Gianluca Zambrotta Biography

Gianluca Zambrotta, born 19 February 1977 in

, Lombardy, Italy, is an Italian retired footballer and current coach. Zambrotta first began playing football for Como and played just one game in his debut Serie B season after which Como was relegated to Serie C1.

He became a key player for his team over the next 2 years and made his Serie A debut in 1997, transferring to

. There he played 59 games in 2 seasons.

He transferred to Juventus Turin in 1999, which paid 8 million euros for him. Playing for Juventus he won the Italian league 4 times (the last 2 titles were taken away from Juventus because of the scandal in Italian football), twice won the Supercup, and also made it to the finals of the Champions League and the Italian Cup.

Following a corruption scandal in 2006, Zambrotta eventually departed the Turin-based club, having played more than 200 matches in the Italian league for them. He joined Barcelona, where he won the Spanish Supercup. In 2008 Zambrotta headed back to Italy and signed for AC Milan.

Having played 80 Serie A matches with AC Milan, Zambrotta decided to end his playing career and together with Fabio Grosso,

and Marco Materazzi, Zambrotta received his UEFA Pro coaching licence in 2013.

All You Need to Know About Gianluca Zambrotta Biography

He relaunched his career at Swiss Division 2 club Chiasso in the summer of 2013 and became player and assistant head coach. Gianluca took over as head coach of Chiasso on 27 November, taking over from player-coach Rishard Kormonicki. He coached the club until 2015.

In 2016, he joined the Indian club Delhi Dynamos as their head coach. After a short spell there, he decided to work as assistant coach of Fabio Capello at the Chinese club Jiangsu Suning.

Gianluca Zambrotta Information

To let you know him more, in this section of

Gianluca Zambrotta biography

, we will share some more general information about him such as

Gianluca Zambrotta nationality

. Stay tuned.

Gianluca Zambrotta Bio

• Full Name: Gianluca Zambrotta

• Nickname: The Mermaid

• Profession: Professional Footballer

Gianluca Zambrotta Physical Stats

• Weight: 76 Kg

• Height: 1.81 m

• Eye Color: Brown

• Hair Color: Dark Brown

Gianluca Zambrotta Football Information

• Position: Full-Back

• Jersey Number: 19

• Professional Debut: 1994

Gianluca Zambrotta Date of Birth and Personal Info

• Date of Birth: 19 February 1977

• Birth Place: Como, Italy

• Zodiac Sign: Pisces

• Nationality: Italian

Now stay tuned to this section of

Gianluca Zambrotta biography

as we want to share some more information about

Gianluca Zambrotta childhood

and more.

Gianluca Zambrotta Early Life

Zambrotta was born on 19 February 1977 in Como. He started his football career there. When he was seventeen, in 1994, a club from

, Como Calcio, signed the young Zambrotta. He was unable to impress in his first season with only one game played. 

By not getting chances, he was unable to help his club avoid relegation from Serie B. From the next season, Gianluca started to play regularly. He played three seasons in Como, until the 1996/1997 campaign. In his last two years in his hometown, Zambrotta played 47 matches and scored six goals.

AS Bari

It was in 1997 that the young Italian's career in Serie A was launched. It was the head of the then relegated AS Bari, Eugenio Fascetti, who spotted his potentially great talent. During his first season at Bari, Gianluca was playing on the left-wing.

In twenty-seven appearances he scored two goals. Subsequently, Nicola Ventola left the club and Zambrotta broke out. In his very first game against

, Gianluca scored a goal in the ninth minute of the match. He was, to everyone's surprise, the key player of the team at the start of the game.

Bari went to Milan for a match against Inter in the 7th round. Zambrotta scored the first goal and heavily helped the team to a 3:2 victory. Now stay tuned to this section of Gianluca Zambrotta biography as we want to share some more information about his Juve career.

Juventus

Carlo Ancelotti, who was very excited by his playing style, brought him to

. Juventus had to pay 15.85 million euros for the transfer of the Italian. Following his transfer to the Old Lady team, Gianluca further developed.

Zambrotta played his first season in Turin, making 32 appearances and scored one goal. Juventus, in the last game, after losing 1:0 against Perugia (Zambrotta got a red card) missed the title to S.S. Lazio, which won the match against Reggina 3:0.

