Cristian Zenoni (; born 23 April 1977) is an Italian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a full-back. He is the twin brother of former footballer

Damiano Zenoni Damiano Zenoni (; born 23 April 1977) is an Italian football manager and former player, who played as a midfielder or defender. He was capable of playing anywhere in midfield or defence, although he usually played on the right flank as a win ...

Club career

Zenoni started his career at his native club

Atalanta B.C. Atalanta Bergamasca Calcio, commonly referred to as Atalanta, is a professional football club based in Bergamo, Lombardy, Italy. The club plays in Serie A, having gained promotion from Serie B in 2010–11. Atalanta was founded in 1907 by Lic ...

, joining the team's youth system in 1994. After being promoted to the first team, in 1996, Zenoni was loaned to

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 ...

side

A.C. Pistoiese Unione Sportiva Pistoiese 1921 is an Italian association football club, based in Pistoia, Tuscany. Currently, Pistoiese plays in Serie D. Originally founded on 21 April 1921 and later restored after bankruptcy, the team plays their home games ...

for a season in order to gain playing time and experience. The following season, he made his

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

debut with Atalanta on 5 October 1997, in a 1–1 draw against rivals

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo. ...

; in total he made 17 appearances throughout the season. Despite his promising performances for the club, he was unable to help Atalanta avoid relegation to Serie B. He later helped Atalanta gain promotion to Serie A during the 1999–2000 season, and the next season, both he and his brother Damiano established themselves as two of the most exciting young full-backs in the league. Described by press as a promising young prospect, in June 2001, Cristian transferred to

A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan (), commonly referred to as AC Milan or simply Milan, is a professional Association football, football club in Milan, Italy, founded in 1899. The club has spent its entire history, with the exception of the 1980–81 ...

along with

Massimo Donati Massimo Donati (born 26 March 1981) is an Italian football coach, pundit and former professional player, who played as a central or defensive midfielder. He is the manager of Legnago Salus in Serie D. Born in San Vito al Tagliamento, Ita ...

for 60 billion

Italian lire The lira (; plural lire) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was first introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French franc, and was subsequently adopted by the different states that would eventually f ...

in a cash plus player deal (the player was majority), but quickly transferred to

Juventus F.C. )''I Bianconeri'' (The White and Blacks)''Le Zebre'' (The Zebras)''La Signora Omicidi'' (The Killer Lady)''La Gheuba'' (: The Hunchback) , founded = as Sport-Club Juventus , ground = Juventus Stadium , capacity = 41,507 , owner = Agnelli ...

as part of

Filippo Inzaghi Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" or "Alta tensione" by fans and commentators during his playing career. He is t ...

's transfer in the opposite direction, he was tagged for 30 billion

or about €15.6 million. He signed a five-year contract. In the summer of 2003, Zenoni was loaned to

U.C. Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa. The club was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the 1890s, S ...

with an option to sign permanently for €10 million. He was loaned out to the club once again in the summer of 2004, and at the end of the 2004–05 season, after almost helping the team qualify for the UEFA Champions League, he was signed permanently by Sampdoria for €1 million. After several seasons in Genoa, in 2008, Zenoni joined

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. In 2010, he moved to AlbinoLeffe, where he remained until 2011. He ended his career after spending the 2011–12 season with

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label=Lombard language, Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po River, Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capit ...

, in

Lega Pro The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

. In total, he made 546 professional appearances, scoring 10 goals.

International career

After representing the Italy U21 national team three times between 1998 and 1999, Zenoni was capped at senior level for the Italy national team twice, making his debut in a 2–1 friendly home loss against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, on 28 February 2001, under manager

Giovanni Trapattoni Giovanni Trapattoni (; born 17 March 1939), sometimes popularly known as "Trap" or "Il Trap", is an Italian football manager and former player, considered the most successful club coach of Italian football. A former defensive midfielder, as a p ...

. He was recalled by

Roberto Donadoni Roberto Donadoni (; born 9 September 1963) is an Italian football manager and former midfielder. Donadoni was capable of playing on either flank, or in the centre. He began his career with Atalanta, and he later became a pillar of the powerhous ...

, for his first match as Italy's coach, in August 2006. Zenoni played the friendly match, his second and final Italy appearance losing 2–0 to

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

on 16 August, as starter.

Style of play

A hard-working and athletic team player, Zenoni was regarded as a talented and promising young prospect, and as one of the best players in his position in Italy in his youth. He usually played as a right sided full-back, although he was known for his offensive prowess, stamina, and ability to cover the right flank, and was also capable of playing in more advanced positions on occasion, as a right winger.

Personal life

Cristian is the twin brother of former footballer

Honours

Juventus *

: 2001–02, 2002–03 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana ( en, Italian Super Cup) is an annual football match contested by the winners of the Serie A and the Coppa Italia in the previous season. If the same team wins both the Serie A and Coppa Italia titles in the previous seaso ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

References

External links

Lega Serie A profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zenoni, Cristian 1977 births Living people Footballers from the Province of Bergamo Italy men's international footballers Italian men's footballers Atalanta BC players US Pistoiese 1921 players AC Milan players Juventus FC players UC Sampdoria players Bologna FC 1909 players UC AlbinoLeffe players AC Monza players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Italian twins Twin sportspeople Men's association football defenders People from Trescore Balneario