Luca Zuffi

Luca Zuffi (born 27 March 1990) is a Swiss footballer who plays as midfielder for Basel in the Swiss Super League.[1]

Luca Zuffi
Personal information
Full name Luca Zuffi
Date of birth (1990-03-27) 27 March 1990
Place of birth Winterthur, Switzerland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current team
 FC Basel
Number 7
Youth career
Oberwil
Winterthur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2013 Winterthur 87 (9)
2012–2013 → Thun (loan) 26 (1)
2013–2014 Thun 28 (3)
2014– Basel 158 (24)
National team‡
2005–2006 Switzerland U-16 3 (0)
2006 Switzerland U-17 2 (0)
2007–2008 Switzerland U-18 3 (0)
2008–2009 Switzerland U-19 7 (1)
2010 Switzerland U-20 2 (0)
2015– Switzerland 4 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 9 May 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 29 March 2016

Club career

Winterthur

Luca Zuffi is the son of Dario Zuffi. Born in Winterthur, he started playing football at FC Oberwil,[2] as his father was playing for FC Basel at that time. In the summer of 1998 Dario Zuffi transferred back to his home club and the family moved home to Winterthur. Therefore, Luca continued his youth football with FC Winterthur. During the 2006–07 Challenge League season he played his debut in their first team. In the following season became a regular player, scoring four goals in 18 appearances.

Thun

At the beginning of the 2012–13 Super League season Winterthur loaned Zuffi out to Thun. Because he played in 26 of their 36 league games and because they qualified to play in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League Thun took the option and transferred Zuffi definitively to the club. Thun advanced to the group stage in which Zuffi played in all six games.

Basel

Before the start of the 2014–15 Super League season Basel announced that they had completed Zuffi's transfer to the club on a three-year contract. He made his first team league debut on 19 July 2014 in the 2–1 away win against Aarau.[3] He scored his first goal for his new club on 9 August 2014 during the 4–1 home win against Zürich.[4]

The season 2014–15, with Paulo Sousa as manager, was a very successful one for Basel. The championship was won for the sixth time in a row[5] that season and in the 2014–15 Swiss Cup they reached the final. But for the third season in a row, they finished as runners-up, losing 0–3 to FC Sion in the final. Basel entered the Champions League in the group stage and reached the knockout phase as on 9 December 2014 they managed a 1–1 draw at Anfield against Liverpool.[6] But then Basel then lost to Porto in the Round of 16. Basel played a total of 65 matches (36 Swiss League fixtures, 6 Swiss Cup, 8 Champions League and 15 test matches). The season 2014–15 was also a very successful one for Zuffi. Under trainer Paulo Sousa he totaled 52 appearances, 29 League, 3 Cup, 7 Champions League, as well 13 in test games. He scored 7 goals in these matches.[7]

In the season 2015–16 Basel signed a new manager Urs Fischer. Zuffi had already played with Fischer as manager in Thun. With Fischer as manager Zuffi played regularly in the starting eleven. In the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League knockout phase home game in the St. Jakob-Park on 25 February 2016 Zuffi scored both goals as Basel won 2–1 against Saint-Étienne to quality for the next round.[8] Zuffi won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2015–16 Super League season for the second time[9] and at the end of the 2016–17 Super League season for the third time. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total.[10] They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history.[11]

Under trainer Marcel Koller Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat FC Montlingen 3–0, in the second round Echallens Région 7–2 and in the round of 16 Winterthur 1–0. In the quarter finals Sion were defeated 4–2 after extra time and in the semi finals Zürich were defeated 3–1. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on the 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against Thun. Striker Albian Ajeti scored the first goal, Fabian Frei the second for Basel, then Dejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel.[12] Zuffi played in five cup games and scored one goal, this being in the game against Sion.[13]

International career

Zuffi made his Switzerland debut in October 2015 by starting in a 7–0 win over San Marino.[14] He was included in the provisional squad but, however, was cut from the final squad for Euro 2016.[15]

Personal life

Luca Zuffi is the son of Swiss international Dario Zuffi, his brothers Nico and Sandro are also footballers.

Honours

Basel

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References
  1. FC Basel 1893 (2014). "Mittelfeldspieler-Luca-Zuffi-im-Porträt". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  2. SFV (2015). "Luca Zuffi". SFV. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  3. Marti, Caspar (2014). "Gelungene Premiere auf dem Brügglifeld" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 19 July 2014.
  4. Herklotz, Guido (2014). "Der FCB siegt im tollen Klassiker überlegen mit 4:1" (in German). FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  5. Marti, Caspar (2015). "Der Meisterfreitag im bunten Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 29 May 2015. (in German)
  6. "Liverpool 1 Basel 1". BBC Sport. 10 December 2014. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  7. Zindel, Josef (2015). Rotblau: Jahrbuch Saison 2015/2016. FC Basel Marketing AG. ISBN 978-3-7245-2050-4.
  8. "Basel snatch last-16 spot from St-Étienne's grasp". uefa.com. 2016. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
  9. Marti, Casper (2016). "Es ist vollbracht ! Der FCB ist zum 19. Mal Meister". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  10. Marti, Casper (2017). "Der Saisonabschluss im Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  11. "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
  12. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "FC Basel - FC Thun 2:1 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  13. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "FC Sion - FC Basel 2:4 n.V. (2:2, 0:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
  14. https://uk.soccerway.com/matches/2015/10/09/europe/european-championship-qualification/switzerland/san-marino/1653364/
  15. http://www.espn.com/soccer/switzerland/story/2883266/switzerland-include-three-teenagers-in-final-squad-for-euro-2016
  16. "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
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