 Prandelli managingItaly in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Claudio Cesare Prandelli[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1957-08-19)19 August 1957 (age 68)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Orzinuovi, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Midfielder | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1974–1978 | Cremonese | 88 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1978–1979 | Atalanta | 27 | (3) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1979–1985 | Juventus | 89 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1990 | Atalanta | 119 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 323 | (17) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1990–1997 | Atalanta (youth) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Atalanta (caretaker) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1997–1998 | Lecce | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1998–2000 | Verona | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2001 | Venezia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2002–2004 | Parma | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2004 | Roma | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2010 | Fiorentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2014 | Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Galatasaray | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016 | Valencia | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2018 | Al-Nasr | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2019 | Genoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Fiorentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Claudio Cesare Prandelli (Italian pronunciation:[ˈtʃeːzarepranˈdɛlli,ˈtʃɛː-]; born 19 August 1957) is an Italian formerfootballcoach and formerplayer.
Prandelli was amidfielder who moved fromAtalanta toJuventus in 1979. His first game for Juventus was in the1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup againstRaba ETO Győr. He played six seasons with Juventus, with his final game in the1984–85 Coppa Italia againstMilan.[3]
In total, Prandelli played in 197Serie A matches.[3]
Prandelli began his managing career as youth team coach for Atalanta, achieving excellent results from 1990 to 1997, save for a seven-months parenthesis – from November 1993 to June 1994 – in which he served as caretaker for the first team, then relegated toSerie B. After a poor1997–98 Serie A campaign asLecce head coach ended in a sacking in January 1998, Prandelli headedHellas Verona for two seasons, leading thegialloblu to an immediate promotion to Serie A, and then to a solid ninth-place finish the next year. He later spent two years withParma.[4][5]
Starting the 2004–05 season forRoma, he left the team because of personal problems involving his wife, with her being seriously ill.
Prandelli joinedFiorentina as manager in the summer of 2005. His first season inTuscany proved to be a huge success, as Prandelli transformed Fiorentina from relegation strugglers into a team worthy of aUEFA Champions League spot, finishing the season in fourth place. Unfortunately for Fiorentina and Prandelli, however, as a result of theCalciopoli match-fixing scandal, Fiorentina was stripped of its Champions League spot and started the2006–07 season in Serie A with a 15-point deduction.[6]
The next year, despite the points deduction, Prandelli was able to guide Fiorentina to a sixth-place finish in Serie A (with the same point tally as fifth placedPalermo), securingUEFA Cup qualification for the2007–08 season. The team performed well in the competition, losing in a penalty shootout againstRangers in the semi-final. In Serie A, the team finished fourth after winning a long race against Milan, earning a ticket to participate in the2008–09 Champions League following a season in which his wife died.
For his work in the 2007–08 season, Prandelli was awarded theSerie A Coach of the Year at the "Oscar del calcio" awards in early 2009. He later managed to get Fiorentina into the group phase after defeatingSlavia Prague in the third qualifying round, and also guided Fiorentina to another fourth place spot, this time just pippingGenoa (who ended the season with the same points as Fiorentina, but were classified at fifth due to head-to-head results) and a second consecutive participation in the Champions League qualifying rounds. After the departure of Milan managerCarlo Ancelotti, Prandelli's tenure as Fiorentina became the longest of all incumbent Serie A managers.
In 2009, Prandelli surpassedFulvio Bernardini as the longest-serving manager in Fiorentina history, and guided theviola to a historic qualification in the round of 16 of the2009–10 Champions League, where it was eliminated byBayern Munich (which later went on to reach thefinal) through theaway goals rule. Prandelli, however, did not manage to repeat such successes at the domestic stage, with things being made even more complex by his key playerAdrian Mutu being suspended due to doping-related issues. Fiorentina ended the2009–10 Serie A in 11th position, far removed from the top sides in the league.
