Giancarlo Antognoni

Giancarlo Antognoni
Antognoni with Fiorentina in the 1970s
Personal information
Full name Giancarlo Antognoni
Date of birth (1954-04-01) 1 April 1954
Place of birth Marsciano, Italy
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Attacking Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1970–1972 Asti Ma.Co.Bi. 27 (4)
1972–1987 Fiorentina 341 (61)
1987–1989 Lausanne Sports 51 (7)
Total 419 (72)
National team
1974–1983 Italy 73 (7)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Giancarlo Antognoni, (Italian pronunciation: [dʒaŋˈkarlo antoɲˈɲoːni]; born 1 April 1954 in Marsciano) is a former Italian footballer, who played as a midfielder. A skilful and creative offensive playmaker, regarded as one the best Italian players of all time in his position,[1] he played most of his club career with Fiorentina, where he won the Coppa Italia and the Anglo-Italian League Cup in 1975.[2] At international level, he won the 1982 FIFA World Cup with the Italian national team, and he also represented his country at the 1978 FIFA World Cup, and at the 1980 UEFA European Championship, finishing in fourth place on both occasions. On 11 October 2010, he was awarded the "Legends of football" Golden Foot award.[3]

Club career

His career started in the Italian Serie D with the club of Asti Ma.Co.Bi., when he was only sixteen. In 1972, Nils Liedholm convinced him to join Fiorentina.

He made his debut in Italian Serie A in October 1972 with Fiorentina, whom he later captained, also eventually inheriting the number 10 shirt. He won the Coppa Italia (Italian Cup) during the 1974–75 season, as well as the 1975 Anglo-Italian League Cup that season, over West Ham.[2] He narrowly missed out on the Serie A title with Fiorentina during the 1981–82 season, losing out to rivals Juventus by a single point on the final match-day. Antognoni played 412 games with Fiorentina and scored 61 goals. Antognoni is regarded as a Fiorentina legend, and as one of the club's best ever players, as he played for the club throughout his entire Italian professional career between the 70s and 80s. He holds the record for the most appearances in Serie A for Fiorentina, with 341 appearances.[1][4]

In 1987, Antognoni joined Lausanne Sports. He made 51 appearances and scored 7 goals. He retired in 1989 while at Lausanne.

International career

Antognoni's senior international career with Italy started on 20 November 1974, in a 3–1 away loss to the Netherlands at the age of twenty, in a Euro 1976 qualifying match. Antognoni took part in the 1978 World Cup with Italy, where the team finished in fourth place after a semi-final defeat to the Netherlands. He also reached another fourth-place finish at the 1980 European Championship on home soil, wearing the number 10 jersey. His greatest achievement with the national team came when he won the 1982 FIFA World Cup, however. Antognoni made six appearances throughout the tournament, including the semi-final match against Poland, but he was not able to participate in the final due to an injury sustained in the semi-final.

In total, he received 73 caps for Italy, scoring 7 goals. His last appearance came against Czechoslovakia, on 16 November 1983. He captained of the national team on four occasions. Antognoni is currently the Fiorentina player with the most appearances for the national side,[5] and also holds the record for the most appearances wearing the number 10 shirt for Italy.[6] With two red cards throughout his international career, he is also Italy's most red carded player ever, alongside Franco Causio and Daniele De Rossi.[7]

Style of play

A skilful, quick, and creative offensive playmaker, Antognoni is considered to be one of Italy's greatest players ever, one of the most talented players of his generation, and one of the best attacking midfielders of all time, due to his vision, control, technical ability, accurate distribution, passing range, and eye for goal from midfield. He was also an excellent dribbler, who was known for his pace and elegance on the ball, as well as quick feet, and his ability to keep his head up when advancing in possession. Although he was usually deployed as a traditional number 10 behind the forwards, he was also capable of playing as a central midfielder, where he functioned as a deep-lying playmaker. Antognoni was also highly regarded throughout his career for his accuracy from bending set pieces, and for his powerful shots from outside the area; although naturally right footed, he was capable of passing or striking the ball accurately with both feet.[1][6][8][9] In addition to his footballing skills, he also stood out for his leadership throughout his career.[1] Despite his talent, his career was largely marked by injuries.[10]

Career statistics

Club

[11]

Club performance League Cup Continental Total
Season Club League AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals AppsGoals
Italy League Coppa Italia Europe Total
1970–71AstimacobiSerie D5100--51
1971–7222300--223
1972–73FiorentinaSerie A2028010292
1973–742514120312
1974–752949140425
1975–763058240427
1976–772844040364
1977–782664120327
1978–7927040--310
1979–8030841--349
1980–8127960--339
1981–8216352--215
1982–8327950213410
1983–8418552--237
1984–8500000000
1985–8619130--221
1986–8719400--194
Switzerland League Schweizer Cup Europe Total
1987–88Lausanne-SportNationalliga A33520--355
1988–8918211--193
CountryItaly 36865691019145676
Switzerland 5173100548
Total 41972721119151084

International

[12]

Italy national team
YearAppsGoals
197420
197570
1976104
197772
1978100
197940
1980101
198180
1982110
198340
Total737

Honours

Club

Fiorentina[2][13]

International

Italy[13]

Individual

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Giancarlo ANTOGNONI e l'invidia degli Dei" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 "Auguri Antognoni, l'uomo che giocava guardando le stelle" (in Italian). Sky.it. 1 April 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2016.
  3. ↑ "Giancarlo Antognoni". Golden Foot. Archived from the original on 30 December 2014. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  4. ↑ "ANTOGNONI DAY, L'amore di Firenze il mio scudetto" (in Italian). Firenze Viola.it. Retrieved 28 December 2014.
  5. ↑ "Nazionale in cifre: Antognoni, Giancarlo". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  6. 1 2 "Dalla A alla Zico, i grandi numeri 10 del calcio internazionale" (in Italian). Sport.Sky.it. 10 October 2010. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Totale: Espulsioni" [Totals: Sending-offs] (in Italian). Italia1910. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Pirlo, punizioni da record: Sinisa è sempre più vicino" (in Italian). Sky.it. 11 November 2013. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  9. ↑ "Antognoni su Bernardeschi: "Diventerà come Robben"" (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 24 December 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  10. ↑ "Antognoni su Baggio: "Col Napoli gli lasciai la punizione e segnò. L'addio alla Fiorentina…"" (in Italian). Viola News. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  11. ↑ Giancarlo Antognoni at National-Football-Teams.com
  12. ↑ http://www.rsssf.com/miscellaneous/antognoni-intl.html
  13. 1 2 "Giancarlo Antognoni" (in French). Eurosport. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "Golden Foot Legends". goldenfoot.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2015. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "IV Hall of Fame Viola: Toldo, Chiarugi e non solo entrano nella galleria degli onori" (in Italian). violanews.com. 8 December 2015. Retrieved 30 August 2016.
  16. ↑ Matteo Magrini (23 August 2016). "Festa al Franchi, presenti e assenti. No eccellenti da Rui Costa, Baggio e Batistuta" (in Italian). Fiorentina.it. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "Antognoni gives Kalinic hint". Football Italia. 15 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
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