Cristiano Zanetti (; born 10 April 1977) is a retired

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

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 ...

and current football coach. He was most recently in charge of Massese. Zanetti played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, winning titles with

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

Inter Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, ...

, and

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 ...

. At international level, he represented 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 ...

at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

, at the

2002 FIFA World Cup The 2002 FIFA World Cup, also branded as Korea/Japan 2002, was the 17th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams organized by ...

and at

UEFA Euro 2004 The 2004 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 2004, was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial association football, football competition contested by the List of men's national associatio ...

Club career

Early career

He played for

(1993–96),

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

(1996–97), and

Reggiana Reggiana may refer to: * A.C. Reggiana 1919, a football club * ASDCF Reggiana, a women's football club * Pallacanestro Reggiana Pallacanestro Reggiana, also simply known as Reggiana or Reggio Emilia, currently known for sponsorship reasons as U ...

(1997–98), before he joined the defending UEFA Cup Champions

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

aged 21, in 1998, where he played alongside his unrelated namesake, Argentine fullback

Javier Zanetti Javier Adelmar Zanetti (, ; born 10 August 1973) is an Argentine former professional footballer. Regarded as one of the greatest right-backs of all time, Zanetti is well known for having dedicated almost his entire career at Inter Milan, having ...

. Zanetti made his club debut for Internazionale on 26 August 1998 against

FC Skonto Skonto FC was a Latvian professional football club, active from 1991 until 2016. The club played at the Skonto Stadium in Riga. Skonto won the Virsliga in the first 14 seasons of the league's resumption (15 in total), and often provided the core ...

before joining

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

along with

Mohamed Kallon Mohamed Kallon Order of the Rokel, MOR (born 6 October 1979) is a Sierra Leonean association football, football manager and former player who is the manager of the Sierra Leone national football team. He was a striker and played for Inter Milan f ...

. During his time with Fiorentina, he won a

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 1996.

Roma

In the summer of 1999, he was signed by

in a joint-ownership bid for 7 billion

Italian lire The lira ( , ; : lire, , ) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually fo ...

. Under manager

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL, AS Roma, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus FC, Juventus. H ...

, he soon became a member of the starting line-up and he won a ''

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 ...

'' with Roma during the 2000–01 season.

Inter Milan

In June 2001, Zanetti re-joined

under manager

Héctor Cúper Héctor Raúl Cúper (; born 16 November 1955) is an Argentine football manager and former player who was most recently head coach of the Syria national team. As a player, he was a defender who spent most of his career at Ferro Carril Oeste, w ...

; Inter paid 10 billion

to buy back Zanetti. He was a regular starter under Cuper, and with the club he managed to the reach of the semi-finals of the

2001–02 UEFA Cup The 2001–02 UEFA Cup was won by Feyenoord at their home ground in the final against Borussia Dortmund. It was the second time they won the competition. Liverpool could not defend their title as they automatically qualified for the 2001–02 ...

and the

2002–03 UEFA Champions League The 2002–03 UEFA Champions League was the 11th season of UEFA's premier European club association football, football tournament, the UEFA Champions League, since its rebranding in 1992, and the 48th European Cup tournament overall. The competi ...

, also narrowly missing out on 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 ...

title both of those seasons. The 2003–04 season was more disappointing, however, and upon the arrival of new manager

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for h ...

, he was deployed with less frequency due to injuries, as well as the arrivals of

Edgar Davids Edgar Steven Davids (; born 13 March 1973) is a Dutch former professional association football, footballer. Davids was nicknamed "The Pitbull" because of his marking ability, aggression, and hard tackling style of play. After beginning his care ...

and

Esteban Cambiasso Esteban Matías Cambiasso Deleau (; born 18 August 1980), nicknamed ''"Cuchu"'', is an Argentine former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. During his career, Cambiasso won 21 official titles, the majority ...

in midfield, although he was finally able to capture some silverware during his final two seasons at the club. During his second stint with Inter, he won two

trophies in 2005 and 2006, a

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

in 2005, and he was also awarded a

title after the Calciopoli scandal in 2006.

