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 | |||||||||||||||
| Playing position | 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) | ||||||||||||||
| National team | ||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1991 | Italy | 7 | (0) | |||||||||||||
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Honours
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Stefano Tacconi (born 13 May 1957) is a famous Italian former footballer. He played as a goalkeeper. He is the only goalkeeper to have won all major international club competitions. He achieved this amazing feat while playing for Juventus.
Stefano Tacconi was often a back-up goalkeeper for the Italian national team. He was behind another great player, Walter Zenga. Because of this, some people called him "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
Stefano Tacconi started his football journey at the Spoleto club. He then played briefly for Pro Patria and Livorno. After that, he joined Sambenedettese. He reached Italy's top football league, Serie A, with Avellino in the 1980–81 season. He stayed there for three years.
In 1983, Tacconi joined the famous Italian club Juventus. He took over from the legendary goalkeeper Dino Zoff, who had retired. With Juventus, under coach Giovanni Trapattoni, Tacconi achieved huge success both in Italy and internationally.
Winning Trophies with Juventus
Tacconi helped Juventus win many important titles. He won 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 against Argentinos Juniors after a penalty shootout.
In 1990, Tacconi and Juventus won two more trophies: the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia. The next season, he became the team's captain. During this time, Juventus was one of the best teams globally. Tacconi was also seen as one of the top goalkeepers in the world.
Moving to Genoa
After ten years with Juventus, Tacconi moved to Genoa in 1992. Unfortunately, Genoa was moved down to Serie B (the second division) at the end of that season. Stefano Tacconi stopped playing professional football in 1994.
International Career with Italy
Even though Stefano Tacconi played very well and won a lot with Juventus, he did not play much for the Italian national team. This was because there were other excellent goalkeepers at the time. These included Giovanni Galli and especially Walter Zenga, who was often seen as his main rival. Later, Gianluca Pagliuca also became a strong competitor. Because of this, Tacconi was usually Zenga's back-up for Italy.
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, who was then a manager, chose Tacconi as the starting goalkeeper for Italy's Under-23 Olympic team. They reached the semi-finals in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul, finishing fourth.
World Cup and European Championship
Tacconi was the back-up goalkeeper for Zenga during UEFA Euro 1988. Italy reached the semi-finals in that tournament. He was also Zenga's deputy at the 1990 FIFA World Cup which was held in Italy. Italy finished third after losing in the semi-finals to Argentina in a penalty shootout.
In 2014, Tacconi shared his thoughts about the 1990 World Cup semi-final. He felt that the manager, Azeglio Vicini, should have let him play in the penalty shootout. Tacconi believed he was better at saving penalties than Zenga. He pointed to a similar situation in the 2014 FIFA World Cup where a manager brought in a different goalkeeper just for the shootout, and it worked.
Overall, 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 draw against Belgium.
How Stefano Tacconi Played
Stefano Tacconi was a strong and athletic goalkeeper. He was known for being very consistent and great at stopping 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 what to do if they made mistakes.
At first, he was not known for coming out to catch crosses (balls kicked high into the penalty area). He was better at staying on his goal line. However, he improved this part of his game later in his career, with help from Dino Zoff. He often came off his line to catch high balls that came straight to him. He was also very good at saving penalties.
Tacconi could kick the ball very far. However, he was not very good with his feet when passing the ball. He found it hard to adjust when a new rule was introduced that stopped goalkeepers from picking up back-passes from their teammates. He even spoke out against this new rule. He also struggled to play as a "sweeper-keeper," which is a goalkeeper who plays more like a defender, coming out of the goal area to help the team.
Life After Football
After he stopped playing professional football, Stefano Tacconi tried to get involved in politics. In 1999, he tried to become a member of the European Parliament but did not win enough votes. In 2005, he tried to run for president of the Lombardy region in Italy. He did not get enough support for his candidacy. In 2006, he tried to become a city councilman in Milan but only received a small number of votes and was not elected.
In August 2008, when he was 51 years old, Tacconi decided to return to football. He accepted an offer to play as a goalkeeper for Arquata, an amateur club in Italy.
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 brain haemorrhage (a type of bleeding in the brain) 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
