• Football in Italy
• Calcio Fiorentino
• Calcio, Lombardy - a town and comune in the province of Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy.

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Gianfranco Zola

Personal information
Full name	Gianfranco Zola
Date of birth	(1966-07-05) 5 July 1966 (age 45)
Place of birth	Oliena, Italy
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Playing position	Second striker Attacking midfielder
Youth career
1980–1983	Corrasi Oliena
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1984–1986	Nuorese	31	(10)
1986–1989	Torres	88	(21)
1989–1993	Napoli	105	(32)
1993–1996	Parma	102	(49)
1996–2003	Chelsea	312	(80)
2003–2005	Cagliari	74	(22)
Total		629	(193)
National team
1991–1997[1]	Italy	35	(10)
Teams managed
2008–2010	West Ham United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Gianfranco Zola, OBE,^[2] Ufficiale OMRI^[3] (Italian pronunciation: [dʒanˈfranko ˈdzɔla]; born 5 July 1966 in Oliena, Italy) is a retired Italian footballer and manager, who most recently managed West Ham United from 2008 to 2010, after having been assistant manager of the Italy U-21 under Pierluigi Casiraghi.^[4] He spent the first decade of his career playing in Italy, most notably with Napoli, alongside Diego Maradona and Careca, and at Parma, before moving to English side Chelsea, where he was voted Football Writers' Player of the Year in 1997 and Chelsea's greatest ever player.^[5] He was capped 35 times for Italy.

Club career[link]

Italy[link]

Zola signed his first professional contract with Sardinian team Nuorese in 1984. In 1986, he moved to Torres from Sassari, the oldest club in Sardinia, where he spent three seasons. In 1989, he signed for Napoli in Serie A. The young and talented Zola scored two goals as understudy to Diego Maradona as Napoli won the Serie A title in 1990. Maradona would prove to be a big influence on Zola's career. The two would spend hours practising free kicks together after training and Zola later said that "I learned everything from Diego. I used to spy on him every time he trained and learned how to curl a free-kick just like him."^[6] He helped Napoli to win the Supercoppa Italiana in 1991 and he made his debut for the Italian national side under coach Arrigo Sacchi in the same year, winning his first cap against Norway in November. In 1993, Zola left Napoli and joined fellow Serie A side Parma. He won the UEFA Cup with Parma and the Italian Cup in 1995. It was with the blue and yellow club that he cemented his reputation as a creative player. Ironically, manager Carlo Ancelotti came to see Zola as a "square peg" unable to fit into his rigid system.^[7] Zola was played out of position and ultimately made available for transfer and moved to Chelsea.

Chelsea[link]

In November 1996, Zola joined Chelsea for £4.5 million as one of several continental players signed by Ruud Gullit and wore the number 25 jersey, he made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. In his debut season he put in several notable performances and scored a series of memorable goals. In February 1997, after spiriting the ball around Manchester United's defence in the penalty area before slotting the ball past goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, he was described by United manager Alex Ferguson as a "clever little so-and-so." He was a key player in Chelsea's resurgence that season, helping them win the FA Cup with a 2–0 win over Middlesbrough at Wembley Stadium having scored four goals en route to the final, including a 25 yard curling shot against Liverpool as Chelsea came from 0–2 behind to win 4–2, and a "twisted blood" effort in the semi-final against Wimbledon, backheeling the ball and turning 180 degrees before slotting the ball into the net. At the end of the season he was voted FWA Player of the Year, the only player ever to win the accolade without playing a full season in the English league and the first Chelsea player to win it.

In 1997–98, he helped Chelsea win three more trophies, the League Cup, the Cup Winners' Cup and the Super Cup. An injury denied him a place in the starting line-up for the Cup Winners' Cup final against Stuttgart at the Råsunda Stadium in Stockholm,^[8] but he came on as a second-half substitute and scored the winning goal after barely 30 seconds.^[9] With only his second touch of the game, he struck a through ball from Dennis Wise past Wohlfahrt into the roof of the net to secure Chelsea's third major trophy in a year and the second European trophy in the club's history. In the same season, Zola hit his first professional hat-trick, in a 4–0 victory over Derby County at Stamford Bridge in November 1997.^[10]