On 20 May 2010, Fiorentina confirmed that Prandelli was given permission to hold talks withItalian Football Federation (FIGC) presidentGiancarlo Abete to replaceMarcello Lippi as head coach of theItaly national team after the2010 FIFA World Cup.[7][8] On 30 May, the FIGC publicly announced that Prandelli will take over from Lippi at the head of theAzzurri after the World Cup.[9] His official debut arrived on 10 August 2010 in afriendly match against theIvory Coast at theBoleyn Ground,London, finishing in a 0–1 defeat.[10]
Then, during theUEFA Euro 2012 qualifiers, Italy came back from behind to defeatEstonia 2–1. Italy's match againstSerbia was plagued by crowd trouble andUEFA subsequently awarded Italy a 3–0 victory, putting them in pole position of their group. On 25 March 2011, Italy recorded a 1–0 win overSlovenia to secure top spot in the qualification table. Before the Slovenia game, Prandelli said, "The moment has come for us to have faith in the former greats of our football and learn from them ... My instruction is to work, work, work and I sincerely believe in rebuilding."[11] Although preparations for theEuro 2012 finals in Poland and Ukraine were affected by domestic match-rigging scandals, Prandelli succeeded in restoring honour to the national team after six years of relative famine by unexpectedly guiding it to thefinal.[12] After coming second in the group stage while adopting a 3–5–2 system (with 1–1 draws againstSpain andCroatia and a 2–0 win over theRepublic of Ireland), the team switched to a 4–4–2 diamond; following the tactical switch, Italy dominated a goalless encounter againstEngland won by a penalty shootout, and then contrived a striking 2–1 defeat ofGermany in which Prandelli's special protégéMario Balotelli scored twice. Despite losing 4–0 to Spain in the final, Prandelli was able to bring the team back to Italy amid popular applause to receive the personal compliments ofPresident of ItalyGiorgio Napolitano at an official reception in theQuirinal Palace.[13][14]
Under Prandelli, Italy went on to finish third in the2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, beating outUruguay 3–2 in the penalty shootout after a 2–2 deadlock following extra time in the bronze medal match.[15] Italy had previously lost out 7–6 to Spain on penalties in the semi-finals, after a 0–0 draw.[16] Italy finished second in their group behind eventual championsBrazil, winning their opening two group matches againstMexico andJapan,[17] but losing their final group match 4–2 to the hosts.[18]
After comfortably guiding the Italian team to qualification to the2014 World Cup, in March 2014 it was revealed Prandelli had agreed a two-year contract extension that would keep him in charge untilEuro 2016.[19] Italy won their opening match against England 2–1,[20] but then suffered an unexpected 1–0 defeat toCosta Rica in their following match.[21] On 24 June 2014, Prandelli resigned as Italy manager after a controversial 1–0 defeat againstUruguay in their final group match, which eliminated Italy from the World Cup in the group stage; during the match,Claudio Marchisio was sent off and the refereeMarco Antonio Rodríguez failed to seeLuis Suárez biteGiorgio Chiellini prior to Uruguay's goal from a corner kick.[22][23][24] Following Italy's early elimination from the tournament, the press criticised Italy's gameplay, and Prandelli for over-relying onAndrea Pirlo, and for his inability to manage tensions in the dressing room effectively.[24][25][26]
On 3 July 2014, Prandelli became the manager ofGalatasaray taking over from the previous fellow Italian coachRoberto Mancini, signing a two-year contract.[27] He would only spend 147 days as manager, however, as he was sacked on 28 November 2014. His league performance was certainly not bad: in ten weeks his team managed to get six wins, one draw and three losses, landing at third place in theSüper Lig, one point behindFenerbahçe andBeşiktaş. The team under Prandelli, however, had one of its worst seasons in theChampions League, with two 4–1 losses toArsenal, and 4–0 and 4–1 losses toBorussia Dortmund, ending the team with one points and −12 goal difference in six games.[28] Prandelli's statement that "the Turkish league is our priority" was not well received by the fans and the club board, as Galatasaray is often seen as the "European team" of Turkey, being the most successful club in European tournaments. Prandelli's tactics and player choices were also heavily criticized in the media, as he tried different lineups in 16 games that he managed. His successor,Hamza Hamzaoğlu, led the team to bothleague andcup titles. Players declared their discontent about working with Prandelli several times in the media.[29]
On 28 September 2016, Prandelli was appointed manager of SpanishLa Liga clubValencia, replacingPako Ayestarán.[30] He resigned after only ten games on 30 December 2016.[31]
On 25 May 2017, Prandelli was appointed manager of EmiratesArabian Gulf League clubAl-Nasr Dubai.[32]
