 Gentile in 2006 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1953-09-27)27 September 1953 (age 72) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Tripoli,[1]Kingdom of Libya | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1971–1972 | Arona | 34 | (4) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1972–1973 | Varese | 34 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1973–1984 | Juventus | 283 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1987 | Fiorentina | 70 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–1988 | Piacenza | 20 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 441 | (14) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1975–1984 | Italy | 71 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2000–2006 | Italy U21 / Italy Olympic | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | Sion | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Claudio Gentile (Italian pronunciation:[ˈklaudjodʒenˈtiːle]; born 27 September 1953)[2] is an Italianfootball manager and former player who played as adefender in the 1970s and 1980s.
Gentile appeared forItaly in twoWorld Cup tournaments, and played for the winning Italian team in the1982 final. His club career was notably spent withJuventus for whom he made almost 300 league appearances, winning sixnational titles and two major European trophies.
Gentile was born inTripoli, Libya, to parents fromNoto,Sicily. He moved toBrunate,Lombardy with his family at the age of eight.[3]After beginning his career with Arona, Gentile played inSerie B withVarese during the1972–73 season.[2]
He then moved toJuventus and first played for them in aCoppa Italia match againstAscoli on 29 August 1973, with hisSerie A debut following on 2 December 1973 againstVerona.[1] In all, he played 414 senior matches for Juventus, including 283 in Serie A.[1] In over a decade with Juventus, Gentile won two major European club competitions (1976–77 UEFA Cup and1983–84 European Cup Winners' Cup), sixSerie A championships, and twoCoppa Italias.[2][4] He also reached thefinal of the1982–83 European Cup with the Turin club, only to suffer a 1–0 defeat againstHamburg in Athens.[5] During the match, Gentile was involved in a controversial incident when he collided with opposing Danish forwardLars Bastrup in the opening minutes of the second half, with Juventus trailing; although Bastrup suffered a broken jaw as a result of the impact, the incident went unnoticed by the referee.[6]
In 1984, Gentile moved to rivalsFiorentina where he spent three further seasons in Serie A, making over 60 appearances for the club. He then played a final season withPiacenza, in Serie B, retiring at the end of the1987–88 season.[2][4]
.jpg)
Gentile was capped on 71 occasions byItaly between 1975 and 1984, scoring a single goal during his international career.[7] He played in all of Italy's matches at the1978 World Cup, where Italy finished in fourth place, after reaching second place in the final group stage of the tournament and then losing the 3rd place playoff to Brazil. Gentile also played in the1980 European Championship, and he was named in the team of the tournament.[8]
In the1982World Cup, Gentile was once again a permanent member of the starting line-up as Italy went on to win the World Cup that year.[9] He gained notoriety for his aggressiveman-marking ofDiego Maradona in a second-round victory againstArgentina at the1982 World Cup, where he fouled the Argentine star 11 times in the first half,[10][11] and 23 in total,[12] after which Gentile famously quipped, "Football is not for ballerinas!"[11][13] Italy ended up defeating the defending champions Argentina 2–1. Italy then faced tournament favoritesBrazil in the next second-round group match andwon 3–2, in whichPaolo Rossi scored a hat trick, while Gentile was tasked with marking Brazilian star playmakerZico.[14] Italy defeatedPoland 2–0 in the semi-final, a match in which Gentile did not feature due to suspension.[15][16] He returned to the starting line-up for thefinal againstWest Germany where Italy won 3–1.[17] Gentile was once again in the team of the tournament for his performances during the 1982 World Cup.[18]
A tough, strong, tenacious, ruthless, and uncompromising defender, Gentile was regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, one of the toughest ever players in his position, and as one of the greatest Italian defenders of all time.[19] A hard-tackling and versatile defender, he was capable of playing both as a man-markingcentre-back or "stopper", and as afull-back on either flank, and was particularly known for his tight, heavy, physical marking of opponents, as well as his work-rate, and aggressive challenges.[20][21][22][23] He was also capable of playing as asweeper, a role which he occupied towards the end of his career, as he lost some of his pace,[24] or in thecentre of the pitch as adefensive midfielder.[22][25][26] He also stood out for his ability in the air.[27]
Although he was not initially known to be the most naturally talented footballer from a skilful standpoint, and was seen as more of a defensive-minded right-back, who mainly sought to break down opposing attacks, he was known for his discipline in training, and showed significant technical improvements throughout his career. Indeed, he was a mobile and hard-working player, who was also capable of contributing offensively as an attacking full-back in a zonal-marking system, by getting up the flank and providing deliveries into the box for his teammates.[21][22][23][25][28] Alongside Juventus and Italy teammatesDino Zoff,Brio,Cabrini, andScirea, he formed one of the most formidable defensive lines in football history.[29]
In 2007,The Times placed Gentile at number 8 in their list of the 50 hardest footballers in history.[30] However, despite his infamous reputation, Gentile considered himself to be a hard yet fair player. He was only sent off once in his career, with Juventus, in a 2–0 away loss toClub Brugge in a European Cup semi-final match in April 1978, for a double booking following a handball.[24][31][32] Due to his aggressive playing style and country of birth, Gentile was given the nicknameGaddafi in the Italian media.[11]
Gentile later coached theItaly national under-21 team which won the2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship,[33] and theOlympic team which won a bronze at the2004 Olympics in Athens.[34]
On 5 June 2014, he signed two-year deal withSion.[35]
Italy Olympic Team
Media related toClaudio Gentile at Wikimedia CommonsItaly squads | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