When Chelsea made their first appearance in the Champions League in 1999–2000, Zola was a key player throughout, although he found his chances in the league more limited, owing to manager Gianluca Vialli's squad rotation policy. Zola scored three goals in Chelsea's run to the quarter-finals, including a curling free kick against Barcelona, and again won the FA Cup with the club, with his free-kick in the final against Aston Villa setting up Roberto Di Matteo's winner. His later years with Chelsea saw his appearances restricted by the new strike pairing of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eiður Guðjohnsen, but in Hasselbaink's first season at Stamford Bridge, Zola formed a good partnership with him, scoring 32 league goals between them, (Zola scoring 9 and Hasselbaink hauled 23). It was the 2001–02 season that Zola's starting chances became limited, after a summer when Claudio Ranieri showed to door to many of Chelsea's ageing stars such as club captain Dennis Wise, goalscoring midfielder Gustavo Poyet and French defender Frank Leboeuf, Zola was limited to infrequent starts and many substitute appearances due to Ranieri's new policy of decreasing the average age of the Chelsea squad, preferring to play the gifted Icelandic youngster Gudjohnsen with Hasselbiank, though Zola did score with a backheeled effort in mid-air in an FA Cup tie against Norwich City, a goal manager Claudio Ranieri described as "fantasy, magic".^[12] In 2002–03, his final season with Chelsea, he enjoyed a renaissance, scoring 16 goals, his highest seasonal tally for Chelsea, and was voted the club's player of the year after helping Chelsea qualify for the Champions League.

Zola scored his final goal for Chelsea, a lob from outside the penalty area against Everton, on Easter Monday 2003, and made his final competitive appearance for the club on the final day of the season with a 20-minute cameo against Liverpool, beating four Liverpool players during a fantastic dribble late on in the match, gaining applause from both sets of fans. This would become the final class moment of his Chelsea career. He played in a total of 312 games for Chelsea and scored 80 goals. In early 2003, Zola was voted as the best ever Chelsea player by Chelsea's fans. In November 2004, he was awarded an OBE – Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire in a special ceremony in Rome.^[2] In 2005, Zola was voted into the Chelsea F.C. Centenary Eleven, occupying one of the two forward roles. Whilst the club has not officially withdrawn Zola's number 25 shirt from circulation, no other player has held the squad number since his departure.

Zola appearing at Geneva Indoors tournament in 2009

Return to Italy[link]

In the summer of 2003, amid rumours of an impending takeover at Chelsea, Zola left Stamford Bridge to join Cagliari, the most important club from his native Sardinia. Within a week Chelsea was acquired by Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. It was reported that Abramovich tried to buy the entire Cagliari club^[13] when Zola refused to renege on his verbal contract with Cagliari, although Zola himself will not confirm it.^[14] Zola subsequently led Cagliari to promotion to the Italian Serie A. Then he renewed his contract for Cagliari Calcio for one more year. He retired in June 2005, after ending his career in appropriate style with a double against Juventus in his last ever professional game. His number 10 Cagliari jersey was withdrawn in his honour for the season after he left but was worn in the 2006–07 season by Andrea Capone.^[15]

International career[link]

Zola made his debut for Italy on 13 November 1991, in a Euro 1992 qualifier against Norway, which ended 1–1. He appeared at the 1994 World Cup, making one appearance in the second round against Nigeria. After only a few minutes, Zola was sent off, after 'fouling' Augustine Eguavoen, which forced him to miss the two subsequent World Cup matches. He did not regain his place in the side after this suspension.^[16]

His first two goals came on 25 March 1995, in a 4–1 in a Euro 1996 qualifier against Estonia. He also played in all three group games at Euro 1996, and missed a penalty against Germany as Italy surprisingly crashed out in the first round. He scored the only goal of the game in a World Cup qualifying match against England at Wembley in February 1997, and won his final cap for Italy in the return fixture against England in Rome in October 1997. He retired from international play after he was not called up for the 1998 World Cup, finishing with 35 total caps and ten goals.^[1]

Commentary career[link]

In his playing career, Zola played 628 games and scored 193 goals. Despite speculation he would play on in the 2005–06 season, Zola decided to leave the game just a week before he turned 39, and took a job as an Italian football pundit. Rumours were circulating within Australia that Zola was being chased by several A-League clubs, including Sydney, Melbourne Victory and Perth Glory, about a possible comeback,^[17] but Zola quashed such rumours.^[18] He did, however, play a charity match in Sydney in December 2006, appearing in both Marconi Stallions and APIA colours. Zola also played against Shrewsbury Town for A-line Allstars on 14 July 2007 as part of a kit sponsorship deal between Shrewsbury Town and A-line. It was the first match ever played at the New Meadow stadium; A-line make Zola's boots.^[19]

Managerial career[link]

Italy U21[link]

In 2006, Zola started his coaching career, being appointed as assistant manager to Italy U-21 manager and Pierluigi Casiraghi by the Italian Football Federation.^[4] The duo led the azzurrini to the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, where they reached the quarter-finals before being defeated 3–2 by Belgium U-21.

