| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1970-12-29)29 December 1970 (age 54)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Genoa, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1987 | Pontedecimo | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1988–1990 | Sampdoria | 1 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Teramo | 31 | (5) |
| 1991–1992 | Chieti | 24 | (6) |
| 1992–1993 | Sampdoria | 26 | (1) |
| 1993–1994 | Modena | 36 | (15) |
| 1994–1995 | Cremonese | 34 | (14) |
| 1995–1996 | Sampdoria | 27 | (22) |
| 1996–1999 | Parma | 92 | (33) |
| 1999–2002 | Fiorentina | 59 | (34) |
| 2002–2003 | Lazio | 12 | (2) |
| 2003–2008 | Siena | 129 | (32) |
| 2008–2010 | Figline | 32 | (7) |
| Total | 503 | (171) | |
| International career | |||
| 1996–2001 | Italy[a][3] | 17 | (7) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2010 | Figline | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Enrico Chiesa (Italian pronunciation:[enˈriːkoˈkjɛːza;ˈkjeːza];[4][5] born 29 December 1970) is an Italianfootball coach and formerstriker.
Chiesa played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, and performed regularly inSerie A for over a decade, winning titles withSampdoria,Parma, andFiorentina; he later also spent a spell withLazio. He moved toSiena where he became a household name and, thanks to his goals, the Tuscan side stayed in the top division for many seasons. He retired withFigline in 2010, the club with which he subsequently began his coaching career. He won the1998–99 UEFA Cup andCoppa Italia with Parma, finishing the former tournament as the top scorer, with 8 goals. At international level, he played for theItaly national team on 17 occasions between 1996 and 2001, scoring 7 goals, and was also part of the Italian squads that took part atUEFA Euro 1996 and the1998 FIFA World Cup.
He is father toFederico Chiesa, who is also a professional footballer.
Born inGenoa, Chiesa made his early playing footsteps at amateur club Pontedecimo (1986–87). He then moved toSampdoria, for which he made his debut on 16 April 1989 in a 1–0 loss atRoma in the1988–89 Serie A.[6] He then played forTeramo ofSerie C2 and successivelyChieti ofSerie C1 before returning to Sampdoria in 1992. Failing to impress, he then joinedModena inSerie B for the1993–94 season, and laterCremonese during the1994–95 season, where he scored 14 goals in their Serie A campaign. In 1995, he returned again with theblucerchiati, forming a notable attacking duo withRoberto Mancini, and scoring 22 goals in 27 matches in Serie A.[7][8][9]
In 1996, he was signed by rising clubParma, and contributed to his team'ssecond-place finish behindJuventus, scoring 14 goals in the Serie A during his first season at the club. The second-place result allowed Parma to qualify for theUEFA Champions League the following season. With Parma, Chiesa won aUEFA Cup, aCoppa Italia, and aSupercoppa Italiana during the highly successful1998–99 season, in which Parma also finished in fourth place in the Serie A. Chiesa became one of the best strikers in Italian football (when not injured). During his time at the club, he also formed a successful partnership with Argentine star strikerHernán Crespo, as the duo averaged 10–15 goals a season each. They also each scored in the1999 UEFA Cup Final victory overMarseille, a competition in which Chiesa finished top scorer, with 8 goals.[7][8]
In 1999, he was signed byFiorentina for 28 billionlire (€14.46 million),[10] a team looking to expand and bring in better players, in an attempt to keep club captain and talismanGabriel Batistuta. Despite making regular appearances in his first season for La Viola, Chiesa was fighting for a place withPredrag Mijatović among others, and also had spells where he was out of form, and in the end only managed 6 goals in the League. In the2000–01 season, Batistuta left forRoma and Fiorentina were plagued with injuries and financial problems. Meanwhile, Chiesa became the main striker for the club under manager Roberto Mancini, supported by playmakerRui Costa,[8] and scored 22 goals in 30 matches, finishing amongst the top 5 highest scorers in the league and helping Fiorentina to win the2000–01 Coppa Italia over his former club, Parma, in thefinal; in the second leg at home, he set upNuno Gomes's goal in a 1–1 draw, which allowed Fiorentina to clinch the title 2–1 on aggregate.[11] The2001–02 campaign proved to be a very difficult one: Chiesa started the campaign off strongly, scoring five goals in the first five matches of the season, but was ruled out for the rest of the season after sustaining a serious injury to his knee ligaments againstVenezia on matchday five; left without Chiesa to lead the club's attack, Fiorentina were ultimately relegated at the end of the season.[7] As a result of Fiorentina's relegation and financial troubles,[7][12][13][14] Chiesa subsequently moved toLazio for thefollowing season, where he however failed to play at his personal best.[7]
In 2003, he joinedSiena, where he became a fan favourite and a key player in the club's Serie A history, impressively reaching double scoring figures in Serie A during his first three seasons at the club. Despite a very poor2006–07 season in which Chiesa was not able to score a single goal in Serie A,[6] he was backed by the club and new trainerAndrea Mandorlini, who explicitly stated that he felt that Chiesa was still important to the team, and that he expected at least 15 goals from him in their2007–08 Serie A campaign.[15] However, he played only twice, scoring no goals once again, before he was signed byFigline[16] of theLega Pro Second Division. He scored five goals with Figline, thus giving his contribution to the team's promotion to theLega Pro Prima Divisione. In the following season, his last as a footballer, he played a limited number of games due to suffering a fractured leg, an injury which forced him to stay out of contention for most of the season.[7]
