Giovanni Stroppa (; born 24 January 1968) 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 ...

coach and former player.

Club career

AC Milan and loan to Monza

Stroppa started his playing career in

AC 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 ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

, and was loaned for two seasons at

Monza Monza (, ; ; , locally ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the Lambro, River Lambro, a tributary of the Po (river), River Po, in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the province of Mo ...

, a ''de facto'' Milan

feeder club In sports, a farm team (also referred to as farm system, developmental system, feeder team, or nursery club) is generally a team or club whose role is to provide experience and training for young players, with an agreement that any successful pl ...

at the time. He returned to Milan in 1989, making his professional senior debut for the club 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 ...

on 23 August, in a 0–0 away draw against

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

; Milan later reached the Coppa Italia final, only to be defeated by

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 ...

. He made his

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 ...

debut on 27 August 1989, in a 3–0 away win over

Cesena Cesena (; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy; and - with Forlì - is the capital of the Province of Forlì-Cesena. Served by Autostrada A14 (Italy), Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine M ...

, marking the occasion by scoring a long-range goal. Stroppa finished his first season with the team by winning a

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, a

European Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was original ...

, and an Intercontinental Cup in 1990, under coach

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 ...

Lazio and Foggia

In 1991, he signed for

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 ...

, and in 1993 he moved to

Foggia Foggia (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

, then an outsider

team known for their spectacular, offensive style of play under the coach

Zdeněk Zeman Zdeněk Zeman (; born 12 May 1947) is a Czech-Italian football manager. Known for his exciting, offensive footballing tactics and use of the 4–3–3 formation, Zeman has managed numerous teams over the years, mostly in Italian football. He ...

Return to AC Milan

After an impressive season with Foggia, he returned to the Stadio San Siro to play with Milan for a single season, winning his third

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

with the club, as well as 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 total, Stroppa made 85 appearances for Milan, scoring nine goals; he made his final appearance for the club in a 1–0 away defeat to

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 ...

, in

, on 18 May 1995.

Final years

After leaving Milan, Stroppa then played two seasons with

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

and two seasons and a half with

Piacenza Piacenza (; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Piacenza, eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with more ...

before joining

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

in the 2001 winter transfer market. After a few other experiences with

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

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 ...

, Alzano Virescit of

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 ...

and

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. ...

of Serie B, he returned to Foggia, in Serie C1, in 2004. He retired in late 2005, after a short spell with of

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 was joined by his former Brescia teammate and striker

Dario Hübner Dario Hübner (born 28 April 1967) is an Italian former professional footballer. Nicknamed ("The Bison"), he scored over 300 goals throughout his career, only playing in the higher divisions towards the end of his career. Hübner became the ol ...

International career

Stroppa's notable performances for the club even allowed him to make his debut for 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 ...

on 13 October 1993, in a 3–1 home win over

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

; in total, he made four appearances for Italy between 1993 and 1994, under his former Milan manager Sacchi.

Managerial career

AC Milan U21

Stroppa was coach of Milan's under-21 team for the 2010–11 season, but was relieved of his duties on 11 June 2011, with a year still to run on his contract, and just one week after losing 1–0 to Roma in the quarter-finals of the Campionato Primavera.

Südtirol

On 13 July 2011, he was unveiled as new head coach of

Südtirol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The provinc ...

Pescara

On 8 June 2012, he was named head coach of Serie A newcomers

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

, replacing Zdeněk Zeman, his former boss during his first spell as a player at Foggia, who was signed by

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 ...

a few days before his appointment. He was assisted by Andrea Guerra, Francesco Sità, Andrea Tonelli and Massimo Marini. He resigned as coach of Pescara on 18 November 2012, after a series of bad results and the team has fallen in the middle of the relegation zone. He left the club along with Guerra (vice-coach) and two assistants Sità and Tonelli.

Spezia

In June 2013, he was named new head coach of Serie B club

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

Return to Südtirol

On 20 April 2015, Stroppa returned as head coach of

, ending the 2014–15 season in tenth place. The following season, Stroppa helped the side finish in tenth place once again. On 12 May 2016, Südtirol communicated that Stroppa's contract would not be renewed following its expiration on 30 June.

Foggia

On 14 August 2016, he was appointed by

. He reached a promotion to Serie B with the Pugliese team.

Crotone

In June 2018, Stroppa was appointed as coach of

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 ...