West Ham United[link]

On 9 September 2008, Zola agreed a three-year contract to manage West Ham United, replacing Alan Curbishley, who resigned following differences with the board.

Signing autographs after match at Boleyn Ground 9 May 2009

He was unveiled as manager on 11 September, despite not having the required UEFA A managing licence. Zola, surprisingly for someone closely associated with West Ham's cross-town rivals Chelsea, quickly gained the backing of the fans. Nevertheless, he received applause from Chelsea fans whenever he returned to Stamford Bridge as West Ham manager. After a shaky start Zola began to develop a side with a flair not seen in a West Ham side for some years.^[20] He was also praised for integrating more youth products into the first team.^[21] The likes of Junior Stanislas and Zavon Hines were given their debuts. The duo and first team youngsters Jack Collison and James Tomkins all scored their first goals for the club. In April 2009, Zola signed a contract that could have kept him at Upton Park until 2013.^[22] West Ham struggled in the 2009–10 season. Zola's position as manager was put in doubt when he revealed he had not been consulted over a bid for West Bromwich Albion player Graham Dorrans and by chairman David Sullivan's announcement that the entire squad was for sale except for midfielder Scott Parker. West Ham finished in 17th place, only five points above the relegation places.^[23]

On 11 May 2010, two days after the end of the 2009–10 season, West Ham announced the termination of Zola's contract with immediate effect.^[24] Avram Grant was announced as his successor on 3 June 2010, and a week later it was announced that the club had reached a compensation settlement with Zola.^[25]

Career statistics[link]

^[27]

Manager[link]

As of 9 May 2010^[28]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Torres

• Serie C2 (1): 1986–87

Napoli

• Serie A (1): 1989–90
• Supercoppa Italiana (1): 1990

Parma

• UEFA Cup (1): 1994–95
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 1993
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1 runner-up): 1993–94

Chelsea

• FA Cup (2): 1996–97, 1999–00
• FA Charity Shield (1): 2000
• Football League Cup (1): 1997–98
• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup (1): 1997–98
• UEFA Super Cup (1): 1998

Individual[link]

• Premier League Player of the Month (2): December 1996, October 2002
• FWA Footballer of the Year (1): 1997
• Chelsea Player of the Year (2): 1999, 2003
• Senatore Salvatore Mannironi: 2004^[29]
• Officer of the Order of the British Empire: 2004^[2]
• Pallone d'Argento 2004-2005 with Cagliari
• Chelsea Centenary XI: 2005^[30]
• English Football Hall of Fame: 2006

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gianfranco Zola

• www.footballdatabase.com profile, detailed club and national team statistics, honours, timeline and picture gallery
• Gianfranco Zola career stats at Soccerbase
• Gianfranco Zola management career stats at Soccerbase

