 Sforzac. 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1970-03-02)2 March 1970 (age 55) | ||
| Place of birth | Wohlen, Switzerland | ||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1986–1989 | FC Wohlen | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1989–1990 | FC Aarau | 22 | (3) |
| 1990–1993 | Grasshoppers | 75 | (7) |
| 1993–1995 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 61 | (15) |
| 1995–1996 | Bayern Munich | 30 | (2) |
| 1996–1997 | Internazionale | 26 | (2) |
| 1997–2000 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 91 | (4) |
| 2000–2002 | Bayern Munich | 35 | (1) |
| 2002–2006 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | 47 | (1) |
| Total | 387 | (34) | |
| International career | |||
| 1991–2001 | Switzerland | 79 | (7) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2006–2008 | Luzern | ||
| 2009–2012 | Grasshopper | ||
| 2014–2015 | Wohlen | ||
| 2015 | Thun | ||
| 2019–2020 | Wil | ||
| 2020–2021 | Basel | ||
| 2024–2025 | Schaffhausen | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ciriaco Sforza (Italian pronunciation:[tʃiˈriːakoˈsfɔrtsa]; born 2 March 1970) is a Swissfootball manager and former professional player who last managedSwiss Challenge League clubFC Schaffhausen.
After beginning his career with Swiss clubsFC Aarau andGrasshopper Club Zürich, he most notably played forInternazionale in Italy, and1. FC Kaiserslautern, andFC Bayern Munich in Germany. Sforza represented theSwitzerland national team 79 times, and represented his country at the1994 World Cup andEuro 96.
Sforza was bornWohlen, inGerman-speaking Switzerland, where he was also raised, to an Italian father fromAvellino.[1] According to his website, he is married and has two children.[citation needed]
Sforza started his career in his hometown clubFC Wohlen. He was signed byFC Aarau in 1989, where he impressed commentators and fans alike. Sforza's precocious talent was soon noticed, and he was signed by Swiss clubGrasshoppers Zürich one year later. He represented Grasshoppers during three successful seasons, also setting a record for the club as the youngest player to make his debut in theSwiss Challenge League.[1] He won the 1991Swiss Super League championship with the club, and made his national team debut in August 1991. In 1993, after winning the "Swiss footballer of the Year" award, he moved abroad to Germany to play for1. FC Kaiserslautern.[2]
Sforza became the general of the Kaiserslautern midfield and was recognised as one of the best midfielders in the GermanBundesliga championship, also receiving aBallon d'Or nomination in 1994, finishing in 21st place.[2] After two seasons at Kaiserslautern, he was bought by German giantsFC Bayern Munich in 1995. Sforza was signed at the same time as German superstarJürgen Klinsmann, compared to the homely smalltown club Kaiserslautern, Bayern was a team with many stars. Conflicts between Klinsmann and team captainLothar Matthäus poisoned the atmosphere and many scandals underlined why Bayern is nicknamedFC Hollywood. Bayern also missed out on the German championship for the second consecutive season, though Sforza was a part of the1996UEFA Cup winning Bayern team.[2]
Sforza initially had trouble settling in at Bayern, and after one season at the club he moved to Italy. He signed forInternazionale, where he was united with former Swiss national team managerRoy Hodgson. Sforza was regarded as one of the most promising young Swiss players at the time, and he made a notable debut with Inter, scoring the matching winning goal in 1–0 away win on 7 September 1996 againstUdinese.[2] Despite the initial glimpses of his potential, Sforza also had a difficult time at Internazionale.[2] Although Hodgson had initially purchased him as to function as aplaymaker, to solve Inter's lack of creativity in midfield, Sforza had problems performing consistently, and he spent a lot of time on the bench, although he was able to reach theUEFA Cup final with the club, and also managed athird-place finish in the league.[3] During his time with Inter, Sforza became known for his inconsistency inSerie A, and he is famously remembered in Italy for being referenced in the Italian filmTre Uomini e una Gamba, by Italian comedic trioAldo, Giovanni e Giacomo; in the film, Aldo states that he had to purchase Sforza's number 21 Inter jersey asRonaldo's was out of stock.[3]
After a single season with Inter, he moved once again – but this time to known territory. In time for the1997–98 season, Sforza moved back to Kaiserslautern where he immediately made an impression, experiencing a more successful stint with the club and finally demonstrating strong and consistent performances, which justified his reputation as one of the leading Swiss players of his generation.[2] Even though Kaiserslautern had just been promoted from the2. Bundesliga, Kaiserslautern became German champions, beating Sforza's other former team, German giants FC Bayern, to the title. Sforza spent two more seasons at Kaiserslautern, impressing commentators and fans alike.[2]
