 Ferrara in 2012 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ciro Ferrara[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1967-02-11)11 February 1967 (age 58) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Naples, Italy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1980–1984 | Napoli | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1984–1994 | Napoli | 247 | (12) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1994–2005 | Juventus | 253 | (15) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | 500 | (27) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1985–1987 | Italy U21 | 6 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | Italy Olympic | 5 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1987–2000 | Italy | 49 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Managerial career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2005–2006 | Italy (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | Italy (assistant) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009–2010 | Juventus | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2012 | Italy U21 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Sampdoria | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Wuhan Zall | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ciro FerraraUfficiale OMRI (Italian pronunciation:[ˈtʃiːroferˈraːra];[2] born 11 February 1967) is an Italian formerfootballer andmanager. Ferrara spent his playing career as adefender, initially atNapoli and later on atJuventus, winning seven totalSerie A titles as well as other domestic and international trophies.
His most recent position was as manager ofWuhan Zall. He had also previously coachedJuventus and theItaly national under-21 team. As an assistant coach toMarcello Lippi, he won the2006 FIFA World Cup withItaly.
At international level, he earned 49 caps for the Italian national team and represented the team at the1988 Summer Olympics, at twoUEFA European Championships, in1988 and2000, and at the1990 World Cup.
A native ofNaples, Ferrara began his career with the youth system of hometown clubNapoli in 1980. He graduated theprimavera youth squad in 1984, and began to earn first team call-ups that season. He made 14 total appearances with the club in his first full season. The following season, Ferrara became a part of the starting XI, and he soon began earning call-ups to the Italy national team, making the squad for the1990 FIFA World Cup. He also scored one of Napoli's goals as they won the1989 UEFA Cup final. In addition to theUEFA Cup, with Napoli he won twoSerie A titles (in1986–87 and1989–90), the1987 Coppa Italia final, and the1990 Supercoppa Italiana, the latter over his future team,Juventus.[3]
In the summer of 1994, Ferrara transferred toTurin-based club Juventus under coachMarcello Lippi, and was quickly introduced into the starting XI, making over 40 total appearances for the club in all competitions in his first season, scoring one goal. He is considered one of the best central defenders of his generation, not relinquishing his starting position for the club for the next ten years. He also captained the team from 1995 to 1996 and became one of the most experienced and decorated players of the past two decades, winning eight Serie A championships, six of which were with Juventus, and two with Napoli. Ferrara was also part of twoCoppa Italia titles (one with each team), threeSupercoppa Italiana titles (two with Juventus, one with Napoli) and several European competitions, including theUEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup,Intercontinental Cup andEuropean Super Cup). His role as captain, however, was taken over byAlessandro Del Piero in 1996.
Throughout his Juventus career, Ferrara played an important role in the club's backline, with his vast experienced and dominating defensive style. Throughout his 12-year tenure with the club, Ferrara formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes ofMark Iuliano,Moreno Torricelli,Paolo Montero,Gianluca Pessotto,Lilian Thuram,Alessandro Birindelli,Igor Tudor,Gianluca Zambrotta,Nicola Legrottaglie andFabio Cannavaro. Juventus had what was considered as the best defence in the world at this time, and teams strongly regretted ever going down a goal to the club, as they knew how hard it would be to score one back for themselves. In the1996–97 season, one of his peak seasons, he scored 4 goals in 32 Serie A matches, while also being capped eight times internationally. Following theScudetto-winningseason, Ferrara, along with veteran defensive teammatesMark Iuliano andPaolo Montero, ended their Juventus careers. While Montero returned to Uruguay and Iuliano opted to join smaller clubs to conclude his career, Ferrara retired from football altogether in May 2005 at age 38. He made just four Serie A appearances in his final season with the club. Following Juventus' involvement in the2006 Italian football scandal, "Calciopoli", Juventus' 2004–05 title was later revoked.[3]
In June 1987, Ferrara debuted for theItalian senior squad in afriendly match againstArgentina.[4] In 1988, he was a member of the Italy team that finished in fourth place at the1988 Summer Olympics after reaching the semi-final.[3][5]
An elegant yet powerful and aggressive defender, Ferrara was known throughout his career for his composure, anticipation, technical skills, ball-playing ability, versatility, and class, which enabled him to play anywhere along the back-line, both in the centre, as a man-marker ("stopper"), or as afull-back, usually on the right flank, and allowed him to adapt to various formations and systems.[3][6] A world-class defender, who is regarded as one of the best Italiancentre-backs of his generation,[3][6][7][8][9][10][11][12] Welsh former wingerRyan Giggs described Ferrara and his defensive teammate at JuventusPaolo Montero as "...the toughest defenders [he] played against", also adding that they were often very hard in their challenges,[13] while Polish former midfielderZbigniew Boniek has stated that Ferrara was the best defender he ever faced.[14] A precocious talent in his youth, Ferrara later established himself as one of the best defenders in the world in his prime. He was considered to be a complete, experienced, consistent, cautious and successful defender, with a good positional sense, who was quick, athletic, strong in the air, a good tackler, and who excelled at reading the game and marking his opponents;[3][6][7][15][9][10][12][16] these skills enabled him to be effective in both a man-marking and a zonal marking defensive system.[10] In addition to his defensive skills, he was also known for his offensive contribution as a centre-back,[16] and was also capable of playing as asweeper.[17] In spite of his tenacious playing style, he was also known to be a fair and correct player.[9][16] In addition to his ability as a defender, he was also known for his professionalism, leadership, strong personality, and his commanding presence both on the pitch and in the dressing room.[10][18]
