 Calzona as manager ofSlovakia in 2024 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1968-10-24)24 October 1968 (age 57) | ||
| Place of birth | Vibo Valentia, Italy | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Slovakia (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1987 | Arezzo | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2022– | Slovakia | ||
| 2024 | Napoli | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Francesco Calzona (born 24 October 1968) is an Italianfootball coach who is currently managing theSlovakia national team.
Calzona had a very short career as a player, appearing three times withArezzo in theSerie B division, and also making a singleCoppa Italia appearance.[1]
Calzona worked as an amateur coach and coffee dealer during the 1990s; during the course of the 1999–2000 season, while in charge of Tuscan amateurs Tegoleto, he opted to resign and instead suggest to hire up-and-coming amateur coachMaurizio Sarri as his replacement.[2] Since then, he became part of Sarri's coaching staff, being his main assistant in all of his managerial jobs untilNapoli.[1]
In 2020, he joinedEusebio Di Francesco's coaching staff atCagliari,[1] then returning to Napoli the following year to work alongside new head coachLuciano Spalletti.[1]
On 30 August 2022, Calzona was hired as the new head coach of theSlovakia national team. FollowingPavel Hapal, Calzona became the second non-native coach of the team and the first of non-Czechoslovak origin.[3]
On 16 November 2023, following a 4–2 win againstIceland, Calzona's Slovakia qualified for theUEFA Euro 2024.[4]
On 19 February 2024, Napoli announced the appointment of Calzona as their new head coach for the remainder of the season, replacingWalter Mazzarri just two days before the2023–24 UEFA Champions League round of 16 first leg againstBarcelona.[5] In doing so, Calzona worked as both Slovakia manager and Napoli head coach for the remainder of the 2023–24 season, making him the first Serie A manager ever to also serve contemporaneously as a national team manager for a foreign country during his stay.[6][7] This was Napoli's third manager of the season, after Mazzarri had previously replacedRudi Garcia. He completed the season in a lacklustre fashion, ending in tenth place and missing out on European qualification, on the worst-ever Serie A performance for an incumbent national champion.[8]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||
| Slovakia | 30 August 2022 | Present | 38 | 18 | 8 | 12 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 047.37 |
| Napoli | 19 February 2024 | 5 June 2024 | 16 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 24 | 24 | +0 | 018.75 |
| Career total | 54 | 21 | 17 | 16 | 75 | 64 | +11 | 038.89 | ||
