Luca Marchegiani

Luca Marchegiani (Italian pronunciation: [ˈluːka markeˈdʒaːni]; born 22 February 1966) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

Luca Marchegiani
Marchegiani in 2003
Personal information
Full name Luca Marchegiani
Date of birth (1966-02-22) 22 February 1966
Place of birth Ancona, Italy
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Playing position(s) Goalkeeper
Youth career
Jesi
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1987 Jesi 33 (0)
1985–1986 → Aurora Latini (loan) 0 (0)
1987–1988 Brescia 1 (0)
1988–1993 Torino 146 (0)
1993–2003 Lazio 243 (0)
2003–2005 Chievo 66 (0)
Total 489 (0)
National team
1992–1996 Italy 9 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

He represented several Italian clubs throughout his career, in particular Torino and Lazio, where he won various titles. At international level, he represented the Italian national team in the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where they reached the final.

He holds the longest unbeaten streak in Lazio's history, as well as the joint seventh-highest unbeaten streak in Serie A, alongside Gianluigi Buffon, having gone 745 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal in the Italian top division.[1]

Club career

After beginning his professional career with Jesi in 1986, for one season in the lower divisions, and subsequently Brescia for a season, in Serie B, Marchegiani spent the majority of his career at Torino F.C. and S.S. Lazio. With Torino (1988–1993), he won the Coppa Italia in 1993, and a Serie B title and a Mitropa Cup in 1991, earning promotion to Serie A; he also finished runner-up in the 1993 Supercoppa Italiana and the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, and managed a third-place finish in Serie A during the 1991–92 season, whilst playing for the club.[2]

At one point in his career, Marchegiani was the most expensive goalkeeper in the world, when he joined Lazio from Torino in 1993 for £6m;[3] during this period he was regarded as one of the best and most reliable goalkeepers in Italy and in world football. During his time with Lazio he won the Serie A, two Italian Cups, two Italian Supercups, an UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and an UEFA Super Cup, also reaching another UEFA Cup Final in 1998. In 2003, he moved to and ended his playing career at Chievo Verona, where he remained until retiring in 2005.[2]

International career

Marchegiani played for Italy national football team on 9 occasions between 1991 and 1996. He was initially selected by Arrigo Sacchi as the successor of the former first-choice keeper Walter Zenga,[4] but lost his place after a mediocre performance in a 2–2 draw against Switzerland during the 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification:[5] he conceded the first goal, scored by Christophe Ohrel, after failing to catch a cross, an unusual mistake for him, and then poorly controlled a back-pass with his feet, enabling the opposing striker Stéphane Chapuisat to score for the second time.[6]

At the 1994 FIFA World Cup he was selected as Italy's second-choice keeper behind Gianluca Pagliuca, who was more skilled with the ball at his feet,[7] but still managed to play three matches:[8] his first appearance was as a substitute against Norway, following the sending off of Pagliuca, coming on for Roberto Baggio, and helping the 10-man Italian squad to keep a clean sheet and win the match 1–0; he also appeared in the final group match against Mexico (a 1–1 draw), and in the 2–1 extra-time victory over Nigeria in the round of 16.[9] Despite Marchegiani's excellent performances, which led some pundits to advocate his confirmation, Pagliuca recovered the starting spot after his two-game disqualification,[10] and played the remaining games. Italy reached the final, where they lost to Brazil on penalties.[11]

Style of play

A consistent, elegant, intelligent, composed and complete goalkeeper, Marchegiani is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation. He was known in particular for his agility, positional sense, reactions, and his speed when rushing off his line, as well as his efficient technique, reliable handling, movement, and his ability to read the game; in particular, he stood out throughout his career for his outstanding ability to come out and claim crosses and high balls. In addition to his shot-stopping abilities, he was also remembered for his professionalism, as well as his dedication.[2][12][13][14][15][16][17] In spite of his reserved character, he was a resolute goalkeeper, who inspired confidence in his defenders.[18][19][20][21] Although he was not particularly adept or confident with the ball at his feet following the establishment of the back-pass rule,[5] and did not have a particularly powerful or deep goal kick, he possessed excellent vision,[18] and later worked to improve this aspect of his game throughout his career.[13][22] He was also effective at stopping penalties: in his career, he stopped 18 penalties in Serie A from 69 attempts in 422 appearances between 1988 and 2005, with a career save percentage of 26.1%; he has saved the fourth–highest number of penalties in Serie A history. During the 2003–04 season, he saved five spot kicks.[23][24][25]

Because of his calm and composure, he was nicknamed Il Conte ("The Count").[26]

Retirement

Marchegiani works as a pundit for Sky Italia. He features in Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series as a technical commentator; from the 2012 edition to the 2014 edition, he featured alongside Pierluigi Pardo, while he was subsequently partnered with Fabio Caressa from the 2015 edition onwards.

