Lamberto Zauli (born 19 July 1971) 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. As a player, he spent his career 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. ...

but was also capable of playing on the left

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

on occasion.

Club career

Born in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

, Lamberto grew up in

Grosseto Grosseto () is a city and a ''comune'' in the central Italian region of Tuscany, the capital of the province of Grosseto and the main city of the Maremma region. The city lies from the Tyrrhenian Sea, at the centre of an alluvial plain on the ...

, playing in the youth squad of U.S. Grosseto, the same club as his father, Lorenzo. His professional career began in the youth squad of

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

during the 1989–90 season down in

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 ...

. He moved into the

Serie C2 Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging t ...

division with Centese, where he notched up over 20 games with the club during the only season he was with them.

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

club

Fano Fano () is a city and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by pop ...

then signed Zauli, but, despite his potential, he only played one season for them: returning to Modena, who were now in

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 ...

. He soon moved to Ravenna Calcio, being also loaned to Crevalcore after one season. In 1994, he made his return to Ravenna, in Serie C1, where they gained promotion into

; this brought Zauli's talents to the attention of

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 ...

sides. From 1997 until 2001, Zauli played with

Vicenza Calcio L.R. Vicenza S.p.A. (acronym for ''Lanerossi Vicenza''), better known as Vicenza or Lanerossi, is an Italian football club based in the city of Vicenza. It plays in Serie C, the third division of the Italian football league. Founded on 9 March ...

; in his first season with the club, he even scored three goals in the 1997–98 edition of the

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was a European association football, football club competition contested annually by the winners of domestic cup competitions. The competition's official name was originally the European Cup Winners' Cup; it was renam ...

competition, where Vicenza reached the semi-finals, losing out to eventual champions

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is a professional football club based in Fulham, West London, England. The club was founded in 1905 and named after neighbouring area Chelsea. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football, pl ...

; the club's performances during this time earned the team the nickname "Real Vicenza", a reference to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

. After the club's relegation, he helped Vicenza regain Serie A promotion in 2000, winning the

title. After experiencing a second relegation in

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, however, Zauli was transferred to

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

for a season. He then moved on to

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

from 2002 till 2005, in what proved to be one of the most prosperous times in the club's history, with the ''rosanero'' winning the Serie B in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

title to rise from Serie B to Serie A, and subsequently qualifying for the European stage. After his Sicilian experience, Zauli was transferred to Sampdoria for the start of the 2005–06 season. After problems fitting in at the

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 ...

based club, Zauli returned to Bologna in January 2006. He then joined Cremonese for the 2007–08 season with little success and ended his playing career with

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Serie C2 was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. History Before the 1978–79 season, there were only three professional football leagues in Italy, the third being Serie C. The league menaging ...

club Bellaria in 2008–09.

Managerial career

In June 2009, it was revealed that Bellaria had appointed Zauli as head coach, thus allowing him to stay on what proved to have been his final team as a player. He was sacked in April 2010 following a string of unimpressive results that left Bellaria deep into the relegation playoff zone. On 29 June 2010 he was announced as new head coach of

. On 3 January 2012, he was announced as the new head coach of Reggiana, in

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Serie C1 was the third highest football league in 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 ...

. Zauli was successively appointed at the helm of the newly-promoted

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 ...

club

Pordenone Pordenone (; Venetian language, Venetian and ) is a city and (municipality) in the Italy, Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the capital of the Province of Pordenone, Regional decentralization entity of Pordenone. The name comes from Lati ...

for the 2014–15 season but was dismissed on 23 September 2014 due to poor results. Following an experience as manager of the Juventus ''Primavera'', on 22 August 2020, Zauli was appointed head coach of

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 ...

club Juventus U23, the reserve team of Juventus. On 16 July 2021, Zauli extended his contract for Juventus U23. On 13 June 2022, he left Juventus U23 to join Serie B side

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 ...

. He however left the club by mutual consent on 9 August 2022, a week before the start of the season, due to the poor results achieved. On 13 January 2023, Zauli signed a contract with Serie C club

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 ...

until the end of the season with an option to extend. He was dismissed on 19 February 2024 due to negative results, only to be reappointed at the helm of the team just a month later on 21 March. On 28 October 2024, after having departed Crotone by the end of the 2023–24 season, Zauli was hired as the new head coach of Serie C club

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 ...

. He was dismissed on 19 February 2025 after a string of negative results.

Style of play

A tall, modern, and physically strong

or winger, Zauli was a creative player who, in addition to his physical attributes, was gifted with elegance and grace on the ball, as well as excellent technique and

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

skills. He was known in particular for his goalscoring from midfield due to his striking ability from outside the area and his ability on free-kicks. His talent, control, stature, and performances, in particular in the Italian second division, earned him the nickname: "the Zidane of

." During his time with Vicenza under manager Francesco Guidolin, he was also deployed as a second striker.

Honours

Club

Vicenza *

: 1999–2000 Palermo *

: 2003–04

References

External links

Player history at Cremonese's website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Zauli, Lamberto 1971 births Living people Italian men's footballers Footballers from Rome Footballers from Grosseto Men's association football midfielders Modena FC 2018 players Ravenna FC players LR Vicenza players Bologna FC 1909 players Palermo FC players UC Sampdoria players US Cremonese players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players AC Bellaria Igea Marina players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Italian football managers AC Bellaria Igea Marina managers Juventus Next Gen managers FC Südtirol managers AC Perugia Calcio managers FC Crotone managers Serie C managers