Angelo Peruzzi,
Cavaliere OMRIThere are currently five Italian orders of merit that confer knighthoods in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these are a number of other medals....
, (born 16 February 1970 in
BleraBlera is a small town and comune in the northern Lazio region of Italy near Rome, known during the Middle Ages as Bieda, an evolved form of its ancient name, which was restored in the 20th century...
,
ViterboViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 100 kilometers north of Rome on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and Monti Volsini. The historic center of the city is surrounded by...
) is an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
former
World CupThe FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
-winning football goalkeeper, and a three-time winner of the
Serie A Goalkeeper of the YearThe Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year is a yearly award organized by the Associazione Italiana Calciatori given to the best Goalkeeper in the Serie A. The award is part of the "Oscar del calcio" awards event.-Winners:-External links:*...
award.
Peruzzi began his Serie A career with
A.S. RomaAssociazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is an Italian professional football club from Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated at the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence bar one season in the early 50s...
in 1987. He was loaned to Hellas Verona in 1989, but was suspended for a year in October 1990 after failing a doping test because an appetite suppressant he was taking at the time contained a banned substance.
Angelo Peruzzi,
Cavaliere OMRIThere are currently five Italian orders of merit that confer knighthoods in recognition of service to the Italian Republic. Below these are a number of other medals....
, (born 16 February 1970 in
BleraBlera is a small town and comune in the northern Lazio region of Italy near Rome, known during the Middle Ages as Bieda, an evolved form of its ancient name, which was restored in the 20th century...
,
ViterboViterbo is an ancient city and comune in the Lazio region of central Italy, the capital of the province of Viterbo. It is approximately 100 kilometers north of Rome on the Via Cassia, and it is surrounded by the Monti Cimini and Monti Volsini. The historic center of the city is surrounded by...
) is an
ItalianItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
former
World CupThe FIFA World Cup, occasionally called the Football World Cup, but usually referred to simply as the World Cup, is an international football competition contested by the men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...
-winning football goalkeeper, and a three-time winner of the
Serie A Goalkeeper of the YearThe Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year is a yearly award organized by the Associazione Italiana Calciatori given to the best Goalkeeper in the Serie A. The award is part of the "Oscar del calcio" awards event.-Winners:-External links:*...
award.
Club career
Peruzzi began his Serie A career with
A.S. RomaAssociazione Sportiva Roma, commonly referred to as simply Roma, is an Italian professional football club from Rome. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma have participated at the top-tier of Italian football for all of their existence bar one season in the early 50s...
in 1987. He was loaned to Hellas Verona in 1989, but was suspended for a year in October 1990 after failing a doping test because an appetite suppressant he was taking at the time contained a banned substance. His signing with Juventus in 1991 successfully revived his career, and he soon surpassed
Stefano TacconiStefano Tacconi is an Italian association football player.Tacconi got his first significant experience at Spoleto football club. Following this, having already attracted the interest of Inter Milan, he had his first brief stint as a professional with Pro Patria and Livorno before joining...
as the Turin giants' starting goalie. Peruzzi won three
Scudetti, a
UEFA CupThe UEFA Europa League is a competition for eligible European football clubs; the second most prestigious European football contest after the UEFA Champions League. It is an annual football cup competition for European club teams organised by the Union of European Football Associations...
, and was part of Juventus' 1996
Champions LeagueThe UEFA Champions League is an annual association football cup competition organised by UEFA since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe...
title squad that defeated AFC Ajax in the final on penalties. After one season with
InternazionaleFootball Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale and as just Inter in Italy, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy, founded in 1908...
, he transferred to Lazio for €17.9 million in 2000, and made over 200 appearances in Serie A and European competition with the club.
Although his contract with the
Biancocelesti ran until 2008, Peruzzi announced that he would call it quits at the end of the '06-07 season after Lazio's 0-0 draw with
Cagliari CalcioCagliari Calcio is an Italian football club based in Cagliari, Sardinia. The club was formed in 1920 and currently plays in Italian Serie A, having spent a large part of recent years mainly in Serie A and Serie B....
on October 15, 2006.
"I will retire at the end of the campaign," he said.
"I know the Lazio president and fans will not be happy but had I not made this decision, I would remain at the club for another six or eight years." He later backtracked on this decision, claiming that his comments were a joke and that it was premature to talk about retirement at this early stage of the season, emphasizing that his potential retirement was being considered
"one season at a time."
