Luigi Apolloni

Luigi Apolloni
Personal information
Full name Luigi Apolloni
Date of birth (1967-05-02) 2 May 1967
Place of birth Frascati, Italy
Height 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position Defender
Youth career
Lodigiani
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1983–1984 Lodigiani 0 (0)
1984–1986 Pistoiese 35 (0)
1986–1987 Reggiana 32 (0)
1987–2000 Parma 304 (8)
1999–2000 → Verona (loan) 28 (2)
2000–2001 Verona 23 (0)
Total 422 (10)
National team
1994–1996 Italy 15 (0)
Teams managed
2009–2010 Modena
2010 Grosseto
2012 Gubbio
2013–2014 Gorica
2015– Parma

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Luigi Apolloni (born 2 May 1967 in Frascati) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a centre back. At club level, Apolloni is mainly remembered for his time with Italian side Parma Calcio 1913, where he won several titles during his 13 seasons with the club. At international level, he was a member of the Italy national football team that reached the final of the 1994 FIFA World Cup. He is the current head coach of Parma.

Club career

He started his career with Lodigiani in 1983–84 in Serie C2, without ever get off the field in the first team to advance to Pistoiese within two years, where he debuted in professional football.

After another year in Serie C1 to Reggiana, he join Parma in 1987, became a key member of the squad and a defense line mainstay along with Lorenzo Minotti, forming a pair of central defenders who later guided the club from the Serie B to the top levels of European football, including triumphs in the 1991–92 Coppa Italia, a runners-up Cup Winners' Cup campaign in 1993–94, and two UEFA Cups in 1995 and 1999.

In 1996 a serious injury forced him out, and Apolloni did not manage to win back a place in the starting lineup, ultimately leaving Parma in 1999 to join Hellas Verona, and later ending his career in 2001 with a total of 255 appearances and 7 goals in the Italian top flight.

International career

Following his successes with Parma, Apolloni gained a spot in the Italian squad under head coach Arrigo Sacchi, making his international debut on 27 May 1994, in a 2–0 home win against Finland, coincidentally in Parma.[1] Overall, he made 15 appearances for Italy between 1994 and 1996,[2] and was a member of the azzurri squad that took part at the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the final, in which he appeared, only to lose to Brazil on penalties.[3] He was also a part of their less successful Euro 1996 campaign, appearing in Italy's opening two group matches, a 2–1 win over a Russia,[4] and a 2–1 defeat to eventual runners-up the Czech Republic, in which he was sent off;[5] the Italians were eliminated in the first round of the tournament.[6]

Managerial career

In 2006 Apolloni accepted to follow former Parma teammate Daniele Zoratto, serving as his aide at Modena. He was later sacked together with head coach Zoratto on February 2007, only to return at Modena on April 2008.[7]

On January 2009, Apolloni was appointed as caretaker manager of the canarini after Zoratto left the club by mutual consent.[8] He was then permanently appointed to the role after he managed to guide Modena to escape relegation at the final day of the season. In his first full season in charge of the club, Apolloni guided Modena to a mid-table place in the league despite severe financial issues within the club. On July 2010 he left Modena to join ambitious Serie B club Grosseto.[9] He was however removed by the end of September due to poor results, and replaced by Francesco Moriero.

On 2 April 2012 he was appointed as new head coach of Gubbio in the Italian Serie B league until the end of the season, thus becoming the fourth manager of the season for the small relegation-threatened Umbrian club (after Fabio Pecchia, Luigi Simoni and Marco Alessandrini).[10]

Honours

Player

Club

Parma[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Buon compleanno ad Apolloni, Diamanti e Dossena!" [Happy birthday to Apolloni, Diamanti and Dossena!]. Vivo Azzurro. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  2. ↑ "Convocazioni e presenze in campo: Luigi Apolloni" (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  3. ↑ "World Cup Usa '94 / The Final : Facts And Figures". The Los Angeles Times. 18 July 1994. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  4. ↑ "Instinctive Casiraghi helps Italy sink Russia". UEFA.com. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  5. ↑ "Bejbl completes Italian job for Czechs". UEFA.com. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  6. ↑ "Italy pay penalty for Germany stalemate". UEFA.com. 6 October 2003. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "Modena: via Mutti, torna Zoratto" (in Italian). RAI Sport. 20 April 2008. Archived from the original on 24 April 2008. Retrieved 26 April 2008.
  8. ↑ "Cambia la guida tecnica al Modena F.C." (in Italian). Modena FC. 26 January 2009. Retrieved 26 January 2009.
  9. ↑ "Apolloni incontra la stampa". US Grosseto FC. 6 July 2010. Retrieved 12 July 2010.
  10. ↑ "Ufficializzato l'ingaggio del tecnico Luigi Apolloni" (in Italian). A.S. Gubbio 1910. 2 April 2012. Retrieved 2 April 2012.
  11. ↑ "Luigi Apolloni" (in Italian). Eurosport. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/25/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.