Gianluca Zambrotta is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a right-back or as a wide midfielder, on both the left and right wings.
54 Facts About Gianluca Zambrotta
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Gianluca Zambrotta began his career with local club Como in 1994, and gained prominence while playing for Bari, which earned him a transfer to Juventus in 1999.
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Gianluca Zambrotta later spent two relatively unsuccessful seasons with Barcelona between 2006 and 2008, where he won the 2006 Supercopa de Espana, before returning to Italy to play for AC Milan, where he won his third Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles in 2011.
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Gianluca Zambrotta ended his career after a season with Swiss club Chiasso in 2014, whom he later went on to coach.
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At international level, Gianluca Zambrotta won 98 caps for the Italy national team, playing at three FIFA World Cups, three UEFA European Championship, the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup and the 2000 Summer Olympics.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was part of their side that reached the Euro 2000 final, and he was selected to the Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was most notably a key member of the starting lineup of the Italian squad that won the 2006 World Cup, and he was selected in the Team of the Tournament for his performances.
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In 1995 Como were demoted to Serie C1 and Gianluca Zambrotta started to play more regularly for the first team, as a winger or as a wide-midfielder.
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Gianluca Zambrotta continued to shine and was the key figure for Bari's surprise start to the campaign, demonstrating his technical attributes and tactical intelligence and versatility.
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Gianluca Zambrotta became the first player of Bari to play for the national side in 50 years.
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Gianluca Zambrotta made 32 league appearances with one goal in the first season he played for Juventus.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was brought on in the second half in that game and was later given a red card by the referee, Pierluigi Collina.
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Gianluca Zambrotta adapted to his new position very quickly and performed particularly well, demonstrating his pace, stamina, work-rate, technical ability, his tactical intelligence and versatility, as well as his ability to contribute both offensively and defensively.
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Gianluca Zambrotta remained a regular first team player as Juventus won their second consecutive Scudetto and reached the Champions League final, in which they were defeated by AC Milan in a penalty shoot-out after a goalless draw.
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Gianluca Zambrotta won four Scudetti with Juventus, making a total of 217 league appearances and scoring seven goals in six seasons.
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Since then, Gianluca Zambrotta switched between right and left-fullback or wingback positions frequently throughout the season.
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Gianluca Zambrotta signed a four-year contract with Barca, where he joined Juventus teammate Lilian Thuram, who left the club.
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Gianluca Zambrotta formed defensive partnerships with the likes of Mark Iuliano, Paolo Montero, Ciro Ferrara, Thuram, Jonathan Zebina, Nicola Legrottaglie, Alessandro Birindelli, Fabio Cannavaro and Giorgio Chiellini.
19.
On 4 August 2006, after his holiday following the 2006 World Cup, Gianluca Zambrotta reported to his new club Barcelona for the first time in Los Angeles, where Barca were staying for their pre-season tour in North America.
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Gianluca Zambrotta scored goals in matches against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon Stadium and Gimnastic de Tarragona.
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In two seasons with the club, Gianluca Zambrotta made 58 league appearances, scoring three goals, before his return to Italy.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was heavily tipped to join Milan or return to former club Juventus.
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On 31 May 2008, Gianluca Zambrotta signed a three-year contract with Milan.
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Gianluca Zambrotta's move forced Milan right back Massimo Oddo to be loaned out to Bayern Munich for more chances to play regularly.
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On 21 September 2008, Gianluca Zambrotta scored his first goal for Milan, from 31 metres out, in the league game against Lazio.
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New coach Massimiliano Allegri preferred Abate for the right back position while Gianluca Zambrotta alternated between starting at left back and covering for Abate at right back.
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Gianluca Zambrotta renewed his expiring contract for another year, keeping him a Milan player until at least the summer of 2012.
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Milan decided not to renew the contracts of several of their veteran players and Gianluca Zambrotta was one of those along with Filippo Inzaghi, Mark van Bommel, Alessandro Nesta and Gennaro Gattuso.
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Gianluca Zambrotta played his final game for Milan against Novara on 13 May 2012.
30.
On 19 July 2013, Gianluca Zambrotta signed with Swiss club Chiasso, with an option to become a player-assistant manager during his second season with the club, under Ernestino Ramella.
31.
On 27 November, following the dismissal of manager Ryszart Komornicki, with the club in last place, Gianluca Zambrotta was named player-manager; at the end of the season, he helped Chiasso avoid relegation on 14 May 2014, announcing the end of his playing career.
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Gianluca Zambrotta continued to manage Chiasso the following season, but was eventually sacked on 6 April 2015.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was selected to play for the Italy under-21 national team for the first time on 25 March 1998 against Malta.
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Gianluca Zambrotta missed out on Italy's defeat at the hands of the defending world champions France in the final after being sent off in the semi-final match against co-hosts Netherlands following a double booking.
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Gianluca Zambrotta played for the under-21 side for the 2000 Olympic Games in September.
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Under new manager Giovanni Trapattoni, Gianluca Zambrotta represented the Italy senior side at the 2002 World Cup, where Italy were controversially eliminated in the round of 16 by co-hosts South Korea, on a golden goal; during the second round defeat, Gianluca Zambrotta was forced off the pitch with an injury following a hard, two-footed foul from Choi Jin-cheul in the second half of regulation time, and was replaced by Angelo Di Livio.
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In 2003, after the retirement of Paolo Maldini from the national team and a successful switch to left-back with Juventus, Gianluca Zambrotta became the first choice for this position in the national team.
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On 30 May 2004, Gianluca Zambrotta scored his first ever international goal in a warm-up against Tunisia.
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In Euro 2004, although the performance of Italy was largely disappointing and the team was eliminated at the group stage, Gianluca Zambrotta was one of the few Italian players to be praised for his performances, and was elected to be part of the Team of the Tournament.
40.
New coach Marcello Lippi, who had just resigned as the Juventus manager where he had managed Gianluca Zambrotta, moved him to right-back.
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Gianluca Zambrotta became a core player in the 2006 World Cup qualifying campaign, featuring in eight of the ten matches to help Italy qualify as group winners.
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Gianluca Zambrotta picked up the injury in a training match against amateur team San Giminiano.
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Gianluca Zambrotta immediately showed the effect of this position switch.
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Gianluca Zambrotta participated in Italy's semi-final victory over the host nation, Germany, hitting the cross-bar in extra time, and he played in Italy's victorious final victory over France.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was selected by new manager Roberto Donadoni to represent Italy at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
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Gianluca Zambrotta played in all Italy's games in the tournament.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was selected for the 2010 World Cup by Lippi.
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Gianluca Zambrotta played his last match in Italy colours in a European qualifier against Serbia in Genoa on 12 October 2010, as his team's captain.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was deployed as an offensive-minded central midfielder on occasion, known as the mezzala role in Italian football jargon.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was born in Como, but his paternal grandfather was from Caserta.
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Gianluca Zambrotta was named honorary president of his hometown club Como in 2007.
52.
In 2012, Gianluca Zambrotta worked as a pundit for the Swiss-Italian broadcasting station RSI.
53.
In November 2012, in an interview with Rai Radio 1, Gianluca Zambrotta revealed that, in the summer, he purchased a family holiday home near Dublin, Republic of Ireland and stated that he would be "open to the idea" of playing in Ireland's Airtricity League.
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In 2014, Gianluca Zambrotta opened a fitness complex in his hometown of Como, called the Eracle Sports Centre.