Gianluca Zambrotta

Gianluca Zambrotta (born 19 February 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a right-back or as a wide midfielder, on both the left and right wings.

Throughout his career, Zambrotta played for several different Italian clubs.

He 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.

Of Campanian descent, Zambrotta began his professional career as a striker with his hometown club Como at age 17 in 1994.

In his first season in Serie B, he played only one match.

In 1995, however, Como were demoted to Serie C1 and Zambrotta started to play more regularly for the first team, as a winger or as a wide-midfielder.

In the 1995–96 and 1996–97 seasons, he made 47 appearances and scored 6 goals, playing in Serie B and Serie C1.

In 1997, Zambrotta's Serie A career began when his great potential was spotted by Bari boss Eugenio Fascetti.

Zambrotta was snapped up by Fascetti after Bari had won promotion to Serie A.

He made his Serie A debut on 31 August 1997 in a 2–0 home defeat to Parma, and in his first year in the top flight, he played on the left wing and scored 2 goals in 27 appearances.

In the 1998–99 season, following the departure of Nicola Ventola, Zambrotta exploded on to the scene.

In matchday one, he scored the only goal of the match against Venezia after just nine minutes into the first half.

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.

On matchday seven, he scored the opening goal at the San Siro and helped Bari to win the game 3–2 against Internazionale.

Throughout the 1998–99 season, he made 32 appearances and scored four goals.

Halfway through this season, he was brought to Juventus, by Carlo Ancelotti for reported 30 million Italian lire (€15,493,707, but 3 million lire paid via Simone Perrotta's 50% rights) and would play in the black-and-white jersey starting the season after.

On 10 February 1999, at age 22, the Italian under-21 international was rewarded by the coach of the senior team, Dino Zoff, for his displays.

He earned his first cap in a 0–0 friendly against Norway in Pisa, Italy.

He became the first player of Bari to play for the national side in 50 years.

After the transfer to Juventus on 1 July 1999, Zambrotta continued his upward momentum under manager Carlo Ancelotti.

He made 32 league appearances with one goal in the first season he played for Juventus.

He was part of their side that reached the Euro 2000 final, and he was also selected to the Euro 2004 Team of the Tournament.

On 14 May 2000, the last match day of the season, Juventus missed out on the 1999–2000 Scudetto, as they were defeated 1–0 away at Perugia in the heavy rain, while Lazio got the three points at home by beating Reggina 3–0, and overcame Juventus by a single point.

Zambrotta was brought on in the second half in that game and was later given a red card by the referee, Pierluigi Collina.

In his second season for Juventus, 2000–01, Zambrotta made 29 league appearances and scored three goals, but Juventus finished once again in second place in Serie A, behind Roma.

Zambrotta won his first Scudetto in the 2001–02 season, while he made 32 league appearances and scored one goal during the season, also reaching the 2002 Coppa Italia final with the club.

During his seven seasons with the club, he won two consecutive Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles in 2002 and 2003, also reaching the 2003 UEFA Champions League final.

After Zambrotta suffered an injury in the game against South Korea during the 2002 World Cup, he missed the beginning of the 2002–03 Serie A campaign.

During his absence, the new signing of Mauro Camoranesi took his place on the right wing and was in superb form.

This prompted then coach, Marcello Lippi, to switch Zambrotta to the left-back when he returned to action.

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.

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.

The following season, Juventus avenged the defeat by beating Milan to the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana on penalties, and also reached the 2004 Coppa Italia final, although they failed to retain their league title or progress in Europe.

Zambrotta won four Scudetti with Juventus, making a total of 217 league appearances and scoring seven goals in six seasons.

In the 2005–06 season, following the injury of Jonathan Zebina, as well as the arrival of Giorgio Chiellini and his successful switch with the national team, Zambrotta was again switched to the right-back.

Since then, Zambrotta switched between right and left-fullback or wingback positions frequently throughout the season.

He also later spent two relatively unsuccessful seasons with Barcelona between 2006 and 2008, where he won the 2006 Supercopa de España, before returning to Italy to play for AC Milan, where he won his third Serie A and Supercoppa Italiana titles in 2011.

He 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.

At international level, Zambrotta won 100 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.

He ended his career after a season with Swiss club Chiasso in 2014, whom he later went on to coach.