Luca Marchegiani facts for kids
Marchegiani in 2003
|
|||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 22 February 1966 | ||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ancona, Italy | ||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m | ||||||||||||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||
| Jesi | |||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† | ||||||||||
| 1984–1987 | Jesi | 33 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 1985–1986 | → Aurora Latini (loan) | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 1987–1988 | Brescia | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 1988–1993 | Torino | 146 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 1993–2003 | Lazio | 243 | (0) | ||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Chievo | 66 | (0) | ||||||||||
| Total | 489 | (0) | |||||||||||
| National team | |||||||||||||
| 1992–1996 | Italy | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||
|
Honours
|
|||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||
Luca Marchegiani (born February 22, 1966) is a former Italian professional football player. He was a talented goalkeeper.
He played for several Italian clubs throughout his career. His most notable teams were Torino and Lazio. With these clubs, he won many important trophies.
At the international level, he played for the Italian national team. He was part of the squad that reached the final of the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA.
Luca Marchegiani holds a special record at Lazio. He went 745 minutes without letting in a goal. This is one of the longest unbeaten streaks in Italian top-flight football history!
Contents
Luca Marchegiani's Club Journey
Luca Marchegiani started his professional football journey in 1986. He played for Jesi in the lower divisions for one season. After that, he joined Brescia for a season in Serie B, which is Italy's second division.
Success with Torino FC
Marchegiani spent a big part of his career at Torino FC. He played for them from 1988 to 1993. During his time there, he helped Torino win the Italian Cup in 1993.
He also helped them win the Serie B title in 1991. This win meant Torino was promoted to Serie A, Italy's top league. They also won the Mitropa Cup in 1991. Torino finished second in the 1993 Supercoppa Italiana and the 1991–92 UEFA Cup. In the 1991–92 season, Torino finished third in Serie A.
Winning Trophies with Lazio
In 1993, Marchegiani moved to Lazio. He was the most expensive goalkeeper in the world at that time! He was seen as one of the best and most dependable goalkeepers.
With Lazio, he won many major titles:
- The Serie A league title.
- Two Italian Cups.
- Two Italian Supercups.
- The UEFA Cup Winners' Cup.
- The UEFA Super Cup.
He also reached another UEFA Cup Final in 1998. In 2003, he moved to ChievoVerona. He played there until he retired from football in 2005.
Playing for Italy: The National Team
Marchegiani played for the Italy national football team 9 times between 1991 and 1996. He was first chosen by coach Arrigo Sacchi. He was expected to become Italy's main goalkeeper.
1994 FIFA World Cup Experience
At the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the USA, Marchegiani was Italy's second-choice goalkeeper. The main goalkeeper was Gianluca Pagliuca.
Marchegiani still got to play in three matches during the tournament:
- His first game was against Norway. He came on as a substitute after Pagliuca was sent off. He helped the team, which was playing with 10 men, win 1–0 without letting in a goal.
- He also played in the last group match against Mexico, which ended in a 1–1 draw.
- His third game was a 2–1 extra-time victory over Nigeria in the Round of 16.
Even though Marchegiani played very well, Pagliuca returned as the starting goalkeeper after his suspension. Italy reached the final of the tournament. They lost to Brazil after a penalty shootout.
Luca Marchegiani's Playing Style
Luca Marchegiani was known as a calm, smart, and complete goalkeeper. Many people consider him one of the best goalkeepers of his time.
He was especially good at:
- Being agile and quick.
- Having excellent positioning.
- Making quick reactions.
- Rushing out from his goal line when needed.
- His reliable handling of the ball.
- His ability to read the game and understand what was happening.
He was also famous for his outstanding ability to come out and catch crosses and high balls. He was known for his professionalism and dedication to the game. Even though he was a quiet person, he was a very determined goalkeeper. He made his defenders feel confident.
Marchegiani was also very good at saving penalties. In his career, he saved 18 penalties out of 69 attempts in Serie A. This is one of the highest numbers of penalties saved in Serie A history! In the 2003–04 season, he saved five penalties in one season.
Because of his calm nature, he was nicknamed Il Conte, which means "The Count".
Life After Football
After retiring from playing, Luca Marchegiani became a football expert. He now works as a pundit for Sky Italia, a sports TV channel.
He also works as a technical commentator for Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer video game series. He has been a commentator for the game since the 2012 edition.
Family Life
Luca Marchegiani's son, Gabriele Marchegiani, also became a professional goalkeeper. He made his professional debut in 2016.
Honours
Club
Torino
- Serie B: 1990–91
- Coppa Italia: 1992–93
- Mitropa Cup: 1991
Lazio
- Serie A: 1999–2000
- Coppa Italia: 1997–98, 1999–2000
- Supercoppa Italiana: 1998, 2000
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1998–99
- UEFA Super Cup: 1999