Gianfranco Zola – Navigation boxes and awards v t e Chelsea F.C. – Player of the Year 1967: Bonetti 1968: Cooke 1969: Webb 1970: Hollins 1971: Hollins 1972: Webb 1973: Osgood 1974: Locke 1975: Cooke 1976: Wilkins 1977: Wilkins 1978: Droy 1979: Langley 1980: Walker 1981: Borota 1982: Fillery 1983: Jones 1984: Nevin 1985: Speedie 1986: Niedzwiecki 1987: Nevin 1988: Dorigo 1989: Roberts 1990: Monkou 1991: Townsend 1992: Elliott 1993: Sinclair 1994: Clarke 1995: Johnsen 1996: Gullit 1997: Hughes 1998: Wise 1999: Zola 2000: Wise 2001: Terry 2002: Cudicini 2003: Zola 2004: Lampard 2005: Lampard 2006: Terry 2007: Essien 2008: Cole 2009: Lampard 2010: Drogba 2011: Čech 2012: Mata v t e Italy squad – 1994 FIFA World Cup Runners-up 1 Pagliuca 2 Apolloni 3 Benarrivo 4 Costacurta 5 Maldini 6 Baresi (c) 7 Minotti 8 Mussi 9 Tassotti 10 R. Baggio 11 Albertini 12 Marchegiani 13 D. Baggio 14 Berti 15 Conte 16 Donadoni 17 Evani 18 Casiraghi 19 Massaro 20 Signori 21 Zola 22 Bucci Coach: Sacchi v t e Italy squad – UEFA Euro 1996 1 Peruzzi 2 Apolloni 3 Maldini (c) 4 Carboni 5 Costacurta 6 Nesta 7 Donadoni 8 Mussi 9 Torricelli 10 Albertini 11 D. Baggio 12 Toldo 13 Rossitto 14 Del Piero 15 Di Livio 16 Di Matteo 17 Fuser 18 Casiraghi 19 Chiesa 20 Ravanelli 21 Zola 22 Bucci Coach: Sacchi v t e West Ham United F.C. – managers King (1901–32) Paynter (1932–50) Fenton (1950–61) Greenwood (1961–74) Lyall (1974–1989) Macari (1989–1990) Boyce (1990c) Bonds (1990–94) Redknapp (1994–2001) Roeder (2001–03) Brooking (2003c) Pardew (2003–06) Curbishley (2006–08) Keen (2008c) Zola (2008–10) Grant (2010–2011) Keen (2011c) Allardyce (2011–) v t e FWA Footballer of the Year 1948: Matthews 1949: Carey 1950: Mercer 1951: Johnston 1952: Wright 1953: Lofthouse 1954: Finney 1955: Revie 1956: Trautmann 1957: Finney 1958: Blanchflower 1959: Owen 1960: Slater 1961: Blanchflower 1962: Adamson 1963: Matthews 1964: Moore 1965: Collins 1966: B. Charlton 1967: J. Charlton 1968: Best 1969: Book/Dave Mackay 1970: Bremner 1971: McLintock 1972: Banks 1973: Jennings 1974: Callaghan 1975: Mullery 1976: Keegan 1977: Hughes 1978: Burns 1979: Dalglish 1980: McDermott 1981: Thijssen 1982: Perryman 1983: Dalglish 1984: Rush 1985: Southall 1986: Lineker 1987: Allen 1988: Barnes 1989: Nicol 1990: Barnes 1991: Strachan 1992: Lineker 1993: Waddle 1994: Shearer 1995: Klinsmann 1996: Cantona 1997: Zola 1998: Bergkamp 1999: Ginola 2000: Keane 2001: Sheringham 2002: Pirès 2003: Henry 2004: Henry 2005: Lampard 2006: Henry 2007: C. Ronaldo 2008: C. Ronaldo 2009: Gerrard 2010: Rooney 2011: Parker 2012: van Persie

Beppe Grillo
Leader of the Five Star Movement
Incumbent
Assumed office October 4, 2009
Personal details
Born	(1948-07-21) 21 July 1948 (age 63) Genoa, Italy
Nationality	Italian
Political party	Five Star Movement
Relations	Married
Children	6
Occupation	Comedian, Activist, Politician
Religion	Roman Catholicism
Website	http://www.beppegrillo.it/

Giuseppe Piero Grillo, better known as Beppe Grillo (born 21 July 1948), is an Italian activist, blogger, comedian and actor. He has been involved in politics since 2009 as leader of the Five Star Movement.

Biography[link]

Grillo was born in Genoa, Liguria.

After receiving his degree as an accountant, Grillo became a comedian by chance, improvising a monologue in an audition. Two weeks later he was discovered and launched by Italian TV presenter Pippo Baudo. He subsequently participated in the variety show Secondo Voi for two years (1977–78). Later, in 1979, he participated in Luna Park by Enzo Trapani, and Fantastico.

In the 1980s his success rose further, thanks to shows like Te la do io l'America (1982, 4 episodes) and Te lo do io il Brasile (1984, six episodes). In these shows, he narrated his experiences of his visits to the United States and Brazil, with anecdotes and witticisms about the culture, lifestyle and beauty of these places.

As a result, his popularity grew more and more, and he became the protagonist of another show developed especially for him, called Grillometro (Grillometer). In 1986, he was the star of prize-winning advertisements for a brand of yogurt.

Soon after this, his performances began to be characterized by an increasing level of political satire, often expressed in such a direct way that he quickly offended a lot of Italian politicians. In 1987 during the Saturday night TV show Fantastico 7, he attacked the Italian Socialist Party and its leader Bettino Craxi, then Italy's Prime Minister, on the occasion of his visit in the People's Republic of China. Grillo said:

If the Chinese are all socialists, whom do they steal from?

The joke hinted at the totalitarianism of the PRC, but even more to the widespread corruption for which the Italian Socialist Party was known. As a consequence, Grillo was effectively and silently banished from publicly owned television; yet, he was vindicated a few years later when the Italian Socialist Party had to be disbanded in a welter of corruption scandals known as Tangentopoli, uncovered by the Mani pulite investigation. Craxi himself died in Tunisia, unable to return to Italy where he would have been jailed for several convictions.

Consequently, from the beginning of the 1990s his appearances on television became rare: according to many people, the reason for this is a silent ostracism by politicians offended by his revelations about their hidden financial activities, frauds and false claims. When one of his shows was finally allowed to be broadcast by RAI, in 1993, it obtained a record share of 16 million viewers. He was later banned definitively from Italian television.

