Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Italy. Show all posts

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Roberto Mancini

Roberto Mancini (born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager, formerly an international player and current manager of Premier League club Manchester City. As a player Mancini was best known for his time at Sampdoria, where he played more than 550 matches, and helped them win the Serie A league title, four Coppa Italias and the Cup Winners Cup, whilst being capped 36 times by Italy.

As a player, he gained a penchant for becoming a future manager and would often give team talks at half-time and ultimately became an assistant to Sven-Göran Eriksson at Lazio in the twilight of his playing career. After his retirement, Mancini embarked on a successful managerial career. A cup specialist, Mancini had never failed to reach a semi-final of a major national cup competition, from 2002 to 2011, but on 2012 his club Manchester City made an early exit after being defeated by rivals Manchester United in the third round of the FA Cup. He also guided the Italian clubs he managed to a record 5 consecutive Coppa Italia finals from 2004 to 2008, with Lazio once in 2004 and with Inter in the following four seasons.

Mancini's first managerial role was at a cash stricken Fiorentina at only 35 years old and managed to win a Coppa Italia, but left with Fiorentina facing bankruptcy. Months later, he took over as manager at Lazio, where again he inherited financial constraints and was forced to lose a number of key players. With limited resources during his two season tenure, he still managed to win another Coppa Italia, reach a UEFA Cup semi-final, and secure a lucrative Champions League place.

In 2004, Mancini was given the chance to manage a major club, being offered the manager's job at Internazionale. During his tenure at Inter, the club won three consecutive Serie A titles (an Inter club record) and a European record 17 consecutive league game victories stretching nearly half a season. and became Inter's most successful manager in 30 years. Despite his domestic success, many pundits saw the repeated failure to win the coveted Champions League as the main reason for his sacking in 2008.

After being out of football for over a year, Mancini was appointed Manchester City manager in December 2009 and his team-building achievements at Lazio and Inter were a factor in his appointment. In the 2010-11 season, his first full season at City, Mancini guided the club to Champions League football and the FA Cup, and has moulded City into a sound defensive unit. He maintains a tradition of wearing a scarf of his club's colours, something which has been continued at Manchester City.

Early Life
Mancini was born in the small town of Iesi, Marche, in 1964, but then moved onto the mountain town of Rocadaspida and was raised by Aldo and Marianna Mancini along with his younger sister Stephanie. Raised a Roman Catholic, his young life in Iesi revolved around religion and football. He was an altar boy and played for the local Aurora Calcio football team in his youth. On one occasion, a fixture clashed with his first Holy Communion. Halfway through the ceremony, the eight-year-old Mancini was nowhere to be seen. His local priest who was administering his first communion frequently coached football, he heard they were losing 2–0 at half-time and so he asked a young Mancini quietly after receiving his communion if he had his football kit and boots with him. Roberto said they were in the changing rooms and so he told him to sneak out of the side door and put them on because his team needed him, unbeknownst to his father.

Personal Life
Mancini has been married for nearly 20 years to his wife, Federica. They have a daughter and two sons, Filippo and Andrea, who have both played in the Internazionale youth ranks, where Filippo has played 10 minutes in a Coppa Italia match. Both of his sons have at one point been a part of Manchester City's 'Under-21' youth team. Filippo trained with the club's youth/reserve team for several months during the 2007–08 season before Roberto was appointed as City's manager, while Andrea was signed by his father for the current Elite Development Squad in November 2010 after being released from Bologna. Andrea still plays for the EDS although he's currently out on loan at Oldham Athletic. Mancini was estimated to have a personal wealth of £19m in 2011.

Mancini has stated he watches the soap opera Coronation Street to help improve his English.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Fabio Capello

Fabio Capello (born 18 June 1946) is an Italian football manager and former professional footballer. He most recently managed the England national football team.

Capello was born in San Canzian d'Isonzo. His uncle, Mario Tortul was also a football player and played for Triestina, Padova, Sampdoria and the Italian national football team. Capello is married and has a son named Pier Filippo who acts as his agent. Capello is also a collector of fine art and has a personal collection thought to be worth over £10 million.

