Marco Tardelli Biography

Marco Tardelli, born 24 September 1954 in Capanne di Careginne (LU), Italy, is a retired Italian football player and current coach. Playing as a midfielder, Tardelli kicked off his career with

in 1972 and, having spent a year with

, transferred to Juventus Turin in 1975.

With Juventus, he won the UEFA Cup in 1977 and was selected by national coach Enzo Bearzot in the squad for the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, after having already made his debut for the Italian national team in 1976.

After the World Cup tournament in Argentina, in which Italy finished fourth, Tardelli became part of the national team's regular squad. In 1980, he played in the European Football Championship in Italy and in the 1982 World Cup in Spain he became world champion. He scored the goal in the final against

to give Italy a 2-0 lead in the 69th minute.

Tardelli won the European Cup Winners' Cup with Juventus in 1984 and the European Cup in 1985 in the final at the Heysel Stadium in Brussels against Liverpool FC. In doing so, he had won all the European Cups. He moved to Inter Milan after this success and made his second trip with Italy to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico.

However, Italy was knocked out by France in the Round of 16 and Tardelli did not feature for Bearzot in that tournament. His last and 81st international match was in 1985. He transferred from Inter to FC St. Gallen in the Swiss league in 1987, where he finished his career in 1988.

All You Need to Know About Marco Tardelli Biography

Tardelli worked as a coach for AC Cesena, the Italian U-21 national team (until October 2000), Inter Milan (October 2000 to June 2001) and AS Bari (December 2002 to November 2003), to name a few. Between March 2004 and October 2004, Tardelli served as coach of the

.

He was in charge of sporting matters on the Juventus Turin board from July 2006 to June 2007. Under Giovanni Trapattoni, he worked as assistant coach of the Irish national team from February 2008 to September 2013.

Marco Tardelli Information

Now that we know the Italian football coach much better, in this section of

Marco Tardelli biography

we will share more general information about him such as

Marco Tardelli nationality

to let you know him even better.

Marco Tardelli Bio

• Full Name: Marco Tardelli

• Nickname: Schizzo

• Profession: Professional Football Coach

Marco Tardelli Physical Stats

• Weight: 73 Kg

• Height: 1.78 m

• Eye Color: Dark Brown

• Hair Color: Light Brown

Marco Tardelli Football Information

• Position: Midfielder, Defender

• Jersey Number: 8

• Professional Debut: 1972

Marco Tardelli Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 24 September 1954

• Birth Place: Capanne di Careggine, Italy

• Zodiac Sign: Libra

• Nationality: Italian

Now stay tuned to this section of

Marco Tardelli biography

as we want to share some info about

Marco Tardelli childhood

.

Marco Tardelli Early Life

Capanne is a small village clinging to the Apuan Alps, in the province of Lucca. Marco was born there in 1954 and grew up there, as he has often said, 'in a serene poverty'. He had a modest but happy childhood, his father was a worker at Anas, while he was the youngest of four brothers, all boys, all in love with football.

Of course, Marco's main concern was running - they say he has athleticism in his blood. However, he also moved well on the football pitch, if it weren't for his slender, puny body. He weighed 59 kilos when he arrived in Pisa. Nevertheless, his name ended up in the notebooks of several scouts, and the Nerazzurri club purchased him for seventy thousand lire.

Having already taken his first steps in the youth, he got a job to use up his free time and put some money in his pocket. Marco Tardelli worked as a waiter in a restaurant hotel a stone's throw from Piazza dei Miracoli.

This was an experience to remember, even later, when he was told that football is joy, but also sacrifice. "I was running a lot on the pitch, and the night before a game I didn't sleep a wink, I was always tense. It was nothing compared to when I was running from table to table and they told me that in time I would get flat feet.”

Pisa was the start of the adventure, his debut in Serie C between 1972 and 1974 was his first battle. Pisa was a place never to leave, in the thoughts of young Marco. However, at the age of twenty, a call came from Como, and the young man went on his first important trip away from home.

Now stay tuned to this section of Marco Tardelli biography as we want to share some info about his career at Como.

Como

It was hard to settle in, and it would be even harder if there wasn't someone to help him. That someone was Pippo Marchioro. He was more of a second father than a coach. "A wonderful person. As soon as he could, he would put me on the train and send me to my parents' house. So I didn't fall prey to nostalgia."

Como and Marchioro (but also Beltrami, 'diesse' of rare acumen) was much more than that, from a professional point of view: when he was twenty years old, Tardelli was a nice little jewel to be cast on the fields of Serie B, and he never let himself be begged: his breathtaking runs gave him a nickname that was never much loved, 'Schizzo', and an entrance ticket to the great circus of football that counts.

