 Marchegiani in 2003 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Luca Marchegiani | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1966-02-22)22 February 1966 (age 59) | |||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Ancona, Italy | |||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | |||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | |||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||
| Jesi | ||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||
| 1984–1987 | Jesi | 33 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1985–1986 | → Aurora Latini (loan) | 0 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1987–1988 | Brescia | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1988–1993 | Torino | 146 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 1993–2003 | Lazio | 243 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2003–2005 | Chievo | 66 | (0) | |||||||||||
| Total | 489 | (0) | ||||||||||||
| International career | ||||||||||||||
| 1992–1996 | Italy | 9 | (0) | |||||||||||
Medal record
| ||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||||||||
Luca Marchegiani (Italian pronunciation:[ˈluːkamarkeˈdʒaːni]; born 22 February 1966) is an Italian former professionalfootballer who played as agoalkeeper.
He represented several Italian clubs throughout his career, in particularTorino andLazio, where he won various titles. At international level, he played for theItaly national team in the1994 FIFA World Cup, where they reached thefinal.
He holds the longest unbeaten streak in Lazio's history, as well as the jointeighth-highest unbeaten streak in Serie A, alongsideGianluigi Buffon, having gone 745 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the Italian top division.[1]
After beginning his professional career withJesi in 1986, for one season in the lower divisions, and subsequentlyBrescia for aseason, inSerie B, Marchegiani spent the majority of his career atTorino FC andSS Lazio. With Torino (1988–1993), he won theCoppa Italia in 1993, and aSerie B title and aMitropa Cup in 1991, earning promotion toSerie A; he also finished runner-up in the1993 Supercoppa Italiana and the1991–92 UEFA Cup, and managed a third-place finish inSerie A during the1991–92 season, whilst playing for the club.[2]
At one point in his career, Marchegiani was the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, when he joined Lazio from Torino in 1993 for £6m;[3] during this period he was regarded as one of the best and most reliable goalkeepers in Italy and in world football. During his time with Lazio he won theSerie A, twoItalian Cups, twoItalian Supercups, anUEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and anUEFA Super Cup, also reaching anotherUEFA Cup Final in 1998. In 2003, he moved to and ended his playing career atChievoVerona, where he remained until retiring in 2005.[2]
Marchegiani played forItaly national football team on 9 occasions between 1991 and 1996. He was initially selected byArrigo Sacchi as the successor of the former first-choice keeperWalter Zenga,[4] but lost his place after a mediocre performance in a 2–2 draw againstSwitzerland during the1994 FIFA World Cup qualification:[5] he conceded the first goal, scored byChristophe Ohrel, after failing to catch a cross, an unusual mistake for him, and then poorly controlled aback-pass with his feet, enabling the opposing strikerStéphane Chapuisat to score for the second time.[6]
At the1994 FIFA World Cup he was selected as Italy's second-choice keeper behindGianluca Pagliuca, who was more skilled with the ball at his feet,[7] but still managed to play three matches:[8] his first appearance was as a substitute againstNorway, following the sending off of Pagliuca, coming on forRoberto Baggio, and helping the 10-man Italian squad to keep a clean sheet and win the match 1–0; he also appeared in the final group match againstMexico (a 1–1 draw), and in the 2–1 extra-time victory overNigeria in the round of 16.[9] Despite Marchegiani's excellent performances, which led some pundits to advocate his confirmation, Pagliuca recovered the starting spot after his two-game suspension,[10] and played the remaining games. Italy reached thefinal, where they lost toBrazil onpenalties.[11]
A consistent, elegant, intelligent, composed and complete goalkeeper, Marchegiani is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation. He was known in particular for his agility, positional sense, reactions, and his speed whenrushing off his line, as well as his efficient technique, reliable handling, movement, and his ability to read the game; in particular, he stood out throughout his career for his outstanding ability to come out and claim crosses and high balls. In addition to his shot-stopping abilities, he was also remembered for his professionalism, as well as his dedication.[2][12][13][14][15][16][17] In spite of his reserved character, he was a resolute goalkeeper, who inspired confidence in his defenders.[18][19][20][21] Although he was not particularly adept or confident with the ball at his feet following the establishment of theback-pass rule,[5] and did not have a particularly powerful or deep goal kick, he possessed excellent vision,[18] and later worked to improve this aspect of his game throughout his career.[13][22] He was also effective at stopping penalties: in his career, he stopped 18 penalties in Serie A from 69 attempts in 422 appearances between 1988 and 2005, with a career save percentage of 26.1%; he has saved thefourth–highest number of penalties in Serie A history. During the2003–04 season, he saved five spot kicks.[23][24][25]
Because of his calm and composure, he was nicknamedIl Conte ("The Count").[26] He has citedGiovanni Galli as one of his major influences as a goalkeeper.[27]
Marchegiani works as a pundit forSky Italia. He features inKonami'sPro Evolution Soccer series as a technical commentator; from the2012 edition to the2014 edition, he featured alongsidePierluigi Pardo, while he was subsequently partnered withFabio Caressa from the2015 edition onwards.
His sonGabriele Marchegiani made his professional debut as a goalkeeper in 2016.[28]
Torino
Lazio