He currently performs in theatres in Italy and abroad, often with outstanding success.^[1] Grillo's themes include energy usage, political and corporate corruption, finance, freedom of speech, child labour, globalization, and technology. Recently Grillo started to encourage the use of Wikipedia as the future of knowledge sharing, and generally he is a strong proponent of internet freedom.^[2]

Political activism[link]

Beppe Grillo in Bologna speaking at V-Day.

Grillo has spearheaded several national and international political campaigns. On Sept. 8, 2007, he organized a "V-Day Celebration" in Italy; the "V" stood for vendetta, vengeance, and vaffanculo ("fuck off"). During the rally, Grillo projected the names of two dozen Italian politicians who had been convicted of crimes ranging from corruption and tax evasion to abetting a murder. More than 2 million Italians participated in this rally.^[3] Grillo also used this rally to urge Italians to sign a petition calling for the introduction of a Bill of Popular Initiative to remove members of the Italian Parliament who have criminal convictions of any kind from their office.^[4] According to Internet scholars, V–day was the first case in Italian history of a political demonstration developed and promoted via word–of–mouth mobilization on the blogosphere and the social web.^[5]

This was followed by the second V-Day on 25 April 2008, in Turin, S.Carlo square. This V-Day was dedicated to the Italian press and its government financial support; Grillo heavily criticized the Italian press for the lack of freedom; Umberto Veronesi (about his support for incinerators); NATO bases in Italy, the politicians (Silvio Berlusconi had recently been re-elected) and Retequattro, still holding on to TV frequencies already assigned to Europa 7 [2].

Beppe Grillo in Turin during electoral campaign.

On 1 September 2005, thanks to contributions from readers of his blog, Grillo bought a full page advertisement in the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in which he called for the resignation of the Bank of Italy's (then) governor Antonio Fazio over the Antonveneta banking scandal. In October 2005, Time chose him as one of the "European Heroes 2005" for his constant battle against corruption and financial scandals.^[6]

On 22 November 2005 Grillo also bought a page in the International Herald Tribune, again claiming that members of the Italian Parliament ought not to represent citizens if they have ever been convicted in a court of law, even in the first degree of the three available in the Italian system.^[7] His blog now contains a regularly updated list of members of the Italian Parliament who have been convicted in all three degrees, in what he calls "operation Clean Parliament".^[8] Grillo claimed, in 2007, that data suggested that even Scampia, the most dangerous suburb of Naples and one of the areas with the highest crime rate in Europe, actually had a lower crime rate than the Italian parliament's membership.^[9]

On 26 July 2007 Grillo was permitted to speak to the members of the European Parliament in Brussels, where he drew attention to the dangerous, negative state of current Italian politics.^[10]

In August 2008, Grillo was the subject of a report on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC-TV) international affairs program "Foreign Correspondent". Titled "The Clown Prince" the report profiled Grillo's life, political activism, V Day campaign, and use of the internet as a political tool.^[11]

In 2010, he started a political movement called "Movimento 5 stelle" ("Movement five stars"), without the desire to be a leader and to be elected, but only to join, by the Internet, people who believe in ideals like honesty and direct democracy, and saying that politicians are only subordinates of the people and that they should work for the country only for a short time and only if they are not condemned for crimes, and thinking about the problems of their country without any other interest. The movement will be truly a party chance only from the next political round, when they will purpose their name not only in some regions but also in the political elections. The five stars represent the five basic points of the shared program: Water, Environment, Transport, Connectivity, Growth.

Beppegrillo.it[link]

Grillo maintains a blog (available in Italian, English and Japanese) at beppegrillo.it which is updated daily. Comments to posts regularly top the thousands (in the Italian version). According to Technorati, the blog is ranked among the 10 most visited blogs in the world. In 2008, The Guardian ranked Grillo's blog among the world's most powerful blogs.^[12]

Grillo often receives letters of appreciation and support from prominent figures, such as Antonio Di Pietro (former Italian Minister of Infrastructures), Fausto Bertinotti (former President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies), Renzo Piano, and even Nobel Prize Winners (like Dario Fo, Joseph E. Stiglitz, Dalai Lama, Muhammad Yunus).^[13]

Legal issues[link]

In 1980 he was found guilty of manslaughter for a car accident in which he was the driver; three passengers lost their lives.^[14]

During his shows Grillo never hesitates to name firms and personalities he considers corrupt, always supporting his views with data and documents^{[citation needed]}. For this reason he has been sued several times for libel by many people and organizations which he had exposed, such as Telecom Italia.

