Christian Panucci: biography and achievements of the football player

Italian football has always been famous for its unbeatable defense. And that is why in the nineties on the world arena appeared so many high-profile Italian defenders, many of which are still considered one of the best in history. Maldini, Nesta, Zambrotta - all these names cause delight in football fans. However, not only they deserve attention - for example, it is worth remembering about such a player as Christian Panucci. He was among a galaxy of stars of Italian football of those times and was able to hold for the national team of Italy as many as 57 matches between 1994 and 2008. This demonstrates that he was in fact an impressive player - and became a true football legend. So, what was the path of Christian Panucci during his career? What clubs have changed and what have you achieved with them?

Carier start

Born Christian Panucci in 1973 in Italy, and at the age of 12 he was in the academy of a local large club called Genoa. There he stayed all the time, while he was a minor, unlike many players who still succeed in changing many football academies in their childhood. As a result, when he was 18, "Genoa" offered Christian a professional contract, which he gladly signed.

Naturally, in the first season young talent failed to break into the foundation of a serious club - he played only one match, but constantly got practice in the second team. As a result, already in his second season in Genoa, Christian Panucci became the player of the baseline, having played 30 matches on the field and even having scored three goals. Naturally, such a talent immediately noticed a bigger club - "Milan". At that time it was not just one of the strongest clubs in Italy - it was one of the strongest clubs in the world. Therefore, it was a great honor for Panucci that he was called "Milan" himself. And also it became the proof of talent of the young defender.

Flowering in Milan

Christian Panucci, whose statistics in the "Genoa" surprised many, was in the "Milan", where at that time stars such as Paolo Maldini, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Costacurta played . Panucci liked to play on the right flank, but there he was competing with Mauro Tassotti. So it's not surprising that in the first season, Christian played only 19 matches.

But Tassotti was already aged, he was 33 years old at the time of Panucci's arrival, so in the second season, Christian drove the legend out of the ground, becoming the key player of Milan at such an early age. In total, he played for this club three and a half seasons, having recorded on his account more than ninety matches. After that, he received another proposal, from which it was impossible to refuse, because in his ranks the young defender wanted to see the Madrid "Real" himself.

Christian Panucci, whose photos have already been on the covers of football magazines for several years, has made an incredible upsurge by joining one of the three strongest clubs in the world. With Milan, he won the Italian championship twice, and also once was honored to raise the Champions League Cup, the most prestigious football tournament in the world. But what did he expect in the new club?

Going to Real Madrid

Christian Panucci is a football player who has always tried to get his way and squeeze out a maximum of the game. And "Real" needed such a performer - especially attracted the "royal club" its universality, because Christian could play both in the center of defense, and on the right flank. Far from immediately young talent managed to become the main player - for two years he fought for a place in the starting lineup, periodically getting into it, but often remaining on the bench. Only in the third season he played an impressive number of matches - as many as 42. After winning the Spanish championship and another Champions League in three years, Christian Panucci, whose biography was incredibly rich by the age of twenty-five, decided to return to Italy. However, this time he joined another Milan club, "Inter".

Return to Italy

In 1999, the 26-year-old Christian Panucci, whose achievements were ahead of him, returned to Italy, where he was already waiting for Inter. The club paid nine million euros for the player, that is half a million more than Real Madrid did three years ago. But at the same time everything went completely wrong, as planned - Panucci could not return the lost form, because of this, he had a conflict with the head coach of the club. In the end, finishing the season before the end, Christian went on a lease to London "Chelsea".

For rent

Having lost his former form, Panucci tried to start everything from scratch to Chelsea, but he was not very lucky there either. He played only ten matches, then returned to the location of "Inter", which was not ready to take him back. Therefore, the management of the Milan club decided to send a defender to another lease - to France, where he happily agreed to take the remaining half of Monaco, paying for the rent of three million euros. Naturally, the "Monegasque" expected to use the right of redemption at the end of the lease, otherwise they would not pay such money for six months. But Panucci played for Monaco worse than for Chelsea, which is why the French club refused to acquire rights to the player. As a result, in 2001, Christian and his club "Inter" began to question what to do next?

A new beginning in "Roma"

Fortunately for both sides, the capital club "Roma" was extremely interested in the services of the 28-year-old defender. "Inter" agreed to release the player for five million euros, and it was here that Christian finally was able to re-flourish. He spent eight seasons in "Roma", during which he played in more than 300 matches. Panucci was the leader of the Roman club, returned to his lost form earlier and helped the club in 2007 and 2008 to win two Italian Cups in a row. Unfortunately, the Romans did not become champions of the country, but Panucci had enough of these achievements. After all, in "Roma" he spent most of his time in his career, even if he did not achieve such successes as he had in "Milan" and "Real". Until now, it is Christian who remains the most clogged defender in the history of the Roman club.

Completion of his career at Parma

In 2009, the contract of the 36-year-old defender came to an end, and he said goodbye to the club, which gave him so many years of happiness. Everyone understood that Panucci does not betray Roma - he just wants to retire, but before that he wants to play a little more at the base, which he rarely and less successfully managed to do in one of the strongest clubs in the country. Therefore, Christian signed a one-year contract with "Parma" and played for her 19 games, scoring one goal. However, he did not complete his contract to the end - in February 2010 Panucci announced that he was leaving the sport.

Coach career

In 2010, Christian Panucci completed his football career, and two years later decided to become a coach. In July 2012, Fabio Capello was appointed head coach of the Russian national football team, and Panucci entered his coaching staff as an assistant. Christian wanted to gain experience before taking on a specific club. Two years later, Panucci left Co Capello's coaching staff and in March 2015 became the head coach of the Italian "Livorno". In October of the same year, he was dismissed, but then, after several months, reinstated. Only in March 2016 Panucci lost his job completely. At the moment he is the coach of the club from Serie B called "Ternana", with whom he already managed to achieve the first success, beating "Pordenone" in the Cup of Italy.

Interesting Facts

What else can the biography of a player like Christian Panucci offer you? Interesting facts about him are not so numerous, but they can hit you. As you have already learned, Christian played equally well both on the position of the central defender, and on the position of the right wingback. Together with the team, in which he spent as much as 14 years, Panucci was unable to win any awards - his only achievement at the international level were two wins at the European Youth Championships of 1994 and 1996. If you ignore football, then an extremely unusual case occurred with a football player in 1996, when he returned from the Olympic Games in Atlanta. Panucci planned to return one flight, but his baggage was lost, so he had to stay and fly to another, from a nearby city. And all the passengers who were on board the aircraft, on which Christian was supposed to fly initially, were killed in a plane crash.