On 7 December 2018, Prandelli was appointed asGenoa manager.[33] His contract was terminated on 20 June 2019.[34]
On 9 November 2020, Prandelli returned to Fiorentina as manager following the sacking ofGiuseppe Iachini.[35] He resigned on 23 March 2021 following a 2–3 home loss toAC Milan, declaring on a public statement his decision to be motivated by personal reasons and a feeling of distress, and also hinting at the fact it might have been his final role as a coach in his career.[36][37]
As manager of Fiorentina, Prandelli made use of a4–4–2 formation; the team's style of play was based on pace and ball-distribution, rather than physical power, with acentre-forward being supported by asecond striker up-front. He also used a more defensive-minded4–5–1 formation on occasion.[38] In his second spell at the club, he made use of the4–2–3–1 formation.[39]
During his time as manager of the Italy national football team, Prandelli was known for his offensive tactics and for implementing an attractive playing style based on passing and ball possession, which was likened to Spain'stiki-taka. He also used the3–5–2 formation on occasion at Euro 2012, withwing-backs and a ball-playingsweeper, before reverting to a stylish attacking system using their 'standard' 4–4–2 diamond formation for the knockout stages. He often deployed deep-lying,defensive, orbox-to-box midfielders, such asRiccardo Montolivo,Alberto Aquilani, Marco Verratti,Daniele De Rossi,Antonio Nocerino, orThiago Motta, seemingly as a number ten behind the forwards, while actually acting as afalse attacking midfielder in his4–3–1–2 formation; as such this formation was devoid of an authentic attacking midfielder, and was centred on the midfielders constantly switching positions. He also used them in other midfield roles on occasion. Prandelli's midfield was focussed on the creative playmaking ofAndrea Pirlo and Montolivo in their respectivedeep-lying playmaker and false attacking midfield roles, with Pirlo seemingly being deployed as a defensive midfielder in front of the defense, in order to be left with more time on the ball, in an "inverted" midfield diamond (4–1–3–2). While Pirlo dictated play with his passing, in a similar manner to Spain'sXavi, he was supported defensively by dynamic box-to-box midfielders, such asClaudio Marchisio and De Rossi, who pressed their opponents, due to his lack of pace or notable defensive ability. The space created by the movement of Montolivo as the false 10 allowed quicker, more offensive minded midfielders, such as Marchisio, to make attacking runs in order to receive Pirlo and Montolivo's long passes from the midfield, whilst the second strikerAntonio Cassano would drop out wide onto the wing or into the attacking midfielder position to link up the play between the attack and midfield. As well as functioning as aplaymaker, and creating space, in the false 10 role, Montolivo was also able to alleviate the pressure placed upon Pirlo in the deep lying playmaker role, by supporting him defensively and providing Pirlo and the team with a secondary creative option.[13][14][40][41][42][43][44][45][46] In Italy's opening match against Spain, Prandelli used defensive midfielderDaniele De Rossi as a ball-playing centre-back in a back-three, due to injuries to his team's starting defenders.[47][48][49][50][51][52]
Prandelli also made use of a more organised and defensive3–4–3 formation against Spain during the2013 FIFA Confederations Cup semi-final, attempting to stifle Spain's possession game by reducing spaces, and subsequently hitting them on the counter-attack; the system proved to be more effective, as Italy created several opportunities and were only eliminated on penalties following a goalless draw.[53][54] During Italy's opening match of the 2014 World Cup, a 2–1 win against England, Prandelli also made use of a 4–1–3–1–1 formation with two playmakers in midfield.[55] He has also been known to use the4–3–3 formation on occasion.[56]
Prandelli was also known for implementing a strict ethical code during his time as Italy manager, excluding players who had been suspended due to violent conduct or poor behaviour.[57]
Prandelli is awidower. He was married to Manuela Caffi. They met in his hometown of Orzinuovi when he was 18 and she was 15. They married in 1982, with footballersAntonio Cabrini and Domenico Pezzolla witnessing the event, and they had two children named Carolina and Nicolò. In 2001, Manuela was diagnosed with breast cancer; her worsening health conditions led Prandelli to resign from his coaching post at Roma only days after his signing.[58] After a short recovery, her conditions worsened and she died on 26 November 2007 inFlorence. On 29 November, Fiorentina travelled toAthens to play Greek sideAEK Athens, with Prandelli's assistantGabriele Pin deputizing for him. The Fiorentina team attended Prandelli's wife's funeral along with her personal friends. The team was shaken by the turn of events.