When Italian judges were investigating the Parmalat scandal, which was then the world's largest corporate bankruptcy scandal ever, Grillo was called to testify as he anticipated the imminent collapse of the dairy conglomerate in one of his shows. When he was asked by judges how he has been able to discover that, he simply said that Parmalat's financial holes were so evident that anybody who had enough ability to see them would see them, since the corporate accounting was easily accessible.^[15]

Criticism[link]

Grillo is often criticized for his lifestyle. In particular, critics blame him for owning a motor yacht and a Ferrari sports car, both being in contradiction with his well known ecologist stance. In his blog he admits that he did, in fact, acquire both but has since sold them.^[14]

Grillo is also criticized for taking advantage of the Condono Tombale, a fiscal amnesty granted by the first Berlusconi government in 2001, which Grillo publicly opposed.^[16] Grillo commented on this issue during the V-Day demonstration. He said that he had personally benefitted by only €500^{[citation needed]}.

Grillo has proposed that members of the Italian Parliament who have a criminal record should be barred from public office. As Grillo himself has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter caused by a car accident^[14] his critics^[who?] say he has no right to represent Italians either. Grillo has always stated that he is not interested in becoming a member of the Italian Parliament anyway.^[14] Despite this, in July 2009 he publicly expressed his intention to present himself as a candidate for the PD's primary elections^[17] which, however, does not imply automatic presence in the Italian parliament.

Another proposal of his is that members of Parliament be limited to two government terms of office after which they might not stand again. Detractors^[who?] argue that this would shorten the political life of competent and expert politicians, usually drawing Alcide De Gasperi, Aldo Moro and Enrico Berlinguer as examples of brilliant politicians who served more than two terms. Marco Travaglio replied that, for that sake, also the political life of much less popular Clemente Mastella would have suffered.^[18]

Grillo is criticized as being a mere demagogue who attacks politicians on superficial issues and their private lives while unable to provide a valid alternative. For instance, Daniele Luttazzi, famous Italian satirist, criticized Grillo in 2007 in an open letter published on the website of the news magazine Micromega. Luttazzi accused Grillo of being a "demagogue" and a "populist", suggesting Grillo to choose between satire and politics, asserting the two are incompatible.^[19]

In 2007 Grillo criticized the "Memorial Day of Foibe Massacres and Istrian-Dalmatian exodus" and the President of the Italian Repubblic Giorgio Napolitano^[20]

Filmography[link]

Grillo has appeared in three movies:

• Cercasi Gesù (1982)
• Scemo di Guerra (1985)
• Topo Galileo (1987)

In 2008, Grillo featured in the documentary, The Beppe Grillo Story, produced by Banyak Films for Al Jazeera English.

References[link]

External links[link]

Official websites[link]

• The English version of Beppe Grillo's personal blog
• Beppe Grillo's fans meeting map around the world

Other resources[link]

• 'Time' article about Grillo
• 'New York Times' video about Grillo
• 'New Yorker' Beppe’s Inferno

Gianluigi Buffon

Personal information
Full name	Gianluigi Buffon
Date of birth	(1978-01-28) 28 January 1978 (age 34)
Place of birth	Carrara, Italy
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Club information
Current club	Juventus
Number	1
Youth career
1991–1995	Parma
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1995–2001	Parma	168	(0)
2001–	Juventus	325	(0)
National team‡
1995–1997	Italy U-21	11	(0)
1997–	Italy	114	(0)
Honours Competitor for  Italy Association football FIFA World Cup Gold Germany 2006
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 6 May 2012. † Appearances (Goals). ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 1 June 2012

Gianluigi "Gigi" Buffon, Ufficiale OMRI (born 28 January 1978 in Carrara, Italy), is a FIFA World Cup-winning Italian goalkeeper who currently plays for Serie A club Juventus. He is widely considered by experts to be one of the most dominant and successful goalkeepers in history.^[1][2] Buffon was declared by Pelé to be one of the 125 greatest living footballers in the world. He has been named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year a record eight times. Also, he has been named the IFFHS (International Federation of Football History & Statistics) goalkeeper of the year four times and was named goalkeeper of the 21st Century by the same organisation.^[3]

Club career[link]

Parma[link]

Buffon began his career with the youth system of Parma in 1991 at the age of 13. He graduated from the youth squad in 1995 and at the young age of just 17, Gianluigi made his Serie A debut for Parma in a 0–0 home draw against Milan on 19 November 1995. He went on to make 8 more first team appearances that season. In 1996, his second full season with the club, Buffon was named as the starting goalkeeper and would go on to make well over 200 appearances for his club in all competitions. In his fourth season with the club, he won the UEFA Cup. He was by this time, already considered a major prospect and in the summer of 2001, he was snatched up by Italian giants Juventus for a world-record goalkeeper's transfer fee of a reported £32.6 million,^[4] with part of the transfer fees paid via the transfer of Jonathan Bachini to Parma.^[5]

