Gianluca Spinelli (born 29 October 1966) 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 ...

goalkeeper coach. He is a goalkeeper coach for italian club

Internazionale 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 football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

and 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 ...

Coaching career

Spinelli began his career as a goalkeeper coach at local team

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

in 2002; as a player, he had previously served as a reserve

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for the club behind Alex Brunner, and helped the team achieve promotion to Serie A in 2002, starting in his side's decisive 2–0 home win over

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

at the

Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia is a multi-use stadium in Como, Italy. It is primarily used for Association football, football matches as the home ground of Como 1907. The stadium has a capacity of 13,602 spectators. Completed in 1927, it was built o ...

, and keeping a clean sheet. After spending two years with the Lariani, he was picked up by

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 ...

team

Genoa C.F.C. Genoa Cricket and Football Club () is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in Genoa, Liguria. The team competes in the Serie A, the top division of the Italian football league system. Established in 1893, Genoa is ...

He spent 12 years at Genoa, serving under 16 managers, and coaching several goalkeepers (in particular

Mattia Perin Mattia Perin (; born 10 November 1992) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club Juventus FC, Juventus. Perin began his career with Genoa in 2010, and, asi ...

), and helping lead the club out of the Serie C, (Now

Lega Pro The Lega Italiano Calcio Professionistico (Italian for Professional Football Italian League), commonly known as Lega Pro (Pro League), is the governing body that runs the third tier of professional football competitions in Italy, the Serie C. I ...

) to the top flight; during his time with the club, he earned a reputation as one of the best goalkeeping coaches in Italy. From 2014 Spinelli joined manager

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

as part of the coaching staff of the

, maintaining the dual role of goalkeeping coach for both Genoa and Italy. After Italy's 6–5 penalty shootout loss to

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the Euro 2016 quarter-finals, Spinelli followed Conte to English club Chelsea. He held the dual role of goalkeeping coach for both the Italy national football team and Chelsea. During the

2016–17 Premier League The 2016–17 Premier League was the 25th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the 118th season of top-flight English football overall. The season ...

season, Chelsea's starting goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois praised Spinelli's abilities as a goalkeeping coach, and has credited Spinelli for helping him to improve his overall game and technique, in particular his foot-work and diving, which enabled him to be more explosive and get to ground more quickly. Chelsea finished the season as Premier League Champions. The following season, Chelsea won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. After Antonio Conte was sacked by Chelsea in July 2018, Spinelli joined

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

as the team's new goalkeeping, where he was re-united with former Italy goalkeeper

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. Widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, he is ...

. He continued to hold a dual role as both Paris Saint-Germain's goalkeeping coach, and the goalkeeping coach of the Italy national team, under 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 ...

Honours

Goalkeeping coach

Genoa *

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 ...

: 2006–07 (Promoted) *

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 ...

: 2005–06 (Runner-up) Chelsea *

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

: 2016–17 *

: 2017–18 Paris Saint-Germain *

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

: 2018–19 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Individual *Serie A Goalkeeping coach of the Year: 2011–12, 2014–15, 2015–16

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spinelli, Gianluca 1966 births Living people Italian men's footballers Sportspeople from Milan Men's association football goalkeepers Inter Milan non-playing staff Paris Saint-Germain FC non-playing staff Chelsea F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches Footballers from Lombardy 20th-century Italian sportsmen