As a player Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, AC Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which lasted over 15 years. He won the Coppa Italia with Roma in 1969. He was most succesful with Juventus, winning three Serie A titles in 1972, 1973 and 1975. With Milan he won the Coppa Italia again in 1977 and also won another Serie A in 1979. Capello also played for Italy during his career and amassed 32 caps, scoring eight goals as well.

As a manager, Capello has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every club he has coached throughout his career. In his first five seasons as a manager he won four Serie A titles with Milan, where he also won the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, defeating Barcelona 4–0 in a memorable final. He then spent a year at Real Madrid, where he won the La Liga title at his first attempt, and in 2001 led Roma to their first league title in 18 years. Capello also won two titles at Juventus (which were later stripped after the Calciopoli scandal), and in 2006 returned to Real Madrid, where he won another La Liga title. Overall he has won a major league championship in seven (or nine, counting the two revoked titles with Juventus) of his 16 seasons as a coach. Capello was appointed as England manager on 12 December 2008. During his time as England manager he succesfully guided the team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, where they were knocked out in the second round, and 2012 European Championship. On 8 February 2012, he resigned as manager due to a dispute with The Football Association.

Personal Life
Capello was born in San Canzian d'Isonzo near Gorizia, in north-eastern Italy, in what was then the Allied-occupied Zone A of the Julian March. His parents were Guerrino and Evelina Capello. Capello is a devout Catholic who prays twice a day. His father, a schoolteacher, played football, and his uncle Mario Tortul was also a football player; for Triestina, Padova, Sampdoria and the Italian national football team during the 1960s. Capello has spent his entire adult life working in football. He has been married to his wife Laura, whom he first met on a bus as a teenager, for over 40 years. He is represented by his son Pier Filippo, who acts as his agent.

In January 2008, Italian police announced that they were launching an investigation into tax irregularities by Capello. However, the probe has been dismissed as routine by Capello's spokesmen who said this was part of a wider investigation into a number of wealthy Italians. The FA revealed that they had known about the upcoming probe when they had appointed Capello, and expected no charges to be brought.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Carlo Ancelotti

Carlo Ancelotti (born 10 June 1959) is an Italian football manager, and the current manager of Paris Saint-Germain. Nicknamed Carletto, Ancelotti played as a midfielder and had a successful career with Roma – captaining the team – with whom he won one Scudetto and 4 Coppa Italia and was part of the legendary late 80s Milan team, with whom he won two Scudetti and two European Cups in a five-year period. He was capped 26 times and scored one goal for the Italian national team and appeared at the 1986 and 1990 World Cups.

After spells as manager of Reggiana, Parma and Juventus, Carlo Ancelotti was appointed Milan manager in 2001. He won the Scudetto in 2004, the Champions League in 2003 and 2007 and the Coppa Italia in 2003. They were also Serie A and Champions League runner-ups in 2005. He is one of six men to have won the European Cup as player and manager. In May 2009 he was appointed Chelsea manager and in his first season led them to a historic Premier League and FA Cup Double. He became only the second non-British manager to win the double, the other being Arsène Wenger. After an uneven Premier League season in which Chelsea failed to retain the title, Ancelotti was dismissed as Chelsea manager in May 2011. On December 30, 2011, Ancelotti signed a contract with ambitious French side Paris Saint-Germain.

Personal Life
Ancelotti has two children: a daughter, Katia, and a son, Davide, who also played in the Milan youth team and later joined Borgomanero in June 2008. In 2008, Carlo Ancelotti confirmed in an interview that he had broken up with his wife of 25 years. In May 2009, Ancelotti's autobiography, Preferisco la Coppa ("I Prefer the Cup", with a word-play by Ancelotti on the Italian word "coppa" that stands both for "cup" and a type of cured cold pork meat cut), was published, with all proceeds from sales of the book going to the Fondazione Stefano Borgonovo for the funding of research on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Recently, Ancelotti has had to travel back to Italy on a regular basis to visit his 87-year-old father who was in poor health with diabetes and other issues. On the issue he said "I don't have a problem managing the team for this reason. It's difficult, emotionally, when it's your father... but this is life. I have to do my best to stay close to him, but this is the life."

