Massimo Zenildo Zappino (born 12 June 1981) is a Brazilian former

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

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 ...

. He also holds an Italian passport.

Playing career

In summer 2007, he was exchanged with Vincenzo Sicignano but failed to make permanent move. In summer 2008 he was signed by

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 ...

in exchange with

Nunzio Di Roberto Nunzio Di Roberto (born 21 September 1985) is an Italian former footballer. Club career He made his Serie B debut for Napoli in early 2004. After playing more than 250 games in the second-tier Serie B, he finally made his top-level Serie A debu ...

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

In June Foggia acquired the remaining 50% registration rights from Frosinone. In July 2009 he signed a 2-year contract with

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

as the joint-ownership bid accepted. It changed to definitive deal in late July. He then left for

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 ...

on free transfer. On 2 September 2010 he joined

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 ...

club

Varese Varese ( , ; or ; ; ; archaic ) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 was 80,559. It is the capital of the Province of Varese. The hinterland or exurban part ...

He was the first choice keeper. The team finished fourth but failed to win the promotion playoffs. On 1 November 2015 he made his debut 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

, eventually conceding 4 goals to Fiorentina. After leaving Frosinone in 2018, he shortly joined

Promozione The Promozione (, "promotion") is the sixth level in the Italian football league system. Each individual league winner within the Promozione level progresses to their closest regional league in the Eccellenza level. Depending on each league's ...

amateur club Siracusa in 2019, being released just a few weeks after his signing due to physical and fitness problems, with no first team appearances.

Coaching career

After retiring as a player, Zappino stayed on in

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

and started a career as a goalkeeping coach and scout. In 2022, he was hired as the new goalkeeping coach of

Eccellenza Sicily Eccellenza Sicily () is the regional Italian Eccellenza football division for clubs in Sicily. It is competed among 32 teams in two groups (A and B). The winners of the Groups are promoted to Serie D. The clubs that finish second also have the c ...

amateurs Real Siracusa.

Personal life

Zappino was born in Pesqueira,

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

to a poor family, and then successively adopted by an Italian family from

Syracuse, Sicily Syracuse ( ; ; ) is a historic city on the Italian island of Sicily, the capital of the Italian province of Syracuse. The city is notable for its rich Greek and Roman history, culture, amphitheatres, architecture, and as the birthplace ...

Honours

;Frosinone *

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 ...

runner-up and promotion playoff winner: 2006

References

External links

* 1981 births Living people Brazilian men's footballers Italian men's footballers Serie A players Serie B players Catania FC players Frosinone Calcio players AC ChievoVerona players Calcio Foggia 1920 players Calcio Lecco 1912 players Pro Sesto 1913 players Como 1907 players Taranto FC 1927 players SSD Varese Calcio players Men's association football goalkeepers Brazilian people of Italian descent Footballers from Pernambuco People from Pesqueira, Pernambuco 21st-century Italian sportsmen 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen {{Italy-footy-goalkeeper-stub