Massimo Taibi facts for kids
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 February 1970 | ||
| Place of birth | Palermo, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1987–1989 | Licata | 1 | (0) |
| 1989–1990 | Trento | 23 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Milan | 0 | (0) |
| 1991–1992 | Como | 34 | (0) |
| 1992–1997 | Piacenza | 177 | (0) |
| 1997–1998 | Milan | 17 | (0) |
| 1998–1999 | Venezia | 34 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Manchester United | 4 | (0) |
| 2000–2001 | Reggina | 52 | (1) |
| 2001–2005 | Atalanta | 131 | (0) |
| 2005–2007 | Torino | 49 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | Ascoli | 47 | (0) |
| Total | 569 | (1) | |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Massimo Taibi (born on February 18, 1970) is an Italian former professional footballer. He played as a goalkeeper for many different clubs. Most of his career was spent in Italy's top football leagues, like Serie A, B, and C1. He also had a short time playing for the famous English club, Manchester United.
Contents
Massimo Taibi's Football Journey
Playing in Italy
Massimo Taibi began his football career at a club called Licata. He only played one game there before moving to Trento in 1989. At Trento, he was the main goalkeeper and played 23 matches. After one season, he joined Milan in Serie A for the 1990–91 season. Just like at Licata, he didn't play any games for Milan that time.
He soon moved to Como, where he played for the next season. After that, he joined Piacenza. Taibi stayed at Piacenza for five seasons, until the 1996–97 season. He played in most of the club's games during this time.
Piacenza then sold him back to Milan. This time, Milan used him in about half of their games during the 1997–98 season. He was a backup goalkeeper to his teammate Sebastiano Rossi. After that, Milan sold him to Venezia in 1998. In his first season with Venezia, he played in almost every game.
Time at Manchester United
In 1999, the famous English club Manchester United bought Taibi. They needed a goalkeeper because their main one, Mark Bosnich, was injured. Manchester United, who were champions of England and Europe at the time, paid about £4.5 million for him on August 31, 1999.
He played his first game against Liverpool. In that match, he made a mistake by not catching a high ball from a free kick, which allowed Liverpool to score. However, he later made some great saves. Manchester United won the game 3–2, and Taibi was even named the man of the match.
Taibi shared goalkeeping duties with another player, Raimond van der Gouw. Taibi played in league matches, while Van der Gouw played in the UEFA Champions League games. But a big mistake happened on September 25, 1999, against Southampton. Taibi let a weak shot from Matthew Le Tissier go right through his legs and into the goal. Because of this, one newspaper called him "The Blind Venetian." He only played one more game for Manchester United after that. It was a tough 5–0 loss against Chelsea on October 3, 1999.
Back to Italy
In January 2000, Taibi went back to Italy to play for Reggina on a loan deal until the end of the season. He played regularly there. After his loan ended, Manchester United said they would sell Taibi, but they wouldn't loan him out again. They turned down an offer from Napoli. In July 2000, Manchester United agreed to let Taibi join Reggina permanently for £2.5 million.
On April 1, 2001, Taibi did something amazing. He scored a goal with a header from a corner kick in the 87th minute! This goal helped Reggina draw 1–1 against Udinese at home. With this goal, Taibi became only the second goalkeeper in Serie A history to score from open play. The first was Michelangelo Rampulla in 1992.
After the 2000–01 season, Reggina was moved down to a lower league. Taibi then moved to Atalanta to replace another goalkeeper. In the summer of 2005, he went on loan to Torino and was their main goalkeeper. This move became permanent in 2006, but then Taibi became the backup goalkeeper. He played his first game of that season on January 13, 2007. In the 2007–08 season, he joined Ascoli. Taibi played 47 matches for Ascoli before he announced he was retiring from football in 2009.
Playing Style
When he was younger, Massimo Taibi played as a centre-forward, which is a player who tries to score goals. His favorite player back then was Roberto Boninsegna. But later, he changed his position to become a goalkeeper.
Taibi was especially good at saving penalty kicks. He was known as a great shot-stopper. He played a total of 292 games in Serie A between 1993 and 2007. During his career, he stopped 12 penalty kicks in Italy's top league. This makes him one of the goalkeepers with the most penalties saved in Serie A history. He shares this record with players like Emiliano Viviano, Luigi Turci, and Giuseppe Taglialatela.
Achievements
Piacenza
- Serie B: 1994–95 (This means his team won the Serie B league title in that season.)
Manchester United
- Intercontinental Cup: 1999 (This was a big international club competition that Manchester United won.)
See also
In Spanish: Massimo Taibi para niños