Personal life

His son Gabriele Marchegiani made his professional debut as a goalkeeper in 2016.[27]

Honours

Club

Torino[28]

Lazio[28]

International

Italy[29]

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References
  1. "Buffon e gli altri: i record di imbattibilità. Il n.1 della Juventus sul trono con 974'". repubblica.it (in Italian). 20 March 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  2. Enrico Maida (2002). "MARCHEGIANI, Luca". Enciclopedia dello Sport (in Italian). pp. 754–755.
  3. £9m custodian who breaks football's No 1 rule
  4. Fabio Monti (5 September 1992). "Sacchi ha deciso: fuori Zenga". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). p. 34.
  5. Gigi Garanzini (28 June 1993). "Le pagelle di un anno". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). p. 29.
  6. Giancarlo Padovan (15 October 1992). "Il cuore è grande, ma l'Italia no". Corriere della Sera (in Italian). p. 42.
  7. Matteo Botti (2 January 2014). "Marchegiani ricorda orgoglioso la sua parata più bella: "In Supercoppa Europea con la Lazio, un intervento impossibile"". lalaziosiamonoi.it (in Italian).
  8. FIFA Player Statistics: Luca Marchegiani
  9. "1994 FIFA World Cup USA". FIFA.com. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  10. Fabrizio Bocca (9 July 1994). "Pagliuca: "Il posto è mio". Marchegiani in silenzio". la Repubblica (in Italian).
  11. "Nazionale in cifre: Marchegiani, Luca". www.figc.it (in Italian). Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  12. "Luca Marchegiani: "storia di un portiere vero"". Retrieved 12 November 2014.
  13. "Sarti vota Marchegiani" (in Italian). La Stampa. 26 February 1995. p. 41. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  14. Alessio Bernardini (10 February 2013). "Marchegiani svela: "Ho avuto la possibilità di giocare nella Roma, ma...". Poi su Gascoigne..." (in Italian). lalaziosiamonoi.it. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  15. Bruno Bernardi (11 November 1991). "In porta si cambia Marchegiani spera" (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 15. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  16. Giorgio Dell’Arti (6 May 2014). "Luca Marchegiani". cinquantamila.it (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  17. Stefano Fiori (8 September 2018). "La classifica dei 10 portieri italiani più forti di tutti i tempi" (in Italian). www.foxsports.it. Retrieved 22 September 2018.
  18. Licia Granello (7 July 1994). "La partita dei portieri è cominciata". la Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 5 December 2016.
  19. Bruno Bernardi (7 March 1993). "Tacconi: così bravi, così diversi" (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 34. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  20. Franco Badolato (24 July 1991). "Le notti magiche di Marchegiani" (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 36. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  21. Fabio Vergnano (7 December 1991). "Marchegiani si tuffa su Van Basten" (in Italian). La Stampa. p. 25. Retrieved 30 October 2017.
  22. "Intervista a Luca Marchegiani: "Giocare con i piedi, che trauma!"" (in Italian). Il Numero 1. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
  23. Davide Martini (27 January 2014). "I 7 portieri pararigori della storia della Serie A" (in Italian). Today.it. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  24. Tomaselli Paolo (25 October 2008). "Rigori, riparte la sfida degli infallibili" (in Italian). Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 11 May 2015.
  25. "Handanovic come Pagliuca, la classifica dei migliori pararigori della storia della Serie A" (in Italian). sport.sky.it. 12 January 2020.
  26. Sandro Bocchio; Giovanni Tosco (2000). Dizionario della grande Lazio. Newton Compton Editori. p. 112.
  27. "Marchegiani: "Ora non dite che sono figlio di papà"" [Marchegiani: "Now you do not say I am the son of Dad"] (in Italian). La Gazzetta dello Sport. 2 December 2016.
  28. "Luca Marchegiani" (in French). Eurosport. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
  29. "L. Marchegiani". Soccerway. Retrieved 16 December 2015.
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