Prandelli's son Nicolò has also embarked on an off-pitch football career, having been chosen as a fitness coach by Parma in 2009,[59] and then by the Italy national team during the buildup to the Euro 2012 finals.[60][61]
Prandelli is a devout Catholic.[62][63] As of 2010, he has been in a relationship with Novella Benini.[citation needed] Prandelli has spoken out against homophobia and racism in football;[64] in 2012, he wrote a preface to a book on homosexuality in sport byAlessandro Cecchi Paone and Flavio Pagano which stated, "Homophobia is racism and it is indispensable that we make further steps to look after all aspects of individuals living their own lives, including sporting figures, ... In the world of football and of sport in general there is still a taboo around homosexuality. Everyone ought to live freely with themselves, their desires and their sentiments. We must all work for a sporting culture that respects the individual in every manifestation of his truth and freedom. Hopefully soon some players will come out."[65]
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||||
| Atalanta (caretaker) |  | 2 November 1993 | 2 May 1994 | 26 | 3 | 10 | 13 | 22 | 47 | −25 | 011.54 |
| Lecce | 18 June 1997 | 2 February 1998 | 24 | 5 | 4 | 15 | 17 | 41 | −24 | 020.83 | |
| Verona | 20 June 1998 | 20 May 2000 | 78 | 30 | 26 | 22 | 107 | 92 | +15 | 038.46 | |
| Venezia | 20 May 2000 | 9 October 2001 | 53 | 23 | 17 | 13 | 77 | 66 | +11 | 043.40 | |
| Parma | 16 May 2002 | 28 May 2004 | 85 | 38 | 24 | 23 | 138 | 104 | +34 | 044.71 | |
| Roma | 28 May 2004 | 27 August 2004 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | !— | |
| Fiorentina | 7 June 2005 | 3 June 2010 | 240 | 117 | 56 | 67 | 357 | 250 | +107 | 048.75 | |
| Italy | 2 July 2010 | 24 June 2014 | 56 | 23 | 20 | 13 | 81 | 58 | +23 | 041.07 | |
| Galatasaray |  | 8 July 2014 | 28 November 2014 | 16 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 29 | −14 | 037.50 |
| Valencia |  | 3 October 2016 | 30 December 2016 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 17 | 17 | +0 | 030.00 |
| Al-Nasr |  | 25 May 2017 | 19 January 2018 | 19 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 042.11 |
| Genoa | | 7 December 2018 | 20 June 2019 | 24 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 20 | 28 | −8 | 016.67 |
| Fiorentina | 9 November 2020 | 23 March 2021 | 23 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 27 | 35 | −8 | 026.09 | |
| Total | 654 | 266 | 185 | 203 | 908 | 788 | +120 | 040.67 | |||
Cremonese
Juventus
Hellas Verona
Italy
Italy squads | |||||||||||||
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| International | |
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| National | |