Chiesa played for theItalian team from 1996 to 2001, collecting a total of 22 caps with 7 goals.[3] Chiesa made his senior international debut in a 2–2 friendly draw againstBelgium on 29 May 1996 in Cremona, marking the occasion with a goal.[17] He was subsequently selected by managerArrigo Sacchi to play for Italy at theUEFA Euro 1996 tournament later that year, ahead of other established strikers such asRoberto Baggio,Gianluca Vialli, andGiuseppe Signori.[9][18] Chiesa appeared in two group stage matches, the first in a 2–1 defeat against theCzech Republic, where he scored Italy's only goal of the match,[19] and the second in a 0–0 draw againstGermany, as Italy were eliminated in the first round.[20][21]
He also was called up to the1998 FIFA World Cup by managerCesare Maldini as a replacement forFabrizio Ravanelli.[22] He appeared in Italy's opening group match of the 1998 World Cup, which ended in a 2–2 draw againstChile,[23] also appearing as a substitute in the 1–0 victory in the round of 16 match againstNorway.[24] Italy were eliminated in the quarter-finals on penalties by hosts and eventual championsFrance.[25] Under managerDino Zoff, Chiesa appeared in Italy's 6–2 friendly win over the FIFA World Stars on 16 December 1998, organised to commemorate the centenary of the Italian Football Federation, scoring a hat-trick.[26] He also scored a goal in a 4–0 victory overWales in aEuropean qualifying match in Bologna, on 5 June 1999.[27] He made his final appearance for Italy underGiovanni Trapattoni, in Italy's 1–0 friendly win overSouth Africa in Perugia, on 25 April 2001.[28]
AlongsideAlessandro Del Piero, Chiesa holds the unique record for themost goals scored by an Italian international coming off the bench (5).[7][29] He is also the most recent player to manage two goals in his first two Italy appearances.[3][30]
A prolific goalscorer, Chiesa was considered one of the most exciting and dynamic strikers in Italy during the mid-'90s. A quick, strong, hardworking, and elegant player, he was mainly deployed in acentral role as a mainstriker throughout his career, but he could also play off of anotherforward as asupporting forward or on thewing, due to his vision, versatility, good technique, close control at speed, and tactical intelligence, which also enabled him to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates.
Possessing pace, stamina, good offensive movement, and a powerful and accurate shot with either foot from both inside and outside the box, he excelled during counter-attacks, and was known for his ability to make attacking runs into the area, and quickly strike the ball first time while on the run; he was also equally known for his ability to score with powerful orbending strikes fromfree-kicks, and is thejoint ninth-highest goalscorer of all time from free kicks in Serie A, with 13 goals, alongsideMichel Platini andÁlvaro Recoba.Fabio Capello described Chiesa as a complete forward, and as a cross betweenGigi Riva andPaolo Rossi, due to his opportunism, anticipation, and excellent striking ability, which enabled him to excel acrobatically in the air, and execute spectacularvolleys.[8][9][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38] In addition to his goalscoring ability as a footballer, he was also known for his dedication, professionalism and his correct behaviour on the pitch,[8][9][31] although, despite his reputation, his career was affected by several injuries.[9][39]
In June 2010 it was announced that Chiesa was appointed the new head coach ofFigline for the 2010–11 season.[40] The experience however lasted a very short time, as Figline was excluded from the Italian leagues in July.
Chiesa's son,Federico, is also a footballer who currently plays forPremier League sideLiverpool.
| Club | Season | League | Coppa Italia | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sampdoria | 1988–89 | Serie A | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 1989–90 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Teramo | 1990–91 | Serie C | 31 | 5 | — | — | — | 31 | 5 | |||
| Chieti | 1991–92 | Serie C | 24 | 6 | — | — | — | 24 | 6 | |||
| Sampdoria | 1992–93 | Serie A | 26 | 1 | — | — | — | 26 | 1 | |||
| Modena | 1993–94 | Serie B | 36 | 15 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 15 | ||
| Cremonese | 1994–95 | Serie A | 34 | 14 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 14 | ||
| Sampdoria | 1995–96 | Serie A | 27 | 22 | — | — | — | 27 | 22 | |||
| Parma | 1996–97 | Serie A | 29 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 2[b] | 2 | — | 31 | 16 | |
| 1997–98 | 33 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 8[c] | 6 | — | 48 | 21 | |||
| 1998–99 | 30 | 9 | 8 | 1 | 8[b] | 8 | — | 46 | 18 | |||
| Total | 92 | 33 | 15 | 6 | 18 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 125 | 55 | ||
| Fiorentina | 1999–2000 | Serie A | 24 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 11[c] | 4 | — | 39 | 12 | |
| 2000–01 | 30 | 22 | 6 | 5 | 2[b] | 0 | — | 38 | 27 | |||
| 2001–02 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2[c] | 1 | 1[d] | 0 | 8 | 6 | ||
| Total | 59 | 34 | 10 | 6 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 85 | 45 | ||
| Lazio | 2002–03 | Serie A | 12 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 11[b] | 4 | — | 29 | 7 | |
| Siena | 2003–04 | Serie A | 30 | 10 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 31 | 10 | ||
| 2004–05 | 36 | 11 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 11 | ||||
| 2005–06 | 38 | 11 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 40 | 12 | ||||
| 2006–07 | 23 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | ||||
| 2007–08 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 129 | 32 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 134 | 33 | ||
| Career total | 471 | 164 | 41 | 14 | 44 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 557 | 203 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Italy | 1996 | 5 | 3 |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | |
| 1998 | 5 | 3[a] | |
| 1999 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2001 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 17 | 7 | |
Sampdoria[43]
Parma[43]
Fiorentina[43]
Figline[43]
Individual
Italy squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