By the end of the season, Como won Serie A and caught the attention of the big clubs. Here he was, the first (brief) inversion. Inter and Marco almost touched, caressed and suddenly lost sight of each other.

It happened in the summer of 1975. To be precise, it was when Nerazzurri president Fraizzoli came forward and offered Como eight hundred million for the top player in instalments. It was a whopping sum for the time. Apparently, it was done, there was an agreement in principle.

However, all of a sudden the scenario changed: the eight hundred million came into Como's coffers, but it came from Boniperti, who stood in front of Beltrami determined to close the deal in no time. With the cash in his suitcase. Marco Tardelli, a potential Nerazzurri player, wore black and white. He would write a piece of Juventus history.

Juventus

He first started at the court of Carletto Parola, and a year later ended up in the hands of Giovanni Trapattoni. He remained in Turin for ten years, which was enough to fill a trophy cabinet, a career of unforgettable moments.

Inside the trunk of memories, there will be five league titles, a UEFA Cup (won also thanks to his goal in the first leg of the final match against Atletico Bilbao in Turin), a Cup Winners' Cup. As well as that long-awaited and then cursed Champions Cup, a joy that immediately turned into a pain on the night of the Heysel disaster.

In his first year at

, Marco played as a defender. After a couple of shifts on the bench, Parola decided to send him out on the left flank. He was a full-back outside the rules, constantly projected towards the adversary's area, a quality he had also shown at Como. This was a bitter year, the league lost when it seemed to have been won, and the Scudetto went to the other side of Turin, the Granata side.

Boniperti, however, did not regret his purchase. The young attacking full-back Tardelli was among the best on the pitch. He quickly earned a starting place on his debut in

, taking it away from Spinosi, who was one of Azzurri's best. He would grow with the advent of Trap. He was to become a natural leader, the prototype of the complete and modern player.

He was capable of playing in any role, in any area of the field, and he did so without losing his sharpness, lucidity or continuity. Capable of marking the adversary by attacking him, wearing him down, transforming himself every time from guardian to special guard. In the Juve of Trap, the club of the great conquests, Tardelli became a defensive midfielder and often found the way to the net.

His teammates in the midfield were Causio, Furino and Benetti. They were probably the strongest midfield in the history of Juventus, an unbelievable position where fantasy and grit, technique and power coexisted. The 51-point Scudetto arrived, and four more. With the exception of Furino, that midfield was the same as that of the Italian national team at the 1978

in Argentina.

Marco Tardelli Profile

That Juventus team was the fans' dream, and Marco Tardelli became its symbol. Marco Tardelli and his inability to be normal, Marco and his insomnia, Marco and those screams of joy that are a ritual and anticipate a stronger, sharper, more beautiful one. The ritual will become a myth.

Italian national team

Seven years after his first appearance in Juventus, Marco Tardelli became an icon of Italian football. In 1982, the World Cup in Spain was his second time out after his adventure in Argentina. He went there with another footballing father who marked his career as a player and, later, as a coach.

In other words, life. Enzo Bearzot created a happy and winning group around him, in spite of the difficult start and the silence of the press that he defended against the outside world, but which did not help to warm the hearts and relationships at the beginning.

However, the group moved forward, the two 'coyotes', the ones who didn't sleep at night, Tardelli and Conti in other words, were among the leaders on and off the pitch, and the 'Vecio' found the golden nugget Paolo Rossi on the turf of the Spanish pitches.

There was no question of luck: the results were rewarding for Bearzot's choices, who brought along eclectic players who were loyal to the cause. Tardelli, who at twenty-eight was experiencing the years of his footballing maturity, likely stored up knowledge that would serve him well even after his playing career was over: "The adventure in

was fantastic. It taught me that a united group can overcome any difficulty. Exactly."

And the rest is all written in that photograph, a moment that has been consigned to history: the 11th July 1982, the packed Bernabeu stadium, that lighting pass from poor Scirea, the shot that fooled Schumacher and made it 2-0, the screaming, endless run. It was destined to stand the test of time, like Zoff's raised hands clutching the Cup. The shout of Marco is the shout of one of his people, the one kissed by grace who is there, on the field, in the name of all. Immortal also for this.

Marco was back in

as a world champion, and it was still him. Bloody and combative. He arrived as a hero, a few months later he was regarded as a traitor to his country. In this case, the black and white one. Together with Gentile and Furino, he was the inspiration behind Casale's refusal. While Boniperti proposed the usual contract ready to be signed, the three said no and asked for an adjustment to those of the foreign champions. Up until then, Juve signed blank contracts.

