 Galli in 2011 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1958-04-29)29 April 1958 (age 67) | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Pisa, Italy | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.87 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| Fiorentina | |||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 1977–1986 | Fiorentina | 259 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1986–1990 | Milan | 98 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1990–1993 | Napoli | 98 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1993–1994 | Torino | 31 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1994–1995 | Parma | 10 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1995–1996 | Lucchese | 26 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| Total | 522 | (0) | |||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||
| 1976–1982 | Italy U21 | 22 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 1980–1986 | Italy | 19 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||
Giovanni Galli (Italian pronunciation:[dʒoˈvanniˈɡalli]; born 29 April 1958) is an Italian former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper, and currently a politician. In a professional career that spanned nearly two decades, he played in 496Serie A games, mainly withFiorentina (nine seasons) andMilan (four), winning six major titles with the latter club.
An international in the 1980s, Galli appeared withItaly in twoWorld Cups, and the1980 UEFA European Football Championship; he was an unused member of the squad that won the1982 FIFA World Cup and served as Italy's starting goalkeeper at the1986 FIFA World Cup.
Born inPisa, Galli started his career with his home town's youth side as amidfielder before switching to the role of goalkeeper.[1] He began his professional career withACF Fiorentina in 1977, where he played for nineSerie A seasons. In1986–87, he joined fellow league sideA.C. Milan, being first-choice for three of his four years, and establishing himself as one of Italy's best goalkeepers, winning the Serie A title and theSupercoppa Italiana during his first season. He also started in both of the club's back-to-backEuropean Cup conquests, in1989 and1990, also winning consecutiveEuropean Supercups in 1989 and 1990, and theIntercontinental Cup in1989. He also reached the final of the1989–90 Coppa Italia with Milan. In his final season with the club, he was often alternated and faced competition for a starting spot from back-upAndrea Pazzagli, whom managerArrigo Sacchi often fielded during league games, while Galli played in European matches.[2]
In the 1990 summer, following Milan's signing ofSebastiano Rossi, 32-year-old Galli left, going on to representS.S.C. Napoli and appearing in an average of 33 league games during his three-year spell, starting bywinning theItalian Supercup, 5–1 againstJuventus.[2] In 1993, he played as the starting keeper forTorino Calcio for asingle season, reaching the semi-finals of theCoppa Italia, and the quarter-finals of theCup Winners' Cup, despite a disappointing mid-table finish. He finished his stint in the top division at the end of the1994–95 season, after being named backup goalkeeper behindLuca Bucci atAC Parma, who won theUEFA Cup that season, and reached theCoppa Italia final, also placing third in Serie A.[2] Galli retired in 1996 at the age of 38 after a brief stint withA.S. Lucchese-Libertas ofSerie B.[1][2]
Galli took part inItaly's victorious1982 FIFA World Cup expedition, without playing a single match however, as he served as backup toDino Zoff, alongsideBordon.[1][3] The same had already happened in theUEFA Euro 1980 tournament, where Italy finished in fourth place on home soil, after reaching the semi-final. Galli was given his national team debut in afriendly match againstGreece on 5 October 1983, which ended in a 3–0 win to Italy.[2]
As a starter, Galli played in the1986 World Cup in Mexico under managerEnzo Bearzot,[1][4][5] as Italy were ousted in theround of 16 by eventual semi-finalistsFrance, led byMichel Platini.[6] During the tournament, in Italy's 1–1 draw against eventual championsArgentina in their second group match on 5 June, Galli drew criticism in the media for his goalkeeping onMaradona's equaliser.[7] Following the competition, he was no longer called up to Italy. In total, Galli obtained 19 caps for Italy.[1][8]
Considered one of the best goalkeepers in Italy and the world during his prime, Galli was an extremely consistent, composed, reflective, and reliable goalkeeper, with a good physique, despite his tall and slender frame, and who possessed an excellent fundamental goalkeeping technique; indeed, he stood out for his elegance in both his playing style and movements, and as such, he rarely made saves with his feet. He was known in particular for his strong positional sense, handling, and his efficient rather than spectacular playing style, as well as his calm personality and serious demeanour, both on and off the pitch; however, he was also an athletic shot-stopper, with a good spring, who was capable of producing decisive diving saves when necessary. In spite of his reserved character, he was also highly regarded for his charismatic leadership, as well as his mentality, and his ability to communicate with his defenders and organise his back-line, which often inspired a sense of confidence in his teammates. He excelled in Milan's zonal marking system under Sacchi, due to hisspeed when rushing off his line to claim crosses or anticipate opponents who had beaten the offside trap, which enabled the team to maintain a high defensive line; when his team were attacking, he was often tasked with remaining outside his box to function as a sweeper keeper. He also possessed good distribution, vision, and solid ball skills, which enabled him to play the ball out from the back.[nb 1]
In December 2007, Galli joinedHellas Verona F.C. as itsdirector of football, leaving his position after only two months in charge. He also later worked as a football pundit.[1][2]
Following his retirement, Galli pursued a career in politics. On 1 March 2009, Galli was announced as the centre-right mayoral candidate in the 2009 local elections inFlorence. His candidacy was supported byThe People of Freedom,Lega Nord, and a number of minor local movements. In the first round of the election held on 6 and 7 June, he ended in second place, with 32% of votes; he was successively defeated fourteen days later in the second round of the election bycentre-left coalition candidateMatteo Renzi, taking only 40% of local votes.[30][31]
Galli is the father of the lateNiccolò Galli, a promising young footballer who died in aroad accident on 9 February 2001, aged only 17.[2] He is married to Anna, and also has two daughters, Camilla and Carolina.[32]
Milan[2]
Napoli[2]
Parma[2]
Italy[2]
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