 Tacconi in 2005 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Stefano Tacconi[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1957-05-13)13 May 1957 (age 68) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Perugia, Italy | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| 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) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1991 | Italy | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Stefano TacconiCavaliere OMRI (Italian pronunciation:[ˈsteːfanotakˈkoːni]; born 13 May 1957) is an Italian former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper. He is the only goalkeeper to have wonall international club competitions, a feat he managed during his time withJuventus.[2] At international level, he was largely used as a back-up goalkeeper behindWalter Zenga, which earned him the nickname "the best back-up keeper in the world". He was a member of the Italy squads that took part at the1988 Summer Olympics,UEFA Euro 1988, and the1990 FIFA World Cup. He is widely regarded by pundits as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation, and as one of Italy's best ever goalkeepers.[3]
Tacconi got his first significant experience atSpoleto football club. Following this, having already attracted the interest ofInter Milan, he had his first brief stint as a professional withPro Patria[4] andLivorno before joiningSambenedettese. He then reachedSerie A withAvellino in the 1980–81 season; he remained there for three years before joining the Italian clubJuventus in 1983, ahead ofLuciano Bodini, as a replacement for his legendary predecessorDino Zoff, who had retired at the end of the previous season.
WithGiovanni Trapattoni's Juventus club, Tacconi achieved great domestic and international success, as he won twoscudetti in1984 and1986, theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup in 1984, the1984 European Super Cup, theEuropean Champion Clubs' Cup in 1985 and the 1985Intercontinental Cup the same year againstArgentinos Juniors on penalties. In 1990 Tacconi and Juventus went on to win aUEFA Cup and aCoppa Italia double; the following season, he was named the team'scaptain, although Juventus lost out on the1990 Supercoppa Italiana toSerie A winnersNapoli. During this period, Juventus were one of the best teams in the world, and Tacconi was also regarded as one of the top goalkeepers in the world.[3][5]
After a ten-year working relationship withJuventus (during the1985–86 season, he was kept on the bench), Tacconi transferred toGenoa in 1992. Unfortunately, Genoa was relegated toSerie B at the end of season. He retired from professional football in 1994.[3]
Despite his performances and success with Juventus, Tacconi was not able to find much space in theItaly national side underAzeglio Vicini, due to the presence of several other excellent keepers, such asGiovanni Galli initially, andWalter Zenga – his perceived career rival –[3][6][7][8][9] in particular, as well as the emerging keeperGianluca Pagliuca, subsequently. As a result, Tacconi was frequently Zenga's reserve for the Italy national team.
Tacconi made his senior international debut in a 3–1 win overArgentina on 10 June 1987, inZürich.[3] In the late 1980s, he was chosen by manager and former goalkeeperDino Zoff as the starting goalkeeper for the Under-23 Italian Olympic side which reached the semi-finals in the1988 Olympics in Seoul, eventually finishing in fourth place. Tacconi was Zenga's deputy duringEuro 1988, where Italy managed a semi-final finish, and at the1990 World Cup onhome soil, where Italy finished in third place following a semi-final loss on penalties to defending championsArgentina. In 2014, Tacconi criticised Vicini for his decision not to bring him on for the shoot-out in the 1990 World Cup semi-final, following theNetherlands' penalty shoot-out victory overCosta Rica in the2014 World Cup quarter-finals, in which managerLouis van Gaal brought on goalkeeperTim Krul for the shoot-out; the historic substitution proved to be decisive, with the shot-stopper saving two out of five spot kicks. Tacconi believed that he was better at saving penalties than Zenga, and that Vicini should have made a similar substitution at the time.[3][10][11]
In total, Tacconi made seven appearances for Italy between 1987 and 1991, all in friendly matches, conceding two goals. He played his final match for Italy on 13 February 1991, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 friendly home draw withBelgium, in Terni.[3]
Although not particularly agile, Tacconi was a powerful and athletic goalkeeper, who was known for his consistency and shot-stopping ability, as well as his ability to produce important saves, in particular in decisive games. A vocal and commanding presence in goal, he was also known for his leadership, temper, and strong character, and often called out defenders for their errors.[3] Although he was initially not known for his ability to come out and collect crosses, and performed better between the posts, he improved upon this aspect of his game in his later career, with the help of Zoff, and often came off his line to claim high balls that were coming straight at him, although he still remained less inclined to collect deliveries from wider areas.[3][12][13][14] He was also known for his adeptness at stopping penalties.[15] Although he had a deep goal kick,[16] he was not particularly gifted with his feet, and struggled to adapt his game following the introduction of the back-pass rule, and was even critical of the new regulations.[17][18] He was also not particularly adept at playing as asweeper-keeper inzonal marking systems, which saw him struggle under Juventus managerLuigi Maifredi, despite having once played in a similar (and, for the time, unorthodox) manner during his stint at Avellino.[3][19]
After quitting professional football, Tacconi had several disappointing experiences inpolitics. In 1999, he was onAlleanza Nazionale's lists for theEuropean parliamentary elections, but failed to earn a seat. In 2005, he controversially tried to stand for president ofLombardy as a candidate forNew Italian Social Movement, an extremeright-wing party, but could not garner enough votes to validate his candidacy. In 2006, he put in for a city councilman position inMilan again withinAlleanza Nazionale, supporting winnerLetizia Moratti for mayor, but gained only 57 personal preferences (votes) and was not elected to the office.[20]
In August 2008, at the age of 51, he accepted an offer from Arquata, aSeconda Categoria amateur club based inArquata del Tronto,Marche, to make a return into active football as a goalkeeper.[21]
On 13 May 2011, Tacconi married long-time partner Laura Speranza, with whom he has four children.[22] He considers himself Roman Catholic.[23]
In October 2023, Tacconi was released from hospital following his rehabilitation from abrain haemorrhage he suffered in April 2022.[24]
Juventus[25]
Italy[25]
Individual
Orders
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