From : www.wikipedia.org

Monday, February 6, 2012

Mario Monti

Mario Monti (born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who is Prime Minister of Italy, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance; he took office in November 2011.

He served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the Internal Market, Services, Customs and Taxation from 1995 to 1999 and then for Competition from 1999 to 2004. Monti has also been Rector and President of Bocconi University in Milan. On 12 November 2011, in the midst of a financial crisis, he was invited by Italian President Giorgio Napolitano to form a new technocratic government in Italy following the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi. Monti was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 November 2011, just a week after having been appointed a Senator for Life.

Background
He was born in Varese on 19 March 1943. His mother was from Piacenza and his father grew up in Varese, though he was born in Luján in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, where the Monti family had emigrated in the 19th century and built up a soft-drink- and beer-production business. Monti's father left Italy for Argentina during World War II, but later returned to his family home in Varese.

Academic career
Monti holds a degree in economics and management from Bocconi University, located in Milan. He completed graduate studies at Yale University,[6] located in the American city of New Haven, Connecticut, where he studied under James Tobin, a recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics.

He taught economics at the University of Turin from 1970 to 1985 before moving to Bocconi University, where he was its Rector from 1999 to 2001, and has been its President since 1994. He was also the President of SUERF (The European Money and Finance Forum) from 1982 to 1985. His research has helped to create the "Klein-Monti model", aimed at describing the behaviour of banks operating under monopoly circumstances.

Personal Life
Monti is married, and has two children.

Known for his reserved character, Monti acknowledges not being especially sociable; he says his youth was given over to hard study, alongside spare time activities such as cycling and keeping up with world affairs by tuning in to foreign short wave radio stations.

From : www.wikipedia.org

Giorgio Napolitano

Giorgio Napolitano (born 29 June 1925) is an Italian politician who has been the 11th President of Italy since 2006. A long-time member of the Italian Communist Party and later the Democrats of the Left, he served as President of the Chamber of Deputies from 1992 to 1994 and as Minister of the Interior from 1996 to 1998. He has often been nicknamed "Re Umberto," which translates to "King Umberto." This came about from his phsycial likeness to Umberto II of Italy and for his incredible manners. He has also been known as "Il Principe Rosso," which can be translated to red prince. This comes from his communist beliefs. 

Appointed as a Senator for life in 2005, he was subsequently elected as President of Italy on 10 May 2006; his term started with the swearing-in ceremony held on 15 May 2006. He is the first President of Italy to have been a member of the Italian Communist Party.

Early Life
Giorgio Napolitano was born in Naples. In 1942 he matriculated at the University of Naples Federico II. He adhered to the local University Fascist Youth ("Gioventù Universitaria Fascista"), where he met his core group of friends, who shared his opposition to Italian fascism. As he would later state, the group "was in fact a true breeding ground of anti-fascist intellectual energies, disguised and to a certain extent tolerated".

A theatre enthusiast since high school, during his university years he contributed a theatrical review to the IX Maggio weekly magazine, and had small parts in plays organised by the Gioventù Universitaria Fascista itself. He played in a comedy by Salvatore Di Giacomo at Teatro Mercadante in Naples. Napolitano dreamed of being an actor and spent his early years performing in several productions at the Teatro Mercadante.[citation needed] He later measured himself against Joyce and Eliot.

Napolitano has often been cited as the author of a collection of sonnets in Neapolitan language, published under the pseudonym Tommaso Pignatelli, entitled "Pe cupià ’o chiarfo" ("To mimic the downpour"). He denied this in 1997 and, again, on the occasion of his presidential election, when his staff described the attribution of authorship to Napolitano as a "journalistic myth". However, he published his first book called Movimento operaio e industria di Stato, which can be translated to Workers' Movement and State Industry in 1962.

From : www.wikipedia.org