From the tradition to the revolution. "I've never had anything against foreign players, never been racist. I simply asked Boniperti why we, world champions, needed to go on the field and earn half as much as foreigners?". He defended the good Italian school. Yesterday and today, as a footballer and as a coach. We can call it consistency. In short, this is the first crack in a relationship that seemed destined to last forever.

That went on, however, because Marco still managed to win so much in Juventus: the Coppa Italia in 1983, the Scudetto, the Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup the following year, up until the day of the great triumph and the great tragedy, the first Champions' Cup soaked in blood, the crazy final in Brussels in 1985.

His last season was one of incomprehension with Giovanni Trapattoni. As the coach sensed his natural decline, he thought he was better suited to a limited range of action. In practice, he used him at right-back. There were discussions, as always occurs when two strong personalities clash. He admitted, and it didn't cost him much effort: "Time will make you understand many things.

Maybe he wasn't mistaken in keeping me at right-back: I was older, I could save myself and fit in with greater lucidity". Marco and the Lady would continue to love each other, but they would act like betrayed lovers. He bid farewell without controversy, but feeling, deep down, misunderstood. Marco ended his Juve career with 239 appearances (and 35 goals). A legend.

Now stay tuned to this section of

Marco Tardelli biography

as we want to share some info about his

career.

Inter Milan

Then fate sent him back to Inter, with a contract that was huge for the time. Seven hundred million per season for two years. This was no longer the Inter of Fraizzoli, who had him in their hands and let him slip through their fingers. Nor was it Pellegrini's, who demanded motivated, winning players and went crazy for Tardelli, as well as Marangon and Fanna.

He won't win anything that year with Castagner (later taken over by Corso) on the bench, neither will he succeed with the arrival of Trapattoni. And here was another twist of fate: Marco and Trap together again. Any problems? Never, because the old maestro is not one to hold a grudge.

On the contrary, it was fate, which was suddenly his enemy, that determined the champion's decline. During his first year in the Nerazzurri under Trap, Tardelli experienced an incredible series of mishaps and injuries. He actually fractured both his hands, at different times.

This was a delicate moment in his career and he was so used to combat that he had to spend it cursing the deserts. He spent two seasons in Milan, with very few results or joys. There were few good memories, above all the double against Real Madrid in the semi-final of the UEFA Cup, in April 1986: another 3-1, just like the one at the Bernabeu, another joy, although less intense. Then there were days to forget, and at the end of the 1986-87 season, he was almost forced to say goodbye.

St Gallen

Pellegrini and coach Beltrami, who had discovered the young Tardelli at Como, proposed him another 300 million lire per season. However, there was going to be an addendum. He was called up from Switzerland,

offered him a starting place.

There was already another legend of Italian football and the magical nights in Spain, Giancarlo Antognoni, in Lausanne. So Marco said yes and threw himself into the adventure with his usual commitment. However, it didn't last long. Disagreements with the unimpressive coach Markus Frei, who was suffering from such a cumbersome presence in the dressing room, accelerated the end of the strange story.

But it was mainly a problem of stimuli: "After all, it was a fun year. I was going to stay in St. Gallen for two seasons, but at a certain point, I noticed that I always had the same desire to train, but no longer the desire to play on the pitch on Sundays. And then I said enough. He is 34 years old, football continues to give him insomnia and anguish, but he is the first to know that football can only continue to be his life.

Coaching career

When he retired from playing football, he started his career as a coach: Italy Under 16, then Como,

and from 1997 as head coach of Italy Under 21, where he became European champion in 2000.

He moved on to coach Inter in the 2000-2001 season, and from that point on he had an unlucky time: he was fired at the end of the season because of the bad results achieved by the Milanese team (which lost 6-0 to AC Milan in the championship and 6-1 to Parma in the Coppa Italia). The same fate was shared by his experiences with

, Egypt and

.

He returned to the fold in June 2006: he became a member of the Juventus Board of Directors on the long wave of renewal following the Calciopoli affair, but he stepped down after exactly one year due to conflicting opinions with the Bianconeri management. Then in 2008, another dramatic turn of events: Giovanni Trap was on Tardelli's way, when he offered him the role of assistant coach of the Irish national team, with the aim of bringing Irish football back to the top, an experience that lasted until 2013.

Now stay tuned to this section of Marco Tardelli biography as we want to share some info about his playing style.