Juventus[link]

Buffon transferred from Parma to Juventus in summer of 2001. It was rumoured that Buffon nearly signed with Roma in 2001 following his departure from Parma but then club president Franco Sensi instead opted to spend the money on Atalanta keeper Ivan Pelizzoli and Antonio Cassano. Buffon was again linked with Roma in 2006, but the goalkeeper later commented "That was never a possibility really... I don't think that Roma had the finances to make an investment of such a nature."^[6]

In his first season with Juventus, Buffon was immediately inserted into the starting eleven and appeared in 45 official matches, helping his team to the Serie A title. He totaled 47 appearances the following season, also helping Juventus to the UEFA Champions League Final, only for his team to lose in a penalty shoot-out to Milan, although they did celebrate the Scudetto that season yet again. In 2003, he received the UEFA Most Valuable Player and Best Goalkeeper awards, and was named by Pelé as one of the top 125 greatest living footballers in March 2004. In his third season with the club, Buffon again was the undisputed starter making 38 appearances, and in his fourth season at Juve, he amounted for 48 more appearances as well as his third Scudetto in four years with the Turin giants.

In August 2005, during the annual Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi match against Milan, Buffon collided with Milan midfielder Kaká while chasing a loose ball, and suffered a dislocated shoulder that required surgery. His operation was successful and he returned to the pitch in November, but played only once as another injury returned him to the sidelines until January. Christian Abbiati was transferred to the club, to fill in for the injury-stricken Buffon, however he did recover in time to help lead Juventus to their second consecutive Scudetto and his fourth overall with the club.

On 12 May 2006, Buffon, along with Juventus teammate and fellow goalkeeper Antonio Chimenti along with many other players, were implicated as participants in illegal betting on Serie A matches while with Parma. The following day, he voluntarily allowed himself to be questioned by Turin magistrates in an attempt to clear his name. While admitting that he did bet on sports (until regulations went into effect in late 2005, banning players from doing so), he vehemently denied placing wagers on Italian football matches. Fears arose that he had jeopardized his chance of playing in the 2006 FIFA World Cup, but he was officially named Italy's starting goalkeeper on 15 May. The players were cleared of all charges by the FIGC on 27 June 2007. Following Juventus' punishment in the Calciopoli scandal, rumours spread that Juventus were shopping Buffon on the transfer market as a cost-cutting measure, and many teams became interested in his services.^[7] However, no deals ever materialized as Buffon elected to remain with Juventus; his agent said, "Serie B is a division he has never won and he wants to try to do this."^[8] On April 2007, Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani stated that Buffon's decision to stay proved a catalyst in re-signing incumbent Dida,^[9] though Buffon later denied having ever been contacted by Milan.

After Juventus won the Cadetti and were promoted back into the top flight, Buffon signed a contract extension that will keep him at the club until 2012.^[10]

Buffon was still in his best form for the 2007–08 Serie A season, as he helped Juventus to a third place finish as well as UEFA Champions League qualification in their first season back. In 2008–09 Serie A, Buffon was again sidelined by several injuries, having problems with his back but principally a bad groin strain and a pulled muscle.^[11] From September through January, new Juventus reserve keeper Alexander Manninger held his position between the sticks, and gained a lot of praise for his deputizing.^[12] Because of this and Juventus's poor form towards the end of the season, as Buffon was seen despondent as the team drew Lecce and Atalanta, there were further rumours that Buffon was upset and wanted to leave.^[13] He admitted he was upset but had no intentions to leave. After a discussion with management, he said he was reassured about the future of Juventus and signed a year extension to 2013. In the 2010–11 Serie A season Buffon didn't play the first half as he recovered from surgery from an injury in the World Cup, but when he came back he put in some very good performances.

During 2011–12, Buffon made numerous incredible saves including a penalty kick from Francesco Totti.^[14] Buffon's fine form at the end of 2011 made him voted as the player of the month in December 2011 by Juventus fans.^[15] A clean sheet in Juventus's Derby d'Italia victory over Inter took Buffon to his 15th shutout in 27 matches, with an average of just over one goal conceded every two matches.^[16] After the match he was described as "the best goal-keeper in Italy and probably the World. After winning the Seria a title with Juventus in the 2011-2012 season,he described it as the second highest point of his career,after the 2006 world cup victory.^[17]He also only conceded 16 goals from 35 matches.

