Gianni Comandini (born 18 May 1977) is an Italian former

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 principally 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 ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Cesena Cesena (; rgn, Cisêna) is a city and ''comune'' in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, served by Autostrada A14, and located near the Apennine Mountains, about from the Adriatic Sea. The total population is 97,137. History Cesena was o ...

, Comandini joined the youth academy of his hometown team

A.C. Cesena A.C. Cesena, commonly referred to as Cesena (), was an Football in Italy, Italian football club based in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. The club spent most of its history in professional leagues such as Serie A and Serie B, but went bankrupt and folde ...

, and made his full debut for them in

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 ...

during the 1995–96 championship. After appearing once during the season he transferred for a year 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

Montevarchi Montevarchi is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. History The town of Montevarchi sprang up around 1100, near to a fortified Benedictine monastery, founded by bishop Elempert (986–1010) of Arezzo. At first the cas ...

, returning in 1997–98 to newly relegated Cesena. There he played regularly throughout the season, contributing to the team's promotion back to Serie B. In 1998 Comandini signed to join

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 ...

; the contract specified that he would first spend another season with Cesena, for whom he scored 14 times during the season. At Vicenza, he was the club's top scorer during the 1999–2000 season, his 20 goals contributing to the team's Serie B championship title and promotion to

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 ...

. At the season's close he was sold 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 ...

for around 20 billion lire. During his first season in Serie A Comandini played in 13 games, scoring twice, both times in the 6–0 derby against

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Inter is ...

on 11 May 2001, in the 30th matchday of the 2000–01 season. He also scored in a

2000–01 UEFA Champions League The 2000–01 UEFA Champions League was the 46th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier European club football tournament, and the ninth since it was rebranded from the "European Champion Clubs' Cup" or "European Cup". The competitio ...

qualifier against

Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb ( en, Dinamo Zagreb Citizens' Football Club, link=yes, italics=yes), commonly referred to as GNK Dinamo Zagreb or simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo ...

Atalanta

In June 2001, Comandini was sold to

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

for 30 billion lire; teammate

Luigi Sala Luigi Sala (born 21 February 1974) is a former Italian football defender. He played as a central defender. Club career In June 2001, Sala was sold to Atalanta for 7 billion lire, along with Gianni Comandini (30 billion) and Luca Saudati (18 b ...

for 7 billion lire.; teammate Luca Saudati for 18 billion lire as part of

Cristian Zenoni Cristian Zenoni (; born 23 April 1977) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He is the twin brother of former footballer Damiano Zenoni. Club career Zenoni started his career at his native club Atalanta B.C., j ...

and

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 ...

's deal to Milan. He scored four times for Atalanta during 2001–02, and appeared in ten games during their 2003–04 campaign, before transferring to Serie B side

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 ...

in January 2004. He returned later that year to Atalanta, for whom he appeared twice in Serie A, before a January 2005 transfer to

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 ...

, where he made seven appearances. In 2006, following persistent physical problems and at age 29, Comandini retired from professional football. He moved back to Cesena, where he opened a restaurant and played for the Polisportiva Force Vigne, an amateur side founded by his father Paolo in 1983 and affiliated to the Italian amateur sports federation Centro Sportivo Italiano.

International career

Comandini was a member of the Italy Under 21 national side between 1998 and 2000, earning 19 caps and scoring 6 goals, usually playing as a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

behind

Nicola Ventola Nicola Ventola (born 24 May 1978) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward. Ventola played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had a loan spell with English side Crystal Palace. At international ...

. Comandini represented Italy at the

2000 UEFA European Under-21 Football Championship The 2000 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 12th staging of UEFA's European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Slovakia from 27 May to 4 June 2000. The tournament had 47 entrants. Northern Ireland competed for the f ...

, under manager

Marco Tardelli Marco Tardelli (; born 24 September 1954) is an Italian former football player and manager. At club level, he played as a midfielder for several Italian clubs; he began his career with Pisa, and later played for Como, Juventus, and Internazional ...

, and was an important part of the team's successful campaign, as they won the tournament. The same year, being eligible for the under 23 side and having never appeared for the full Italian national side in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

, he represented Italy at the

2000 Summer Olympic Games The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

in Sydney. He appeared in four games, including the quarter-final defeat to finalists

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

.Player stats
a
Fifa official website
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Honours

Club

;

: 1999–2000

International

; Italy under-21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Comandini, Gianni 1977 births Living people People from Cesena Association football forwards Italian footballers Italy under-21 international footballers A.C. Cesena players Montevarchi Calcio Aquila 1902 players L.R. Vicenza players A.C. Milan players Atalanta B.C. players Genoa C.F.C. players Ternana Calcio players Footballers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers of Italy Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Footballers from Emilia-Romagna Sportspeople from the Province of Forlì-Cesena