.

International career

Giordano represented Italy at U-21 level, scoring eight goals in 16 appearances level, and under manager

Azeglio Vicini Azeglio Vicini (; 20 March 1933 – 30 January 2018) was an Italian football coach and player, who also served as the President of the Technical Sector of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). One of Italy's most important coaches during ...

, he was called up as an over-aged member of the team in the 1978 European Under-21 Championship (where the squad reached the quarter finals). He also made three appearances for Italy's Olympic squad, scoring twice. Giordano made his senior Italy national team debut on 5 December 1978, coming on as a substitute for Francesco Graziani in a 1–0 friendly victory over

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, and playing alongside

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 ...

. He was capped 13 times for Italy in total, scoring one goal in a 3–0 friendly win over

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

; despite his success at club level, he never represented Italy at a major tournament, and only two of his international appearances came in competitive matches, with both being

UEFA Euro 1984 qualifying The qualifying round for the 1984 European Football Championship consisted of 32 teams divided into seven groups; three of four teams and four of five teams. The qualifying round was played at various times between May 1982 and December 1983, wi ...

matches.

Managerial career

Giordano's managing career before coaching Messina was somewhat modest, starting in 1993–94 with

Monterotondo Monterotondo is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Rome, central Italy. History According to some historians, Monterotondo is the heir of the ancient Sabine town of Eretum, although the modern settlement appeared in the 10th-11th c ...

Serie D The Serie D () is the highest level of semi-professional football in Italy, and the fourth tier of the Italian national league system. It sits beneath the third and lowest fully professional league, Serie C, and feeds in to it through promotion ...

, where he obtained his first (and only) promotion in 1996–97 to coach

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 ...

(from Serie D to

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 ...

2). Sacked six times in his career, he remained unemployed. After a good season with Reggiana in 2004–05, he ended in fifth place despite his club's serious financial troubles, which then led to its cancellation. In January 2006, he was called to coach the last-place

team

Catanzaro Catanzaro (; or ; ), also known as the "City of the two Seas" (), is an Italian city of 86,183 inhabitants (2020), the capital of the Calabria region and of its province and the second most populated comune of the region, behind Reggio Calabr ...

, in a situation widely similar to Reggiana's. Notably, Catanzaro was relegated to Serie C in that season, and declared bankruptcy soon after. In the summer of 2006, Giordano was announced as the new coach of

Messina Messina ( , ; ; ; ) is a harbour city and the capital city, capital of the Italian Metropolitan City of Messina. It is the third largest city on the island of Sicily, and the 13th largest city in Italy, with a population of 216,918 inhabitants ...

, just relegated to Serie B. However, following the

2006 Serie A scandal ''Calciopoli'' () was a sports scandal in Italy's top professional association football league Serie A, and to a lesser extent, Serie B. The scandal centered on the manipulation of referee appointments to favor certain clubs during the 2004- ...

, Messina was readmitted to Serie A, therefore allowing Giordano to finally coach a top division side. On 30 January 2007, following a series of poor results including a home loss to last-place Ascoli, Giordano was sacked, but then reappointed by Messina chairman Pietro Franza on 2 April, following the firing of the replacement coach Alberto Cavasin. In his second tenure at Messina, Giordano lost all four matches before being sacked again on 23 April, only 21 days after his reappointment. He was replaced by Bruno Bolchi. In April 2009 he was appointed by

club

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 ...

to replace Giampiero Ventura as head coach of the ''nerazzurri''. He then briefly served as head coach of

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in 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 ...

club Ternana in 2011. From the end of October 2013 he was the coach of Ascoli, departing in 2014.

Honours

Napoli *

: 1986–87 *

: 1986–87 Individual * Serie A top scorer: 1978–79 *

top scorer: 1986–87 *

top scorer: 1982–83

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Giordano, Bruno 1956 births Living people Footballers from Rome Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers SSC Napoli players SS Lazio players Bologna FC 1909 players Ascoli Calcio 1898 FC players Serie A players Serie B players Italian football managers ACR Messina managers Pisa SC managers Calcio Lecco 1912 managers Serie A managers Men's association football forwards US Catanzaro 1929 managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen