Fernando De Napoli (; born 15 March 1964) is an Italian former professional

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 either 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 as a winger during the 1980s and 1990s. He is best known in club football for being a regular in the

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 ...

team that won 4 major trophies in 4 seasons between 1986 and 1990. He then joined

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 ...

who won numerous trophies in his two seasons there although he made less than 10 league appearances when at Milan. At international level, he represented

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 ...

at two

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 ...

s (

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

), and at

UEFA Euro 1988 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France national football team, Fr ...

Club career

De Napoli began his football career with

Rimini Calcio Rimini Football Club 1912 is an Italian association football club based in Rimini, Emilia-Romagna that plays in the third-tier Serie C. The original club was founded in 1912. Their home ground is the 9786-seat Stadio Romeo Neri. History 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 ...

, under manager

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach, best known for having twice managed AC Milan. Sacchi is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, and his Milan side (1987–1991) is widely regarded ...

. He spent a year with the club before moving to

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 ...

club

Avellino Avellino () is a city and ''comune'', capital of the province of Avellino in the Campania region of southern Italy. It is situated in a plain surrounded by mountains east of Naples and is an important hub on the road from Salerno to Benevento. ...

in the summer of 1983 and stayed with "''Lupi''" for three years. He moved to

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

neighbours

S.S.C. Napoli Società Sportiva Calcio Napoli (), commonly known as SSC Napoli or simply Napoli, is an Italian professional football club based in Naples, Campania that currently competes in the Serie A, the highest league of Italian football. Napoli are am ...

in 1986 at the beginning of what would become the most celebrated period in the club's history. De Napoli often played alongside Salvatore Bagni in midfield, serving as a defensive foil to the club's star playmaker

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 ...

. During his six-year spell 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 ...

, De Napoli won the ''

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 ...

'' in 1987 and 1990, 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 1987, the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

in 1989, and the

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 1990. He signed for

A.C. Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

in 1992, winning the ''

'' in both of his seasons at the Milanese club (1992–93 and 1993–94), as well as another

winners medal in 1993. In addition to these domestic titles, he won a

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 1994. He was not, however, a first team regular and made only nine league appearances in two seasons for the club. In July 1994, De Napoli moved to Reggiana. He stayed with the club, who at the time were playing in

, until 1997 when he announced his retirement from playing. He then joined Reggiana's coaching staff where he remained until 2005.

International career

De Napoli won his first cap for the ''Azzurri'' on 11 May 1986 for a 2-0 win over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

; a game which was played in

. In total he won 54 caps with Italy between 1986 and 1992 and scored one goal, which came against

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 1987. De Napoli was part of the Italian squad that appeared at the

1986 World Cup The 1986 FIFA World Cup was the 13th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Mexico from 31 May to 29 June 1986. The tournament was the second to feature a 24-team format. Colombia had ...

Euro 88 The 1988 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in West Germany from 10 to 25 June 1988. It was the eighth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA. France were the defending champio ...

and the

1990 World Cup The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second ...

, reaching the semi-finals of the latter two competitions.

Style of play

A versatile and well-rounded midfielder, De Napoli was usually deployed as either a central or

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. ...

. He was adept at winning back possession to support his more creative team-mates while also functioning as a

deep-lying playmaker 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. ...

thanks to his range of passing and accurate long balls. He was also deployed on the wing on occasion. A quick, hard-working, and tenacious player, with good technique, he was known in particular for his notable stamina, as well as his excellent man-marking ability, which endowed him with the ability to break down the opposition's play, and subsequently transition the ball from defence to attack. He also possessed a powerful and accurate long-range shot and was known for his ability to make attacking runs and charge forward with the ball from deeper areas of the pitch. His tenacity and combative playing style earned him the nickname "

Rambo Rambo may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *John Rambo, the main character from the ''Rambo'' franchise * Mary Rambo, female character in '' Invisible Man'' Films * ''Rambo'' (franchise), starring Sylvester St ...

" from the Napoli fans throughout his career. In addition to his playing ability, he was also known for his fairness and professionalism, often leading his teammates by example.

Honours

Club

;Napoli *

- Winner: 1986–87 and 1989–90. **Runner-up: 1987–88 and 1988–89 *

- Winner: 1986–87 *

- Winner:

- Winner: 1988–89 ;Milan *

- Winner: 1992–93 and 1993–94 *

- Winner:

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

- Winner: 1993–94

Orders

5th Class / Knight: ''

Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana The Order of Merit of the Italian Republic () is the most senior Italian order of merit. It was established in 1951 by the second President of the Italian Republic, Luigi Einaudi. The highest-ranking honour of the Republic, it is awarded for ...

'': 1991

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:De Napoli, Fernando Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers UEFA Euro 1988 players 1986 FIFA World Cup players 1990 FIFA World Cup players US Avellino 1912 players SSC Napoli players AC Milan players AC Reggiana 1919 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Italy men's under-21 international footballers Footballers from the Province of Avellino 1964 births Living people Men's association football midfielders UEFA Europa League–winning players UEFA Champions League–winning players Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic 20th-century Italian sportsmen