Cristiano Scazzola (born 20 July 1971) is an Italian

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player, currently in charge of club Monterosi.

Playing career

A Genoa youth product, Scazzola made his professional debut in a

1990–91 Coppa Italia The 1990–91 Coppa Italia, the 44th Coppa Italia was an Italian Football Federation domestic cup competition won by Roma. First round Second round Knockout stage Final First leg Second leg Roma won ...

game against

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. He successively left Genoa to pursue a long career in the lower divisions, starting with Massese (

Serie C1 Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest football (soccer), football league in Italy. It consisted of 33 teams, divided geographically into two divisions of 16 and 17 teams for group A and B respectively. Until 2008 it was known as Serie C1 ...

) in 1991. He made his Serie B debut in 1996, in what was a short comeback of his at Genoa. He left professional football in 2006 after a short stint with

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

to join Vercelli-based amateurs Pro Belvedere, with whom he served as a captain in the club's historical Serie D promotion in 2009. He retired in 2010, aged 39, after a

Serie C2 Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

season in which he served contemporaneously as both player and assistant head coach.

Coaching career

After retirement, Scazzola accepted a youth coach position at the club after it merged with and changed denomination to Pro Vercelli. In 2012, he took charge of the ''Primavera'' under-19 club at the club, and in 2013 he was named new head coach for the club's

2013–14 Lega Pro Prima Divisione The 2013–14 Prima Divisione season is the thirty-sixth and final football league season of Italian Prima Divisione since its establishment in 1978, and the fifth since the renaming from Serie C to Lega Pro. It is divided into two phases: the r ...

campaign. In his first season as a head coach, Scazzola succeeded in guiding Pro Vercelli to second place in the league, behind champions Virtus Entella, and then won the promotion playoffs to bring his club swiftly back to Serie B. He was successively confirmed as head coach of Pro Vercelli for the

2014–15 Serie B The 2014–15 Serie B was the 83rd season since its establishment in 1929. A total of 22 teams contested the league: 14 of which returning from the 2013–14 season, 5 of which promoted from Prima Divisione, and three relegated from Serie A. T ...

season. As head coach of a newly promoted Serie B club, Scazzola was also successfully admitted to the yearly UEFA Pro Licence course to be held in Coverciano. On 19 January 2020, he was dismissed by Serie C club

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. On 26 January 2021, he was hired by Serie C club Piacenza. He parted ways with Piacenza on 20 May 2022, after guiding the club to escape relegation by the end of the 2020–21 season and a mid-table placement in the following one. On 3 October 2022, he was re-hired as Piacenza manager. He was sacked on 18 February 2023 after failing to lead Piacenza out of the direct relegation zone. On 5 February 2024, Scazzola took over at relegation-battling Serie C club Monterosi until the end of the season.

References

1971 births Living people Italian football managers Italian men's footballers Serie B players Genoa CFC players US Massese 1919 players Spezia Calcio players US Fiorenzuola 1922 SS players Modena FC 2018 players Calcio Lecco 1912 players US Alessandria Calcio 1912 players AC Monza players FC Lumezzane players ASD Calcio Ivrea players Pisa SC players FC Pro Vercelli 1892 players Footballers from the Province of Savona Men's association football midfielders FC Pro Vercelli 1892 managers US Alessandria Calcio 1912 managers Piacenza Calcio 1919 managers Serie B managers Serie C managers {{Italy-footy-bio-stub