Alberto Zaccheroni

Infobox Football biography
playername = Alberto Zaccheroni
fullname = Alberto Zaccheroni
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1953|3|1
cityofbirth = Meldola
countryofbirth = Italy
height =
position =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years =
clubs =
caps(goals) =
nationalyears =
nationalteam =
nationalcaps(goals) =
manageryears =
managerclubs =

Alberto Zaccheroni (born 1 March 1953, in Meldola, Emilia-Romagna) is an Italian football manager. He is best know for having managed a number of top clubs in Serie A, and won a "scudetto" with Riccione then San Lazzaro, Baracca Lugo, Venezia, Bologna before returning to Cosenza.

His managerial career took off during the 1997-98 season with Serie A side, Udinese. He guided them to the dizzy heights of 3rd place in the league, thus qualifying them for next seasons UEFA Cup.

AC Milan times

Zaccheroni's great results at Udinese attracted the attention of Italian giants A.C. Milan, who appointed him as manager after the San Siro club had endured 2 miserable seasons. Fellow Udinese colleagues, Oliver Bierhoff and Thomas Helveg joined him in Milan. Zaccheroni delivered instantly, as Milan won the league in the 1998-99 season, pipping Lazio and Fiorentina to the title. The following season was less successful for Zaccheroni as Milan exited the UEFA Champions League early, and although finishing 3rd in Serie A, they were never really in the running for the title. The 2000-01 season was even worse for Zaccheroni as Milan, again, struggled in the Champions League and failed to beat Paris Saint-Germain FC. This led AC Milan chairman Silvio Berlusconi to sack Zaccheroni and replace him with caretaker manager Cesare Maldini in the Spring of 2001.

Lazio

Zaccheroni was without a job for a few months before Lazio came calling, after Dino Zoff had resigned. The Rome club had endured a terrible start to the season yet Zaccheroni managed a 6th place finish, thus earning Lazio a UEFA Cup place. Zaccheroni was not without his critics though as he played Mendieta and Fiore out of position thus failing to get the best out of them. He was also held responsible by many for the humiliating 5-1 defeat to Roma in the Rome deby that season. Despite Zaccheroni's efforts, he parted company with the Italian giants, to be replaced by Roberto Mancini.

Internazionale

Zaccheroni was again called upon in the mid-season of 2003-04, this time to try and save Internazionale after the departure of coach Hector Cuper from the club. Despite crashing out of the Champions League after a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Arsenal at the San Siro, he managed to lift Inter to 4th place in Serie A, thus earning them a Champions League place for next season. However, Inter president, Massimo Moratti, was not convinced of Zaccheroni's abilities, and he was again replaced by Roberto Mancini.

Torino

After 2 seasons without a job, he was linked with a move to England in the vacant manager's post at Crystal Palace. This rumours never came to fruition, however he did become the new head coach of Torino on September 7th 2006, the 100th anniversary of the team, replacing Gianni De Biasi, fired by chairman Urbano Cairo three days before the start of the new season despite having led the team to instant promotion from Serie B. However, despite a good start, Zaccheroni was not able to bring Torino on the top positions of the league table, and even suffered a worrying sequence of six consecutive defeats which led chairman Cairo to sack him on February 26, 2007 and reinstantiate De Biasi at the helm of the "granata".

External links

* [http://www.fortunecity.com/olympia/wagner/321/cuerpotecnicomi.htm Alberto Zaccheroni's record of achievement]