Lorenzo Minotti (; born 8 February 1967) 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 as a defender. Throughout his club career, he played for Italian sides

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 ...

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, ...

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

, and

Treviso Treviso ( ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the Veneto region of northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Treviso and the municipality has 87.322 inhabitants (as of December 2024). Some 3,000 live within the Venetian wall ...

; he is mostly remembered for his successful stint with Parma, where he won several domestic and international titles as the club's

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

. 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 ...

on eight occasions between 1994 and 1995, and was a non-playing member of the team that reached the 1994 FIFA World Cup Final.

Personal life

Born in

Emilia-Romagna Emilia-Romagna (, , both , ; or ; ) is an Regions of Italy, administrative region of northern Italy, comprising the historical regions of Emilia (region), Emilia and Romagna. Its capital is Bologna. It has an area of , and a population of 4.4 m ...

, in 1967, Minotti later grew up in San Giorgio, where he began to play football as a youth in the town's polisportiva, also competing in judo and athletics. He later joined the

Youth squad at the age of 8, later making his professional debut with the senior side. Minotti and his wife Debora have two children: Alex, who plays football for the

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 ...

youth side, and Andrea.

Club career

Minotti started his professional career his in 1985 with his hometown club

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 ...

, at the age of 18, and he subsequently played in

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 ...

with

(1987–1996) for most of his career, followed by spells with

(1996–97),

(1997–2000), and

(2000–2001). In total, he played 201 matches and scored 19 goals in Serie A, and during his successful time with Parma under manager

Nevio Scala Nevio Scala (; born 22 November 1947) is an Italian football sporting director, coach and former player. Throughout his footballing career, he played as a midfielder for several Italian clubs, and won several titles during his time with AC Mila ...

, he won two

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 ...

titles, one

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 ...

, an

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 ...

, and one

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 ...

in 1993, also receiving Runners-up medals in the

1995 Supercoppa Italiana The 1995 Supercoppa Italiana was a match contested by Juventus, the 1994–95 Serie A winner, Parma, the 1994–95 Coppa Italia runner-up, since Juventus had won both trophies in the 1994–95 season. It was the second appearance for both team ...

, and the

1996–97 Serie A The 1996–97 Serie A title was won by Juventus FC, Juventus, under head coach Marcello Lippi. Cagliari Calcio, Cagliari, A.C. Perugia Calcio, Perugia, Hellas Verona F.C., Hellas Verona and A.C. Reggiana 1919, Reggiana were relegated. Teams Bol ...

. The victorious 1993 European Cup Winners' Cup Final game over

Royal Antwerp F.C. Royal Antwerp Football Club (commonly referred to as Royal Antwerp or simply Antwerp) is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Antwerp. They compete in the Belgian Pro League, the top flight of Belgian football. Founded in 1 ...

was played at the

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

, and Minotti opened the scoring with a notable volley as the Italians went on to win 3–1. Minotti is regarded as one of the best players in Parma's history, and he served as the club's captain for many years.

International career

Minotti won 8 caps 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 ...

between 1994 and 1995. He received his first international call-up for Italy's match against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

on 14 October 1992, although he only made his first appearance for Italy on 16 February 1994, in a 1–0 home defeat to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. He was also chosen by 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 ...

for Italy's roster at the

1994 FIFA World Cup The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States w ...

, without playing any games in the final tournament, as Italy reached the 1994 FIFA World Cup final.1994 FIFA World Cup: Italy Squad
''

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

''. Retrieved 22 January 2010.

Style of play

A fast, powerful, modern, and tactically versatile left-footed defender, Minotti was capable of playing anywhere along the defensive line, both as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

, or on occasion as a full-back, although his main role was that of a

sweeper Sweepers are small, tropical marine (occasionally brackish) ray-finned fish of the family (biology), family Pempheridae. Found in the western Atlantic Ocean and Indo-Pacific region, the family contains about 80 species in two genus, genera. One ...

, due to his technique and ball-playing ability, which allowed to start plays from the back. A correct, consistent, hard-working, and intelligent player, he was known for his marking and the timing of his challenges, as well as his leadership, and his ability to read the game, which made him an important member of Parma's starting line-up in the 90s, leading him to become the club's captain and to be called up for the Italy national side. Minotti was also known for his excellent ability in the air and for his adeptness at making attacking runs, which allowed him to contribute to his team's offensive play with several goals throughout his career, despite being a defender; a powerful and accurate striker of the ball, he was also capable of scoring from volleys and

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide #Curling stone, stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area that is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take t ...

free-kicks.

Post-playing career

After retiring from football, he became team manager of his former club

from 2002 to 2004. He then became director of football of

from 2007 to 2009, and again from June 2010 to May 2012. In 2015, he worked as a football commentator for

Sky Italia Sky Italia S.r.l. is an Italian satellite television platform owned by the American media conglomerate Comcast. Sky Italia also broadcasts three national free-to-air television channels: TV8, Cielo, and Sky TG24. Pay TV services on the Sky ...

. Later that year, he was named the head of the technical sector of Parma, following the club's relegation to Serie D due to bankruptcy.

Honours

Club

Parma *

: 1991–92 *

: 1992–93 *

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 ...

: 1994–95

International

Italy *

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 ...

: Runner-up

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 ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Minotti, Lorenzo 1967 births Living people Footballers from Cesena Italian men's footballers Italy men's international footballers Men's association football defenders AC Cesena players Parma Calcio 1913 players Cagliari Calcio players Torino FC players Treviso FBC 1993 players Serie A players Serie B players 1994 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Europa League–winning players 20th-century Italian sportsmen