Stefano Nava (born 19 February 1969) is an Italian

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 ...

manager and former footballer, who played as a defender. He is best known for having played for

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 ...

in the early 1990s, where he was a backup for players such as

Franco Baresi Franchino Baresi (; born 8 May 1960) is an Italian football youth team coach and a former player and manager. He mainly played as a sweeper or as a central defender, and spent his entire 20-year career with Serie A club AC Milan, captaining th ...

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian football executive and former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greates ...

Mauro Tassotti Mauro Tassotti (; born in Rome, 19 January 1960) is an Italian manager and former Association football, footballer who played predominantly as a right back. After making his Serie A debut with SS Lazio, Lazio, he went on to play with AC Milan fo ...

, and

Alessandro Costacurta Alessandro Costacurta (born 24 April 1966) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football), defender. Throughout his club career, Costacurta spent over twenty years with AC Milan ...

Career

Nava began his career in 1985 with Pro Sesto, before joining the AC Milan youth squad. In 1988, he made his professional debut 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 ...

with Virescit Boccaleone, and during the next season, he moved to

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 ...

side Reggiana. He returned to

in 1990, where he was a reserve in the first team's defence, behind the legendary Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta, Tassotti back-line, which is regarded by many as the sport as one of the greatest defensive line-ups of all time. He made his Milan debut on 5 September 1990, in a 1–0 home

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 ...

victory over

Triestina Unione Sportiva Triestina Calcio 1918, commonly referred to US Triestina or just Triestina, is an Italian football club based in Trieste, in the northern Friuli-Venezia Giulia region. Originally established in 1918, Triestina was one of the fo ...

, as Milan went on to reach the final of the tournament. 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 with the club on 3 March 1991, in a 4–1 home win over

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 his four non-consecutive seasons with Milan ( 1990–91 under

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 ...

, and 1992–995 under

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL, AS Roma, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus FC, Juventus. H ...

), Nava made a total of 47 appearances in all competitions, and 21 Serie A league appearances, scoring 1 goal, which came in Serie A. During his time at the club he won two

titles, three

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 ...

titles, two

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 ...

s, an

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

, and an Intercontinental Cup. He spent the 1991–92 season only loan with

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, ...

, with whom they won the

. His final appearance with Milan was in a 5–0 away victory against

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 ...

, during the

1994–95 Serie A The 1994–95 Serie A was won by Juventus, who finished 10 points ahead of their nearest rivals Parma and Lazio. Two pieces of silverware were seized by Juventus, who won the Coppa Italia against Parma but were beaten by the same opponents in t ...

season, on 5 March 1995. Nava took part in the AC Milan's 4–0 win over

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

in the 1993–94 Champions League final on 18 May 1994, alongside usual substitutes

Christian Panucci Christian Panucci (; born 12 April 1973) is an Italian former footballer and manager. In his playing career he played as a defender. A versatile footballer, he began his career as a right-back, but was also capable of playing on the left; as he ...

and Filippo Galli, entering as substitute in the 84th minute of the match replacing Paolo Maldini. After his time with Milan, Nava spent a season on loan at

Padova Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of ...

, and another with

Servette Servette is a district of the city of Geneva, Switzerland. The district's name comes from the Latin word for forest, ''silva'', and means "little forest". Its name alludes to Servette's rural past, before Geneva grew beyond its walls and incorpora ...

in the

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

, the club to which he later moved on a free transfer. He subsequently spend two seasons with

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

before ending his career with Pro Sesto in

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 ...

, at the conclusion of the 2000–01 season.

After retirement

Nava had a one-month spell as Pro Sesto head coach in January 2004, the team with which he began his career, and eventually retired. He later became the coach of Masseroni Marchese, helping with the Milan Youth Programme. During the 2011–12 season, he became the coach of the Milan ''Giovanissimi Nazionali'' Youth squad, and the following season, he worked alongside

Filippo Inzaghi Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was most recently the head coach of club Pisa. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" (" Super Goof") or "Alta ten ...

, who was the coach of the Milan ''Allievi Nazionali'' Youth Side. During the 2014–15 season, he was appointed the coach of the Milan ''Berretti'' Youth Side. He currently works as a football commentator and pundit 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 ...

. In 2014, he was named as the new analyst for the Italian edition of

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

' ''

FIFA 15 ''FIFA 15'' is a football simulation video game developed by EA Canada and published by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. It was released on 23 September 2014 in North America, 25 September in Europe and Australia and 26 September in the ...

'', alongside match commentator Pierluigi Pardo, replacing

Giuseppe Bergomi Giuseppe "Beppe" Bergomi (; born 22 December 1963) is an Italian former professional footballer who spent his entire career at Inter Milan. He is regarded as one of the greatest Italian defenders of all time, and as one of the best of his genera ...

Personal life

Nava's son Lapo (born in 2004) followed on his father's footsteps, and is currently a youth goalkeeper for Milan.

Honours

Milan *

: 1992–93, 1993–94 *

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

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 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 ...

: 1993–94 *

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 ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

Parma *

: 1991–92

Notes

References

External links

Career profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nava, Stefano 1969 births Living people Italian men's footballers Footballers from Milan Men's association football defenders UEFA Champions League–winning players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Swiss Super League players AC Milan players AC Reggiana 1919 players Parma Calcio 1913 players Calcio Padova players Servette FC players UC Sampdoria players Pro Sesto 1913 players Pro Sesto 1913 managers SSD Virtus CiseranoBergamo 1909 players Italian football managers AC Milan non-playing staff Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland 20th-century Italian sportsmen