Giovanni Cornacchini (born 22 July 1965) is an Italian professional

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 football player, who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Playing career

Cornacchini initially played for Fano

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the ''Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by popula ...

between 1981 and 1987, and also had a spell on loan with

Foligno Foligno (; Southern Umbrian: ''Fuligno'') is an ancient town of Italy in the province of Perugia in east central Umbria, on the Topino river where it leaves the Apennines and enters the wide plain of the Clitunno river system. It is located so ...

during the 1985–86 season. After stints with Reggiana and Virescit Bergamo, he joined

Piacenza Piacenza (; egl, label= Piacentino, Piaṡëinsa ; ) is a city and in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy, and the capital of the eponymous province. As of 2022, Piacenza is the ninth largest city in the region by population, with over ...

in 1989, where he scored 36 goals in two seasons, finishing as the top scorer in

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 ...

on both occasions, and helping his team to win promotion during the 1990–91 season. His performances and prolific goalscoring attracted the attention of Serie A club

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, by whom he was subsequently acquired in 1991; however, he often struggled to find space in the team's starting XI under manager

Fabio Capello Fabio Capello (; born 18 June 1946) is an Italian former professional football manager and player. As a player, Capello represented SPAL 1907, Roma, Milan and Juventus. He played as a midfielder and won several trophies during his career which ...

, due to the presence of established forwards such as

Marco van Basten Marcel "Marco" van Basten (; born 31 October 1964) is a Dutch football manager and retired professional player, who played for Ajax and AC Milan, as well as the Netherlands national team, as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the greatest pl ...

and

Ruud Gullit Ruud Gullit (; born Rudi Dil; 1 September 1962) is a Dutch footballer and subsequent manager who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s as a defender, midfielder or forward. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all t ...

; he obtained only three league appearances, making his club and Serie A debut on 15 September 1991, in a 1–1 away draw against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in Turin, as Milan finished the 1991–92 season as Serie A champions. The following season, Cornacchini returned to Serie C1, joining

Perugia Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...

, where he scored 59 goals over three seasons, finishing as the top scorer of his division in the first two, and later helping his team achieve promotion to Serie B as the league's second-highest goalscorer, behind only Giovanni Pisano. He 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 ...

ahead of the 1995–96 season, although he was unable to replicate his performances at Perugia. Notwithstanding this, the following season, he was acquired by

Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region at the northern base of the ''Monte Berico'', where it straddles the Bacchiglione River. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and east of Milan. Vicenza is a th ...

manager

Francesco Guidolin Francesco Guidolin (; born 3 October 1955) is an Italian football manager and former player, most recently the manager of Premier League team Swansea City. He has coached various Italian club sides in Serie A, winning the 1996–97 Coppa Italia ...

(whom he later described as his best manager in 2019), where he won the

1996–97 Coppa Italia The 1996–97 Coppa Italia, the 50th Coppa Italia was an Italian Football Federation domestic cup competition won by Vicenza. Preliminary round ''p=after penalty shoot-out'' Final phase Knockout stage Final First leg Second leg Vicenz ...

, contributing to his team's victory by scoring important goals in the competition, in particular against

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, and later against his former club Bologna in the semi-finals; he also started in the victorious two-legged

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. He made 18 Serie A appearances that season, and scored his only Serie A goal on 20 April 1997, in a 4–1 win over Perugia in Reggio Emilia. In total, he obtained 21 appearances in his two seasons in the Italian top flight. In 1997, Cornacchini joined Serie B side

Padova Padua ( ; it, Padova ; vec, Pàdova) is a city and ''comune'' in Veneto, northern Italy. Padua is on the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice. It is the capital of the province of Padua. It is also the economic and communications hub of the ...

, but subsequently moved to fellow second division side

Castel di Sangro Castel di Sangro (locally ''Caštiéllë'') is a city and ''comune'' of 6,461 people (as of 2013) in the Province of L'Aquila, in Abruzzo, Central Italy. It is the main city of the Alto Sangro e Altopiano delle Cinque Miglia area. Geography Cast ...

in November of that year. In February, after only making seven appearances for the latter club, he joined

Ternana Ternana Calcio, commonly referred to as Ternana, is an Italian football club based in Terni, Umbria. The club was founded in 1925 and refounded in 1993. In its history, Ternana has twice played in Serie A (in the 1972–73 and 1974–75 seas ...

in Serie C1, helping the club obtain promotion with three goals in 13 appearances under manager

Luigi Delneri Luigi Delneri (born 23 August 1950), often incorrectly written as Del Neri, is an Italian football manager and a former player. After a playing career as a midfielder including for several Serie A clubs, he began managing in the lower leagues, a ...

. After returning to Padova, now in Serie C1, he ended his career in the lower divisions of Italian football, with

Gubbio Gubbio () is an Italian town and ''comune'' in the far northeastern part of the Italian province of Perugia (Umbria). It is located on the lowest slope of Mt. Ingino, a small mountain of the Apennines. History The city's origins are very ancient. ...

, Fano, and finally Cagliese, retiring at the end of the 2002–03 season.

Style of play

A fast, agile, and diminutive forward, Cornacchini was known for his speed in tight spaces, his opportunism inside the penalty area, and his eye for goal; however, he was not particularly skilful from a technical standpoint. Despite his slender build and small stature of , he was also effective in the air, courtesy of his power and elevation. Known for his clinical finishing in front of goal, he was a highly prolific goalscorer in Serie C; however, he struggled to replicate similar goalscoring performances in Serie A.

Coaching career

Following his retirement, Cornacchini worked as a manager. On 22 September 2019, he was fired by

Bari Bari ( , ; nap, label= Barese, Bare ; lat, Barium) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, southern Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy a ...

. On 6 December 2020, he was hired by

Serie C 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 ...

club Fermana. He left the club by the end of the season after guiding them to safety. On 12 July 2021, he joined

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via E ...

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

. He was fired on 25 October 2021 as Forlì only gained 8 points in the first 8 league games.

Honours

Player

;Piacenza *

/Girone A: 1990–91 (Promotion to Serie B) ;Milan *

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 ...

: 1991–92 ;Perugia *

/Girone B: 1993–94 (Promotion to Serie B) ;Bologna *

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

: 1995–96 ;Vicenza *

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

: 1996–97 ;Individual *

Top-scorer (5): 1986–87 (13 goals), 1989–90 (16 goals), 1990–91 (22 goals), 1992–93 (19 goals), 1993–94 (20 goals)

References

External links

Giovanni Cornacchini
at Soccerway

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cornacchini, Giovanni 1965 births Living people Italian footballers Association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Alma Juventus Fano 1906 players A.C. Reggiana 1919 players Piacenza Calcio 1919 players A.C. Milan players A.C. Perugia Calcio players Bologna F.C. 1909 players L.R. Vicenza players Calcio Padova players Ternana Calcio players A.S. Gubbio 1910 players Virtus Bergamo Alzano Seriate 1909 players A.S.D. Castel di Sangro Calcio players Italian football managers A.S. Gubbio 1910 managers S.S.C. Bari managers Serie C managers Serie D managers