Zambrotta was forced to miss the start of the 2002/2003 season because of his injury, and Mauro Camoranesi was purchased to play on the right-wing. And he was in great form. This led Lippi to switch Gianluca from right midfield to the left side of defence after he recovered.

Zambrotta adjusted well to his new setting and became a regular player. Zambrotta achieved his second Serie A title and made it to the final of the

, where Juve lost on penalties to A.C. Milan. Zambrotta played on the left side of midfield in the Champions League final because of Pavel Nedved's absence.

During the 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 seasons, once again the Bianconeri finished first in the Serie A table. Following multiple injuries at the start of the 2005/2006 season, Gianluca moved back to the right side of the defence. He also signed a contract with Juventus from 2005 until 2010.

Zambrotta returned to Italy after the 2006 World Cup, and people were talking not about the victory of the Italian national team, but about the scandal. There were 5 Serie A clubs accused, including Juventus F.C., for influencing the selection of referees for league matches, but only Old Lady received the penalty of exclusion from the league.

Gianluca Zambrotta Profile

Disturbed by relegation to Serie B, Gianluca opted to leave the club. Among the teams battling it out for the Italian were A.C. Milan, Chelsea F.C., Real Madrid and

. Gianluca, along with fellow Juve defender Lilian Thuram of the French national team, eventually transferred for fourteen million Euros to the Catalan team.

FC Barcelona

In the summer of 2006, Gianluca Zambrotta joined Barcelona as a player. He was mainly used as a right-back in Barcelona by coach Frank Rijkaard. His first game in his new jersey was on 13 August 2006 in a friendly against the New York Red Bulls, and he debuted in official matches on 17 August 2006 in the Spanish Super Cup in the derby against Espanyol, when he took over from Puyol in the 81st minute.

His first goal in the Barcelona jersey was on 17 March 2007 in the Recreativo Huelva-Barcelona match which ended 0-4. In total, Gianluca Zambrotta went on to play 58 games for Barcelona and scored 3 goals.

Now stay tuned to this section of

Gianluca Zambrotta biography

as we want to share some more information about his career in Milan.

AC Milan

Zambrotta spent only two years in Spain. It was announced in late May of 2008 that he would be returning to Italy, as he signed for

on a 3-year contract. Barcelona received €9 million for the transfer, along with a €2 million bonus based on Milan's performance in the Champions League, for his services.

The first match Zambrotta played for Milan was on the first day of the 2008-2009 season versus Bologna FC on 31 August 2008. Milan lost at home by two goals to one that day. His first goal came on the third day of the season, 21 September 2008 against

.

While the score was tied at one with goals from Clarence Seedorf for Milan and Mauro Zárate for Lazio, Zambrotta gave Milan the lead with a long-range shot from 31 metres. The match was won by AC Milan by four goals to one.

Having been able to make up for Marek Jankulovski's absence at left-back during the season, Gianluca played more often as a right-back, the position he played in during the 2006 World Cup.

Italian national team

Zambrotta won his first cap with the Italian national team in a friendly against

on 10 February 1999. He started in a five-man defence in a game that finished goalless. He played a part in the Azzurri's successful run to the Euro in 2000. But, when he was sent off in the semi-final, he had to watch helplessly as David Trezeguet scored a golden goal for France

With the

, Zambrotta also played as a fullback at Euro 2004 He won the 2006

with the Italian national team. He has played a total of 98 matches for Italy and scored two goals during his international career.

Chiasso

He signed a one-year contract, with an option for a second year, with

on 19 July 2013, joining the staff of coach Ernestino Ramella as both player and assistant coach of the Swiss team.

His debut with the Ticino team came on 11 August 2013 against Lugano (0-0), a game that was part of the 5th matchday of the 2013-2014 Challenge League.

Following the dismissal of Ryszard Komornicki on 27 November 2013, he was appointed coach-player until the end of the season when the team was in the last place in the standings. Upon becoming a coach, he finished his career as a player.

Coaching Career

He achieved salvation in the league on 14 May 2014 after winning on the penultimate day against Biel, finishing in third-last place in the standings, after recording 6 wins, 7 draws and 6 losses in 19 games. He was dismissed on 6 April 2015 after losing 0-2 and 0-3 against Biel and Le Mont respectively.

He was appointed as the new coach of Delhi Dynamos, in the Indian league, on 4 July 2016, with his assistant Simone Barone and with a contract ending in December at the end of the league. They finished third with an elimination in the Super League playoffs semi-finals.

