Stefano Tacconi facts for kids
Tacconi in 2005
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Stefano Tacconi | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 13 May 1957 | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Perugia, Italy | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1972–1974 | Spoleto | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 1974–1975 | Spoleto | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1975–1976 | Inter | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1976–1977 | Spoleto | 30 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1977–1978 | Pro Patria | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1978–1979 | Livorno | 33 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1979–1980 | Sambenedettese | 38 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1980–1983 | Avellino | 90 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1983–1992 | Juventus | 254 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 1992–1995 | Genoa | 43 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Arquata | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 495 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1991 | Italy | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
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Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||
Stefano Tacconi (born 13 May 1957) is an Italian former professional footballer. He played as a goalkeeper. He is the only goalkeeper in history to have won all the major international club competitions. He achieved this amazing feat while playing for Juventus.
For the Italian national team, he was often a back-up goalkeeper for Walter Zenga. This led to him being called "the best back-up keeper in the world." He was part of the Italian teams that played in the 1988 Summer Olympics, UEFA Euro 1988, and the 1990 FIFA World Cup. Many experts believe he was one of the best goalkeepers of his time. They also think he is one of Italy's best goalkeepers ever.
Contents
Club Career Highlights
Tacconi started his important football journey at the Spoleto club. After that, he played briefly for Pro Patria and Livorno. He then joined Sambenedettese. He reached Italy's top football league, Serie A, with Avellino in the 1980–81 season. He stayed there for three years.
Joining Juventus
In 1983, Tacconi moved to the famous Italian club Juventus. He took over from the legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff, who had retired. With Juventus, under coach Giovanni Trapattoni, Tacconi had huge success both in Italy and internationally.
Winning Trophies with Juventus
He helped Juventus win two Italian league titles, called scudetti, in 1984 and 1986. He also won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1984. The team then won the 1984 European Super Cup and the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1985. In the same year, they won the Intercontinental Cup by beating Argentinos Juniors in a penalty shootout.
In 1990, Tacconi and Juventus won two more big trophies: the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup). The next season, he became the team's captain. During this time, Juventus was one of the best teams in the world. Tacconi was also seen as one of the top goalkeepers globally.
Moving to Genoa
After playing for Juventus for ten years, Tacconi moved to Genoa in 1992. Sadly, Genoa was moved down to Serie B (the second division) at the end of that season. He stopped playing professional football in 1994.
International Career
Even though Tacconi played very well and won many trophies with Juventus, he did not play much for the Italian national team. This was because there were other great goalkeepers like Giovanni Galli and especially Walter Zenga. Tacconi was often Zenga's back-up for Italy.
First International Games
Tacconi played his first game for Italy on 10 June 1987. Italy won 3–1 against Argentina in Zürich. In the late 1980s, former goalkeeper Dino Zoff chose Tacconi to be the starting goalkeeper for Italy's Under-23 Olympic team. They reached the semi-finals in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, finishing fourth.
Major Tournaments
Tacconi was Zenga's back-up during UEFA Euro 1988, where Italy reached the semi-finals. He was also a reserve at the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy. Italy finished third after losing to Argentina in the semi-finals on penalties.
In 2014, Tacconi said he thought the coach, Azeglio Vicini, should have let him play in the 1990 World Cup semi-final penalty shootout. He believed he was better at saving penalties than Zenga. He felt a change like that could have helped Italy win.
Tacconi played seven games for Italy between 1987 and 1991. All of these were friendly matches. He played his last game for Italy on 13 February 1991. It was a 0–0 friendly draw against Belgium.
How He Played
Tacconi was a strong and athletic goalkeeper. He was known for being consistent and for his amazing ability to stop shots. He often made important saves, especially in big games. He was a loud and strong leader in goal. He would often tell his defenders when they made mistakes.
At first, he wasn't great at coming out to catch crosses. He was better at staying on his goal line. But he improved this part of his game later, with help from Dino Zoff. He often came off his line to catch high balls that came straight at him. He was also very good at stopping penalties.
He could kick the ball very far. However, he was not very good with his feet when passing. He found it hard to adjust when the "back-pass rule" was introduced. This rule meant goalkeepers could not pick up the ball if a teammate passed it back to them with their feet. He even said he didn't like the new rule.
Life After Football
After he stopped playing professional football, Tacconi tried to get involved in politics. In 1999, he tried to become a member of the European Parliament but did not win. In 2005, he tried to run for president of the Lombardy region. He did not get enough votes to be a candidate. In 2006, he tried to become a city councilman in Milan but was not elected.
In August 2008, when he was 51 years old, he decided to play football again. He accepted an offer from Arquata, an amateur club, to play as a goalkeeper.
Personal Life
On 13 May 2011, Stefano Tacconi married his long-time partner, Laura Speranza. They have four children together. He is a Roman Catholic.
In October 2023, Tacconi was released from the hospital. He had been recovering from a serious brain bleed that he suffered in April 2022.
Honours
Juventus
- Serie A: 1983–84, 1985–86
- Coppa Italia: 1989–90
- European Cup: 1984–85
- European Cup Winners' Cup: 1983–84
- UEFA Cup: 1989–90
- European Super Cup: 1984
- Intercontinental Cup: 1985
- Supercoppa Italiana: runner-up 1990
Italy
- FIFA World Cup: third place 1990
Individual
- Serie A Team of The Year: 1984, 1988, 1990
- Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 1993
Orders
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5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1991
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See also
In Spanish: Stefano Tacconi para niños
- List of players to have won all international club competitions
- List of players to have won the three main European club competitions