, replacing

Walter Zenga Walter Zenga (; born 28 April 1960) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently club manager at Serie C club Siracusa. He is regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of his generation, and one of Italy's best ...

. Crotone announced the dismissal of Stroppa on 29 October 2018. He was reinstated as head coach on 28 December 2018, following the resignation of

Massimo Oddo Massimo Oddo (; born 14 June 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and a former player who is the current head coach of Milan Futuro, AC Milan's reserve team. As a player, he played as a right-back. Oddo played for several Italian ...

, who had previously replaced him in charge of the

Calabria Calabria is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. It is a peninsula bordered by the region Basilicata to the north, the Ionian Sea to the east, the Strait of Messina to the southwest, which separates it from Sicily, and the Tyrrhenian S ...

n club. Since his return at Crotone, Stroppa led the Calabrian club to twelfth place in his first season, and was awarded a new contract. On his second season, he led Crotone to automatic promotion to

, leading the ''Rossoblu'' back to the top flight after a two-year absence. His debut season as a Serie A manager however did not prove to be successful, as Crotone struggled to stay out of the relegation zone, leading to Stroppa being sacked on 1 March 2021.

Monza

On 28 May 2021, it was announced that Stroppa would be appointed head coach of

on 1 July. He returned to the club 32 years after his experience as a player. Stroppa's first win as a Monza coach came on 29 August, helping his side win 1–0 at home against

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

. He guided Monza to fourth place in the regular season, missing out on automatic promotion following a 0–1 loss to

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

in the final game, which allowed

and

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 overtake the ''Biancorossi'', who were placed in second place with one game to go. In the promotion playoff tournament, Monza entered in the semifinals, where they eliminated

, and then defeated Pisa in a two-legged final on a 6–4 aggregate result (after extra time), thus ensuring themselves a historical first promotion to Serie A in the 110-year club history. Confirmed in charge of the ''Brianzoli'' for the club's debut Serie A season, Stroppa was dismissed on 13 September 2022 after achieving only one point in the first six games.

Cremonese

On 19 September 2023, Stroppa was named the new head coach of Serie B promotion hopefuls

, replacing

Davide Ballardini Davide Ballardini (born 6 January 1964) is an Italian football manager. He was most recently the head coach of Sassuolo. Playing career A former midfielder, Ballardini spent seven years as a player with Cesena under youth team coach Arrigo Sacch ...

. Stroppa led Cremonese to the promotion playoff finals in his first season in charge, then losing to

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 ...

0–1 on aggregate. After being confirmed for the 2024–25 season, Stroppa was relieved of managerial duties on 8 October 2024 due to a negative start in the new campaign. He was however reinstated just a month later, on 11 November, after Cremonese decided to dismiss

Eugenio Corini Eugenio Corini (born 30 July 1970) is an Italian professional football coach and former player. A talented, dynamic, and hard-working playmaker, known for his precise long passing, flair and his ability to orchestrate his team's attacking moves ...

, who had previously replaced him in charge of the ''Grigiorossi''. He ended the season in fourth place in the regular season, and eventually led Cremonese to win the playoffs after defeating

in a two-legged final, on what was his personal third promotion to Serie A in his career. Despite that, on 13 June 2025, Cremonese announced they would not confirm Stroppa in charge of the club for their comeback campaign in the top flight.

Style of play

A quick, energetic, and talented, yet injury-prone player, Stroppa was mainly known for his technical skills, and his ability to create chances for teammates, which enabled him to play in several creative

midfield In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...

and attacking roles: he was initially deployed as an

attacking 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. ...

, or as a

supporting striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

, but he was also used as a winger, and even 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 ...

on occasion; he later played 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. ...

during the final seasons of his career.

Career statistics

Managerial

Honours

Player

AC Milan *

: 1989–90 *

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

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 ...

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stroppa, Giovanni 1968 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Lodi Italian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders AC Milan players AC Monza players SS Lazio players Calcio Foggia 1920 players Udinese Calcio players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players Brescia Calcio players Genoa CFC players SSD Virtus CiseranoBergamo 1909 players US Avellino 1912 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Italy men's youth international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's B international footballers Italy men's international footballers Italian football managers FC Südtirol managers Delfino Pescara 1936 managers Spezia Calcio managers Calcio Foggia 1920 managers FC Crotone managers AC Monza managers US Cremonese managers AC Milan non-playing staff Serie A managers Serie B managers 20th-century Italian sportsmen