Francesco Calzona (born 24 October 1968) is an
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...
coach, currently managing the
Slovakia national football team
The Slovakia national football team ( sk, Slovenská futbalová reprezentácia) represents Slovakia in men's international football competition and it is governed by the Slovak Football Association (SFZ), the governing body for football in Sl ...
.
Playing career
Calzona had a very short career as a player, appearing three times with
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the Province of Arezzo, province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation o ...
in the
Serie B
The Serie B (), currently named 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 been ...
division, and also making a single
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 ...
appearance.
Coaching career
Calzona worked as an amateur coach and coffee dealer during the 1990s; during the course of the 1999–2000 season, while in charge of Tuscan amateurs Tegoleto, he opted to resign and instead suggest to hire up-and-coming amateur coach
Maurizio Sarri
Maurizio Sarri (; born 10 January 1959) is an Italian professional football manager who is the current manager of club Lazio.
Sarri did not play football professionally, taking part as an amateur centre back and coach while working as a banker ...
as his replacement. Since then, he became part of Sarri's coaching staff, being his main assistant in all of his managerial jobs until
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 2020, he joined
Eusebio Di Francesco
Eusebio Di Francesco (; born 8 September 1969) is an Italian manager, and former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Club career
Di Francesco started his career with Tuscan teams Empoli and Lucchese. In 1995, he joined Piace ...
's coaching staff at
Cagliari
Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitan ...
,
then returning to Napoli the following year to work alongside new head coach
Luciano Spalletti
Luciano Spalletti (; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian football manager and a former player. He is currently the manager of Italian Serie A club Napoli.
Playing career
Born in Certaldo, Metropolitan City of Florence, Spalletti started his career ...
.
Slovak national team
On 30 August 2022, Calzona was hired as the new head coach of the
Slovakia national football team
The Slovakia national football team ( sk, Slovenská futbalová reprezentácia) represents Slovakia in men's international football competition and it is governed by the Slovak Football Association (SFZ), the governing body for football in Sl ...
. Following
Pavel Hapal
Pavel Hapal (born 27 July 1969) is a Czech former football player and current manager of Baník Ostrava.
Playing career
Hapal's professional career began at SK Sigma Olomouc. After the club's successful season when they reached the quarter-fin ...
, Calzona became the second non-native coach of the team and first of non-
Czechoslovak
Czechoslovak may refer to:
*A demonym or adjective pertaining to Czechoslovakia (1918–93)
**First Czechoslovak Republic (1918–38)
**Second Czechoslovak Republic (1938–39)
**Third Czechoslovak Republic (1948–60)
**Fourth Czechoslovak Repub ...
origin.
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calzona, Francesco
Living people
1968 births
Italian footballers
Italian football managers
Slovakia national football team managers