In 2000, he decided to give FC Bayern Munich another try. Once again, he failed to perform and spent a lot of time on the sidelines, although he later managed to participate in a more successful period with the club. FC Bayern had many star players competing for places, and the team won both the2000–01 Bundesliga and2000–01 UEFA Champions League titles that season. After two seasons at Bayern, he returned to Kaiserslautern for a third spell in 2002. The aging and now somewhat injury-prone Sforza helped FCK avoidrelegation, however, in October 2005, he had a public falling-out with the club and was blackballed. He retired at the end of the season, in summer 2006.[2]
Sforza was selected to play for Switzerland at the1994 FIFA World Cup by national managerRoy Hodgson, putting on a notable performance, and reaching the round of 16.[4] He represented Switzerland at theUEFA Euro 1996 tournament in England, where they were eliminated in the first round. He alsocaptained the Swiss national side. In total, he managed 79 appearances for Switzerland, scoring 7 goals.[5]
Sforza went on to become manager of Swiss teamFC Luzern, and was sacked after two more or less successful years managing the team. On 9 June 2009, he was named as the new manager ofGrasshopper Club Zürich. signing a contract between 30 June 2011.[6] On 13 April 2012, Sforza left the club after poor results.[7]
In February 2014, he was appointed as new head coach ofFC Wohlen, replacingDavid Sesa.[8]
On 1 April 2019, he became the manager ofFC Wil.[9]
On 26 August 2020, Sforza became the head coach ofBasel signing a two-year contract. He took his assistantDaniel Hasler from Wil with him.[10]Massimo Colomba was goalkeeper coach and on 21 September the club announced that they had hiredPatrick Rahmen as second assistant coach to complete Sforza's coaching team.[11] Sforza's first match was on 17 September in the2020–21 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round against Croatian teamOsijek which ended with a 2–1 victory.[12] On 6 April 2021 the club announced that, due to the lack of sporting success, FC Basel 1893 were separating themselves from head coach Ciriaco Sforza with immediate effect. They also announced that they separated themselves from Assistant managerDaniel Hasler at the same time.[13]
On 14 June 2024, after three years away from coaching, he was confirmed as the new head coach ofFC Schaffhausen,[14] who play in theSwiss Challenge League, the second tier of Switzerland. He was dismissed from his position on 4 March 2025,[15] with Schaffhausen in last place of the league and having won just 20 points in 24 games.
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 16 August 1992 | Kadrioru Stadium,Tallinn, Estonia |  Estonia | 6–0 | 6–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 18 November 1992 | Wankdorf Stadium,Bern, Switzerland |  Malta | 3–0 | 3–0 | 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 3 | 9 March 1994 | Népstadion,Budapest, Hungary |  Hungary | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 4 | 12 October 1994 | Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland |  Sweden | 3–2 | 4–2 | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 5 | 11 October 1995 | Hardturm,Zürich, Switzerland | Hungary | 2–0 | 3–0 | UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying |
| 6 | 13 March 1996 | Stade Josy Barthel,Luxembourg, Luxembourg |  Luxembourg | 1–1 | 1–1 | Friendly |
| 7 | 6 October 1996 | Olympiastadion,Helsinki, Finland |  Finland | 2–0 | 3–2 | 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Luzern |  | 8 June 2006 | 10 August 2008 | 86 | 25 | 24 | 37 | 102 | 122 | −20 | 029.07 | [16] |
| Grasshopper | | 9 June 2009 | 15 April 2012 | 111 | 45 | 17 | 49 | 175 | 156 | +19 | 040.54 | [17] |
| Wohlen | | 16 February 2014 | 21 June 2015 | 55 | 28 | 8 | 19 | 88 | 68 | +20 | 050.91 | [18] |
| Thun | | 21 June 2015 | 30 September 2015 | 18 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 26 | 31 | −5 | 027.78 | [19] |
| Wil | | 1 April 2019 | 26 August 2020 | 48 | 16 | 11 | 21 | 71 | 81 | −10 | 033.33 | [20] |
| Basel | | 26 August 2020 | 6 April 2021 | 31 | 12 | 6 | 13 | 48 | 52 | −4 | 038.71 | [21] |
| Schaffhausen | | 14 June 2024 | 4 March 2025 | 27 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 30 | 44 | −14 | 025.93 | [22] |
| Total | 349 | 131 | 71 | 147 | 510 | 510 | +0 | 037.54 | — | |||
Grasshopper Club Zürich
Bayern Munich
Inter Milan
1. FC Kaiserslautern
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