Style of Play

During an era when Italian football was mostly renowned for its defensive qualities, frequently linked to catenaccio, Tardelli on the contrary emerged as a tough and technically gifted player in the middle of the field, being regarded as one of the world's best performers in the role in the early 1980s. As a result of his characteristic way of playing, he was nicknamed Schizzo.

Marco was right-footed, as a child, and he became good with both his feet and ambidextrous, by following and imitating his idol Gigi Riva, who was left-footed. He was deployed as a left-back in the ranks of Como, and then switched to the right side in Juventus; though, his definitive breakthrough came in the role of the halfback, following Giovanni Trapattoni's suggestion.

Reception

Tardelli is widely acknowledged as being one of Italy's finest midfielders of all time and among the best players of his generation. An energetic, strong and skilful player, Tardelli stood out for his ability to both contribute on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Back in 2004, as part of the UEFA Golden Jubilee Survey, Tardelli was ranked 37th best and in 2015 he was also elected to the Italian Football Hall of Fame.

Marco Tardelli outside Football

Marco Tardelli has his own official Instagram page with over 38,000 followers, which is full of pictures celebrating his football career, in particular his victory as world champion. There are plenty of pictures with his fiancée Myrta Melino and with his great friend and colleague Paolo Rossi, who died in 2020.

 In 2016, Marco Tardelli published his autobiography book, entitled 'All or Nothing - My Story'.

Marco Tardelli Personal Life

In this section of Marco Tardelli biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about things like

Marco Tardelli life story

and

Marco Tardelli religion

, stay tuned.

Family, Children and Relationships

Before being Marco Tardelli's girlfriend, Myrta Merlino is a very popular journalist and TV presenter. She is the former wife of the special commissioner for the Coronavirus emergency, Domenico Arcuri, and has two twin sons.

She has had an intensely passionate relationship with the former footballer since 2017. They are an accomplice both in their private and working lives: Marco participated in Myrta's programme on 29 November 2020 to talk about Maradona, and they exchanged a kiss at the end of it.

"He enabled me to drop my guard, to let go. I have spent most of my life running, studying, working, building a career, being a wife and a mother. I had twins (Pietro and Giulio, now 23 years old) when I was very young. With Marco I stopped, calmed down and took back what I couldn't have at 20," she told Il Giornale about Marco Tardelli.

Marco Tardelli was married to Alessandra for so many years, with whom he has a daughter and had a relationship with Stella Pende in the past.

Marco Tardelli has two children. Sara, from his marriage with his first wife Alessandra, is a well-known journalist and has written the book "Tutto o niente" with her father: she is the mother of twins. His son Nicola was born from his relationship with his ex-girlfriend Stella Pende and is a charming model.

Philanthropy

During his career both as a footballer and a coach, Marco Tardelli has always been active when it comes to charity projects. For example, while he was assistant coach of Giovanni Trapattoni at the Irish national team, the two Italian coaches participated in the “Enda’s Trek with Trap’s Green Army” fundraising project, which benefitted Mayo Mountain Rescue, the John Giles Foundation in association with Three, Mayo and Roscommon Hospice, the Western Alzheimer’s Association and the Western Care Association.

Legal Issues

At the time of writing this article, there are no reports of any legal issues or disputes regarding the famous Italian footballer and coach Marco Tardelli either in the English or Italian media.

Marco Tardelli Career Statistics

In this section of Marco Tardelli biography, we will take a look at his career stats on the international and club level.

Club

Since 1972 when he started his career at Pisa and until 1988 when he hung up his boots in the colours of St. Gallen, Marco Tardelli had played a total of 537 matches in all competitions, scoring 6 goals. He spent the majority of his career playing for Juventus.

International

For 9 years between 1976 and 1985, Marco Tardelli was part of the Italian national team, where he took part in major competitions, played a total of 81 matches and scored six goals in the process.

Managerial

Tardelli has a win ratio of 32.23 percent having won 68, drawn 69 and lost 74 of the total 211 matches that he has managed different teams during his career as a coach.

Marco Tardelli Honors

Being one of the most decorated Italian footballers of all time, Tardelli has won Serie A, Coppa Italia, European Cup, UEFA Cup, UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and UEFA Super Cup, all with Juventus. He has also won the 1982 FIFA World Cup with the Italian national team.

As the coach of the U21 Italian national team, Tardelli went on to win the 1997 Mediterranean Games and the 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

Of his individual awards, we can include the 1980 UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament, 1979 FIFA XI, Italian Football Hall of Fame and some others.

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