Ferrara was part of the Italian technical staff for the2006 World Cup. After winning theWorld Cup, he became part of Juventus' staff, joining former club and national teammate Gianluca Pessotto, with Ferrara being named youth system chief (responsabile settore giovanile), dealing mostly with organisational aspects of the Juve academy. In July 2008, Ferrara took theUEFA Pro License coaching badges following training atCoverciano,Florence.[19] After Juventus firedClaudio Ranieri following a string of seven league games without a win in the2008–09 season, Ferrara was named interim head coach of Juventus on 18 May 2009 for the remaining two weeks of the season, with the goal of maintaining second place in the league table, and the possibility of being appointed on a full-time basis for a longer period. In his two games as caretaker manager, he led Juventus to 3–0 and 2–0 wins overSiena andLazio respectively, thus ensuring a second-place finish over rivalsMilan. Following these results, he emerged as a strong candidate for to take the job permanently for the next season. On 5 June 2009, Juventus formally announced his appointment as manager for 2009–10 season.[20][21]
During the summer, the team was then strengthened with high-profile signings such as Brazilian internationalsDiego andFelipe Melo; 2006 World Cup championsFabio Cannavaro andFabio Grosso in defence; and young Uruguayan internationalMartín Cáceres, on loan. After winning his first four league matches, Ferrara's fortunes changed after Juve failed to make the knockout stage of the2009–10 UEFA Champions League following a 4–1 defeat byBayern Munich at home in a match where a draw would have awarded Juve the qualification to the following phase, despite a promising start to the campaign. Despite a win overDerby d'Italia rivalsInternazionale, Juve embarked on a losing streak over the winter, notably against minor teams such asSicilian sideCatania and recently promotedBari. He came under intense scrutiny from the media and there was much speculation about who would succeed him as manager, especially after he was absent at the traditional meeting of all Serie A managers, coaches and referees inRome during mid-season and was instead represented by then-Juventus director of sportAlessio Secco and 23-year-old midfielderClaudio Marchisio at the press conference.[22]
Six days later, Juventus were knocked out of theCoppa Italia by Inter 2–1 at theSan Siro, leading the board of directors to ultimately sack Ferrara after weeks of speculation regarding his position, replacing him withAlberto Zaccheroni until the end of the season.[23]
On 22 October 2010, Ferrara was announced as new head coach of theItaly under-21 team, with former teammateAngelo Peruzzi his assistant.[24] Under Ferrara, theAzzurrini remain unbeaten in the2013 UEFA European U21 Championshipqualifiers as of June 2012. On 2 July 2012, he left the country's U-21 side to coach newly promoted Serie A sideSampdoria for the2012–13 season. However, he was sacked on 17 December 2012.[25][26]
With his fellow Neapolitan friend and former defensive teammate Fabio Cannavaro, Ferrara has helped establish a charity foundation,Fondazione Cannavaro Ferrara, specialising in the procurement of cancer research equipment and surgery for special cases of cancer for a hospital in their native Naples. The foundation also aims to help at risk youth in Naples.[27]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Napoli | 1984–85 | Serie A | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 2 | 0 | ||
| 1985–86 | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 16 | 0 | ||||
| 1986–87 | 28 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 38 | 2 | |||
| 1987–88 | 23 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | 32 | 1 | |||
| 1988–89 | 27 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 12 | 1 | – | 47 | 1 | |||
| 1989–90 | 33 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 45 | 0 | |||
| 1990–91 | 29 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 41 | 4 | ||
| 1991–92 | 32 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 34 | 1 | ||||
| 1992–93 | 31 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | – | 39 | 4 | |||
| 1993–94 | 28 | 2 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 247 | 12 | 46 | 2 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 322 | 15 | ||
| Juventus | 1994–95 | Serie A | 33 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 1 | – | 49 | 2 | |
| 1995–96 | 31 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 42 | 3 | ||
| 1996–97 | 32 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 48 | 5 | ||
| 1997–98 | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 1 | ||
| 1998–99 | 18 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | ||
| 1999–00 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | – | 41 | 1 | |||
| 2000–01 | 23 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | – | 30 | 1 | |||
| 2001–02 | 22 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | 30 | 4 | |||
| 2002–03 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 37 | 1 | ||
| 2003–04 | 17 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 26 | 1 | ||
| 2004–05 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 5 | 0 | |||
| Total | 253 | 15 | 26 | 2 | 72 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 358 | 20 | ||
| Career total | 500 | 27 | 72 | 4 | 100 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 680 | 35 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 1987 | 3 | 0 |
| 1988 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1989 | 7 | 0 | |
| 1990 | 5 | 0 | |
| 1991 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1992 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1993 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1994 | 0 | 0 | |
| 1995 | 6 | 0 | |
| 1996 | 4 | 0 | |
| 1997 | 8 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1999 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2000 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 49 | 0 | |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Juventus |  | 2009 | 2010 | 30 | 15 | 5 | 10 | 050.00 |
| Italy U-21 | | 2010 | 2012 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 1 | 063.16 |
| Sampdoria | | 2012 | 2012 | 15 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 033.33 |
| Wuhan Zall |  | 2016 | 2017 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 7 | 050.00 |
| Total | 80 | 40 | 15 | 25 | 050.00 | |||
Napoli[30]
Juventus[3]
Italy Olympic Team
Italy
Individual
Orders
Italy[3]
Italy squads | |||||||||||||||||||
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