Juventus

Zanetti moved to Juventus in 2006 on a free transfer, despite the match-fixing controversy surrounding the

Turin Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

giants and their subsequent relegation. Zanetti was Luciano Moggi's final signing as the Juventus transfer director before his five-year ban due to his role in the

Calciopoli ''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- ...

scandal. Zanetti won 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 ...

title with ''Le Zebre'' in 2007, earning Juventus Serie A promotion. The following season, he helped Juventus to a third place in Serie A, which allowed them to qualify for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

in 2008. Juventus were eliminated in the

round of 16 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

losing 3-2 on aggregate , and they reached the semi-finals of the

losing 4-2 on aggregate , also finishing second in

with 74 points.

Fiorentina

Zanetti signed with his first professional club

on 10 August 2009, as the club was preparing to play in

2009–10 UEFA Champions League The 2009–10 UEFA Champions League was the 55th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 18th under the current UEFA Champions League format. The final was played on 22 May 2010 at the Santiago Bernabéu St ...

play-off round. He signed a 2+1 contract. He is the second player to join ''La Viola'' from Juventus in 2009–10 season after Marco Marchionni. Zanetti was tagged for €2 million and deducted from

Felipe Melo Felipe Melo de Carvalho (born 26 June 1983), known as Felipe Melo, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder or centre-back. He began his career with Brazilian teams Clube de Rega ...

transfer fee. He made his debut for

ACF Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

on 29 September 2009 against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the group stage of the

. His assist led to Fiorentina's first goal, scored by young Montenegrin

Stevan Jovetić Stevan Jovetić (, ; born 2 November 1989) is a Montenegrin professional footballer who plays as a striker for Omonia and captains the Montenegro national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest Montenegrin footballers of all time. Joveti ...

. Fiorentina eventually won the match 2–0.

Brescia

On 31 January 2011, Zanetti signed for Brescia on a two-year contract. He retired before the conclusion of the 2011–12 Serie B season, however, after cancelling his contract with the club.

International career

Zanetti represented Italy at Under-21 level on 19 occasions, winning the

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants ...

under manager

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 ...

; he also took part in the

in Sydney with Italy, where the team was eliminated in the quarter-finals. He subsequently played for the Italian senior national team at the

and at

. In total, he won 17 caps for the national side between 2001 and 2004, under

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), popularly nicknamed "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian former Association football, football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Football in Italy, Italian football ...

, and he scored one goal in a 2–1 friendly away win over

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 ...

, on 30 April 2003.

Style of play

Zanetti has been described as a hardworking and tough tackling

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

, with good vision, technique, passing ability, and a controlling influence on the midfield, and was known in particular for his ability to break down possession and subsequently start attacking plays, which also enabled him to be deployed as a

central 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 ...

, or even as a deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

in front of the defence; he was also deployed as a left-sided offensive-minded central midfielder on occasion, known as the ''

mezzala In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

'' role in Italian football jargon. Despite his talents, he was often injury-prone throughout his career.

Managerial career

In 2013 Zanetti accepted an offer to become youth coach at

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 ...

, heading the ''Giovanissimi Nazionali'' (Under-16). In 2014, he became a coaching graduate and obtained a

UEFA Pro Licence The UEFA coaching licences are documents testifying credentials of manager (association football), managers/ coach (sport), coaches among members of UEFA. The governing body for association football, football in Europe mandates several licences, e ...

. In 2014 become youth coach at

Prato Prato ( ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') in Tuscany, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Prato. The city lies in the northeast of Tuscany, at an elevation of , at the foot of Monte Retaia (the last peak in the Calvana ch ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Zanetti goal.''

Managerial statistics

''Updated 10 April 2021''

Honours

Fiorentina *

: 1995–96 Roma *

: 2000–01 Inter Milan *Serie A: 2005–06 *Coppa Italia: 2004–05, 2005–06 *

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

Juventus *

: 2006–07 Italy U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

References

External links

*
FIGC
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanetti, Cristiano 1977 births Living people Footballers from Carrara Men's association football midfielders Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Italy Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics 2002 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2004 players ACF Fiorentina players Venezia FC players AC Reggiana 1919 players Cagliari Calcio players Inter Milan players AS Roma players Juventus FC players Brescia Calcio players Serie A players Serie B players 20th-century Italian sportsmen