International career[link]

Buffon during Euro 2012 qualifier against Slovenia

Buffon was a member of Italy's 1996 UEFA under-21 championship winning squad.^[18] The squad also contained Fabio Cannavaro, Alessandro Nesta and Francesco Totti,^[19] who ten years later would, along with Buffon, be members of Italy's 2006 FIFA World Cup winning team. He was also selected as the backup goalkeeper for Italy's 1996 Olympic team.^[20] However, Italy did not qualify for the second round, losing their opening two matches to Mexico and Ghana.^[21]

Buffon was awarded his first cap for Italy's senior team on 29 October 1997, at the age of nineteen, as an injury replacement for Gianluca Pagliuca during the first leg of the 1998 World Cup qualification play-off against Russia played in Moscow. He was a member of the squad for the 1998 World Cup finals, but did not play a single game as Pagliuca remained first choice.

Buffon became the first choice goalkeeper during the Euro 2000 qualifying campaign and was due to start in goal during the finals, but broke his hand in a warm up match against Norway, just a few days before Italy's opening match against Turkey. His starting place was taken by backup goalkeeper Francesco Toldo.

Buffon in the Italy National Football Team at the 2006 World Cup.

Toldo's impressive performances at Euro 2000, which included a match winning performance in the semi-final,^[22] meant that he retained his place in the team for the beginning of Italy's 2002 World Cup qualifying campaign. However, Buffon regained the goalkeeping spot for the fourth match of the qualification series, away to Romania, and was the starting goalkeeper for the remaining four matches^[23] as Italy qualified with an unbeaten record.

Buffon played every minute of Italy's 2002 World Cup and 2004 European Championships campaigns, though Italy underperformed in both, losing in the second and first rounds respectively.

During the 2006 World Cup finals, Buffon was in stunning form, as he conceded just two goals and kept five clean sheets, in addition to a 453-minute scoreless streak. The only goals he conceded were an own goal by teammate Cristian Zaccardo against the United States and a Zinedine Zidane penalty in the final against France, which ended 1–1 in extra-time and led to a penalty shootout in which neither Buffon nor Fabien Barthez saved a spot kick. The lone miss was David Trezeguet's effort which clanged off the bottom of the crossbar and failed to cross the line, which enabled Italy's Fabio Grosso to seal the victory for the Azzuri.^[24] Buffon received the Yashin Award for his accomplishments throughout the competition.^[25] Buffon recorded five clean sheets in the 2006 FIFA World Cup and has a career total of six.

Buffon was named Italy captain for Euro 2008 after incumbent Fabio Cannavaro was ruled out of the tournament due to injury. In the second game of the group stage against Romania on 13 June, he saved an 81st minute penalty from Adrian Mutu as the match ended 1–1 to keep Italy's hopes alive. Buffon kept a clean sheet against France in the final group game. Italy were eliminated in the quarter-finals nine days later after a 4–2 penalty shootout loss to Spain in which Buffon saved one penalty.^[26]

In the 2010 World Cup, Buffon was replaced at half-time in Italy's 1–1 draw in their opening group stage match against Paraguay after he had a problem with his sciatic nerve, and did not play again in the tournament.^[27]

After the international retirement of Cannavaro, Buffon became the new captain of the national team. On 9 February 2011, after recovering from a back injury, Buffon played his first game as official captain in the friendly match against Germany played in Dortmund.

Controversy[link]

While at Parma, Buffon's decision to wear the number 88 shirt for the 2000–01 season caused controversy in Italy. However, Buffon claimed to be unaware of the number's neo-Nazi connotations and offered to change numbers.^[28] He later changed his squad number to 77.^[29]

Personal life[link]

Gianluigi Buffon was born into an athletic family: his mother, Maria Stella, was a discus thrower; his father, Adriano, was a weightlifter; his two sisters Veronica and Guendalina played volleyball and his uncle, Dante Masocco, played basketball. Goalkeeping legend Lorenzo Buffon is a cousin of Gianluigi's grandfather.

Buffon had two sons with his long-time girlfriend Czech model Alena Šeredová: Louis Thomas (born December 28, 2007) and David Lee (born October 31, 2009). They married in June 2011.^[30] His older son is named after Thomas N'Kono, whom Buffon idolized as a youngster.

Career statistics[link]

Club[link]

As of 11 March 2012

¹Includes other competitive competitions, including the Italian Super Cup.

International[link]

As of 9 September 2011^[31]

Honours[link]

Club[link]

Parma

• UEFA Cup (1): 1998–99
• Coppa Italia (1): 1998–99
• Supercoppa Italiana: 1999