Together with Cristian Brocchi, he was presented as an assistant to Fabio Capello (his coach at Juventus) in China at

Suning on 14 June 2017. His experience ended on 28 March 2018 with Capello's dismissal.

Now stay tuned to this section of Gianluca Zambrotta biography as we want to share some more information about his playing style.

Style of Play

Physically powerful and resilient, he was a natural right-footed player, able to kick with both feet. Having made a name for himself as an offensive midfielder at Bari, he joined Juventus as a right-footed outside midfielder in Carlo Ancelotti's 3-5-2 and was then deployed as a left-back by Marcello Lippi in a 4-man defence.

Capable in both offensive and defensive phases, throughout his playing years at Juventus, he was noticeable as a technically and tactically good player, fast and with good ball control.

Reception

Zambrotta was one of the few players of his time capable of playing good both on offensive and defensive phases and because of his numerous skills and qualities, many regarded him amongst the best of his generation. If it wasn’t for his departure after the relegation of Juventus to Serie B, he could’ve become one of the legendary footballers of the Turin based club.

Goal Celebration

As a defender, he never scored many goals during his career. He never had a signature goal celebration to his name and after scoring goals, every time we saw him celebrate in a different way.

Gianluca Zambrotta outside Football

After ending his career as a football player, the famous Italian full-back and former world champion decided to open up a sports centre in his hometown. This sports centre, known as the Eracle Sport Center is located in the San Fermo della Battaglia and his wife helps him in managing the place.

The centre has 3 football pitches, 2 tennis courts, beach volleyball and a swimming pool. Other than this sports centre, the couple also has a Liu Jo boutique in the city centre of Como.

Gianluca Zambrotta Personal Life

In this section of Gianluca Zambrotta biography, we will take a deeper look into his personal life and share some information about things like Gianluca Zambrotta life story and Gianluca Zambrotta religion with you.

Family, Children and Relationships

Gianluca has been married to his wife Valentina Liguori for many years now. They first met when they were just 19 years old in 1998 and since then they have never been apart. The fortunate meeting took place on the occasion of the wedding of Valentina's cousin, Simona. 

Gianluca Zambrotta and Valentina Liguori got married in 2005: the footballer made the decision to take the Neapolitan model as his bride, just before he left for the 2004 European Football Championship in Portugal. The couple chose a double wedding: first there was a civil ceremony in Naples, and then a religious ceremony in Carate Urio (on Lake Como).

At their wedding, there were many other VIPs, including some of Zambrotta's friends, with whom he has shared many experiences, Juventus coaches and

, former coach of the Italian national team.

The love between Gianluca Zambrotta and his wife Valentina is, without doubt, a great one, which was crowned in 2012 with the birth of Riccardo, who is now 9 years old. This beautiful child often appears in the photos that Mrs Zambrotta posts on Instagram, where she has been named one of the most beautiful wags in Italy.

Philanthropy

The famous Italian footballer has always been part of charitable activities during his career and we have seen him many times attending charity events in Italy or China.

Valentina and Gianluca, during their special day, asked their guests to avoid giving gifts, and instead, do charity work for the Italian Multiple Sclerosis Association of Como.

Legal Issues

There are no reports of any legal issues or disputes about Gianluca Zambrotta in the English or Italian media at the time of writing this article.

Gianluca Zambrotta Career Statistics

In this section of Gianluca Zambrotta biography, get ready as we are going to share some information about his career stats both on the club and international level.

Club

From the start of his career with Como in 1994 until the day he hung up his boots with Chiasso in 2014, Zambrotta played a total of 623 matches in all competitions, scoring 34 goals. For the most part of his career, he has been a Juventus player.

International

In 11 years between 1999 and 2010, Zambrotta went on to play 98 matches for his country and score two goals, one against Tunisia in a friendly and another against Ukraine in the 2006 World Cup.

Managerial

He has worked as head coach of two teams during his career and with 19 wins, 19 draws and 26 defeats, he has a win ratio of 29.69 percent.

Gianluca Zambrotta Honors

As a player, he has won many awards and titles including the

, Supercoppa Italiana, UEFA Intertoto Cup, Supercopa de España and the prestigious FIFA World Cup, among others.

His personal awards list includes UEFA Euro 2004: Team of the Tournament, 2006 UEFA Team of the Year, FIFPro World XI and the 2006 FIFA World Cup: All-Star Team.

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