After the 0-0 draw with Roma April 29, 2007, Peruzzi confirmed that he had indeed played his last match due to the frustration of nagging injuries, but he was put on for the final few minutes in Lazio's final home match of the season, a goalless draw against
Parma F.C.Parma Football Club is an Italian football club based in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, that are competing in the 2009-10 Serie A season. The club plays its home matches in the 27,906 seat Stadio Ennio Tardini...
on May 20, as a goodbye to the fans. He was named the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year for the third time in his career on January 28, 2008; only he and compatriot
Gianluigi BuffonGianluigi Buffon , is an Italian FIFA World Cup-winning goalkeeper who plays for Serie A club Juventus and the Italian national team. He is widely considered by fans and experts to be one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time.- Early life and family :Gianluigi Buffon was born into an athletic...
have won the award more than once since its inception in 1997.
International career
Peruzzi was capped 31 times in 11 years with
ItalyThe Italy national football team represents Italy in international football competition and is controlled by the Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio...
. He was also a member of the national squad that competed at the
1992 Summer OlympicsThe 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event celebrated in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1992.-Host city selection:...
in
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
and
Euro 96The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by England. It was the tenth European Football Championship, which is held every four years and endorsed by UEFA, and the first to use the "Euro" name. The tournament's final stages took place between 8 June and 30 June 1996...
. He was scheduled to be the starter at the
1998 FIFA World CupThe 1998 FIFA World Cup, the 16th FIFA World Cup, was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. France was chosen as hosts by FIFA on 1 July 1992. The tournament was won by France, who beat Brazil 3-0 in the final...
, but suffered a late injury and was replaced by
Gianluca PagliucaGianluca Pagliuca is a retired Italian football goalkeeper.-Club career:In his club career, Pagliuca has played for Sampdoria , Inter , Bologna , and Ascoli . He won the Cup Winners' Cup and one Scudetto with Sampdoria and the UEFA Cup with Inter, when he captained the side to a 3-0 win over...
. He momentarily left the national team in 1999 after a match against
NorwayThe Norwegian national football team, controlled by the Football Association of Norway, is the national team of Norway in association football. The team played its first international in 1908...
, but returned to the
Azzurri the following year, with whom he hoped to start at
Euro 2000The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, football's governing body in Europe....
, but a last-minute injury once again cost him the starting spot as
Francesco ToldoFrancesco Toldo is an Italian football goalkeeper, who currently plays for Internazionale.-Club career:...
led the team to the final.
Italy coach
Giovanni TrapattoniGiovanni Trapattoni is an Italian football coach, considered the most successful club coach in the history of Serie A,and former player. He is the manager of the Republic of Ireland national team, also having coached Italy. He is also the only manager to have won all UEFA club competitions and the...
wanted to call up Peruzzi as the third goalkeeper in the squad for the
2002 World CupThe 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 17th staging of the World Cup, was held in South Korea and Japan from 31 May to 30 June. The two countries were chosen as hosts by FIFA in May 1996 and was the first tournament in its history to be hosted by two countries. It was also the first World Cup held in Asia...
, but Peruzzi refused, saying,
"The mascots for the World Cup have already been chosen." Two years later, though, he was called up as the third keeper behind Buffon and Toldo at Euro 2004. He didn't start for Italy again until a friendly against
SpainThe Spanish national football team represents Spain in international football and is controlled by the . The majority of Spain's matches are held at stadia in Madrid and Valencia. The Spanish side are commonly referred to as La Furia Roja .Spain are the current European champions, having won the...
on April 28, 2004, then was the first choice for a pair of WC qualifiers against
ScotlandThe Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...
and
BelarusThe Belarus national football team is the national football team of Belarus and is controlled by the Football Federation of Belarus. After the split of Soviet Union, they played their first match against Lithuania on July 20, 1992 and had their first win in a match versus Luxembourg on October 12,...
in August 2005 while Buffon was shelved with a shoulder injury.
Peruzzi served as second keeper behind Buffon in the
2006 FIFA World CupThe 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th instance of the FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which won the right to host the event in July 2000...
as Italy captured their fourth crown. He retired permanently from international play after the conclusion of the tournament.
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- HONOURS
- Juventus
- 3 Serie A
- UEFA Cup
- Champions League Winner 1995-96
- 3 Serie A Goalkeeper of the year awards
- Lazio
- WORLD CUP with Italian National Team 2006
Trivia
- Peruzzi served as a ball boy
Ball Boy is a comic strip in the UK comic The Beano and also the name of the main character. It first appeared in issue 1735, dated 18 October 1975. It features a five-a-side football team that includes:* Ball Boy - the captain of the team, Ball Boy bears resemblances to The Dandy's Owen Goal...
, at the age of fourteen, during the 1984 European Cup final between Liverpool FC and AS Roma.
- The transfer fee for his move to Lazio was the record high for a goalie until Azzurri teammate Buffon's €52.29 million transfer from Parma FC to Juventus the following year.
External links