Michelangelo Rampulla (born 10 August 1962) 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 ...

manager and former player who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

Club career

Born in Patti,

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Rampulla initially had short stints with Sicilian amateur clubs, such as his local team Pattese; he later also played for

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 ...

, where he competed for a starting spot with fellow future Serie A goalkeepers

Sebastiano Rossi Sebastiano Rossi (born 20 July 1964) is an Italian retired professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. During a 21-year professional career, he appeared in 346 Serie A games, most notably representing A.C. Milan (12 seasons) with which ...

and Alberto Fontana. After three seasons at

Varese Varese ( , , or ; lmo, label= Varesino, Varés ; la, Baretium; archaic german: Väris) is a city and ''comune'' in north-western Lombardy, northern Italy, north-west of Milan. The population of Varese in 2018 has reached 80,559. It is the c ...

, Rampulla joined

Cremonese Cremona (, also ; ; lmo, label= Cremunés, Cremùna; egl, Carmona) is a city and ''comune'' in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po river in the middle of the ''Pianura Padana'' (Po Valley). It is the capital of the ...

in 1985 and became a protagonist in the club's rise to the

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 ...

league. On 23 February 1992, Rampulla was the first goalkeeper to score from open play in Serie A history, after he equalised the scoreline with a header at 1–1 away 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 ...

, from a free-kick by Alviero Chiorri in the last minute of play. However, that hard-earned point was not enough to save them from relegation at the end of the season. After the 1991–92 season finished in relegation for Cremonese, Rampulla moved to

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 1992, where he enjoyed a highly successful ten-year spell at the club; he initially played as a starter, replacing Juventus's former legendary goalkeeper

Stefano Tacconi Stefano Tacconi (; born 13 May 1957) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the only goalkeeper to have won all international club competitions, a feat he managed during his time with Juventus. At intern ...

, and subsequently as back-up goalkeeper for the remainder of his career, behind

Angelo Peruzzi Angelo Peruzzi (; born 16 February 1970) is an Italian football coach and former goalkeeper, and a three-time winner of the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year award. Peruzzi is regarded by pundits as one of the greatest Italian goalkeepers of all ...

Edwin van der Sar Edwin van der Sar (; born 29 October 1970) is a Dutch football executive and former professional player who is currently the chief executive of AFC Ajax, with whom he began his senior playing career in the early 1990s; he is considered to be a m ...

, and

Gianluigi Buffon Gianluigi Buffon (; born 28 January 1978) is an Italian professional footballer who captains and plays as a goalkeeper for the club Parma. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He is one of the few recorded pl ...

, and later as the reserve goalkeeper behind

Andreas Isaksson Jan Andreas Isaksson (; born 3 October 1981) is a Swedish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Isaksson began his career at local Trelleborgs FF, before briefly representing Juventus. He would later return to Sweden, where ...

and Fabian Carini, retiring from active football in 2002, following Juventus's Serie A title victory and Coppa Italia final defeat. Despite being predominantly a backup, he played matches in every competition for Juventus during almost every season of his Juventus career, in particular under Peruzzi during the mid 90s, when the latter was struggling with recurring injuries. During his time at the club, Rampulla won an UEFA Cup in 1993 (as a starter), a Coppa Italia in 1995 (as a starter), four

titles, two Supercoppe Italiane (he replaced Peruzzi after he had been sent off in the

1995 File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...

edition of the tournament, contributing to his team's victory with several decisive saves), an

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competit ...

, an

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions; the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's official name was originall ...

, an Intercontinental Cup, and an

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from la, Inter, 'between' + german: toto, 'betting pool'),Most precisely, from (football pool); cf. often abbreviated and more known in the German-speaking world as UI Cup and originally called the International Foot ...

. His goal-scoring feat would be matched by fellow Italian keeper

Massimo Taibi Massimo Taibi (; born 18 February 1970) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for several clubs, mostly in Italy's Serie A, B, and C1. He had a brief spell at English club Manchester United. Career Italy Ta ...

nine years later.

International career

During his time with Varese, Rampulla was called up to the Italy U20 national team by manager

Azeglio Vicini Azeglio Vicini (; 20 March 1933 – 30 January 2018) was an Italian football coach and player, who also served as the President of the Technical Sector of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC). One of Italy's most important coaches during ...

, making his debut for the ''Azzurrini'' on 20 April 1983; in total he made ten appearances for the Italy under-21 side.

Style of play

Nicknamed ''

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The officia ...

'', Rampulla was a large, solid and reliable shot-stopper, who stood out for his professionalism and longevity throughout his career. He was also known for his ability with the ball at his feet as a goalkeeper, and had initially always wanted to play 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 ...

in his youth, but his father insisted that he play in goal. Because of his skill on the ball and offensive instincts, Rampulla even took penalties on occasion, and he became the first goalkeeper ever to score a goal in Serie A, with a header off of a corner kick.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Rampulla accepted to stay at Juventus in the club's backroom staff, serving as goalkeeping coach for most of his time. He parted company with Juventus in October 2010. On 14 July 2011, he was introduced as new head coach of

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 ...

club

Derthona Associazione Sportiva Dilettantistica HSL Derthona, also known as Derthona, is a football club based in Tortona, Piedmont, Italy. Derthona currently plays in Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the coun ...

. On 5 December 2011, he terminated his contract by mutual consent with the club. On 17 May 2012, Rampulla joined former Juventus manager Marcello Lippi at

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

side

Guangzhou Evergrande Guangzhou Football Club, formerly known as Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao Football Club, is a professional Chinese football club that participates in the Chinese Super League under the license of the Chinese Football Association. The team is based ...

and became the club's goalkeeping coach. On 2 June 2016, Rampulla became the president of

substituting

Luigi Simoni Luigi "Gigi" Simoni (22 January 1939 – 22 May 2020) was an Italian football official, player and manager. A skilled tactician, as a coach Simoni enjoyed notable success in earning promotion from Serie B to Serie A with the teams he managed, a ...

who had covered the presidential role for two years. Rampulla resigned from this post on 20 October 2016 and on 22 October 2016, he was announced as goalkeeping coach of the Chinese national football team, under the management of Marcello Lippi. On 25 October 2021, he was appointed as new head coach

Massimiliano Maddaloni Massimiliano Maddaloni (born 22 June 1966) is an Italian manager and former footballer who played predominantly as a midfielder, most recently in charge as the head coach of Serie C club Siena. Playing career A midfielder, Maddaloni's playing ...

's assistant at

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

Siena Siena ( , ; lat, Sena Iulia) is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena. The city is historically linked to commercial and banking activities, having been a major banking center until the 13th and 14th centuri ...

. They were both sacked on 15 December 2021, just less than two months since their appointment, due to negative results.

Honours

Juventus *

: 1994–95, 1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02 *

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 ...

: 1994–95 *

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 ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

: 1995–96 *

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

: 1992–93 *

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

* Intercontinental Cup:

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

Individual *

Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea" The ''Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea"'' (""Gaetano Scirea" Exemplary Career National Award") is a recognition dedicated to footballers over the age of 30 playing in Italy's Serie A. Established in 1992, the prize is awarded an ...

: 1999

References

External links

Career summary

Profile at lega-calcio.it
*
Profile at FIGC.it
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rampulla, Michelangelo 1962 births Living people Sportspeople from the Province of Messina Association football goalkeepers Italian footballers A.C. Cesena players S.S.D. Varese Calcio players U.S. Cremonese players Juventus F.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Italian football managers UEFA Champions League winning players UEFA Cup winning players Footballers from Sicily Guangzhou F.C. non-playing staff Association football goalkeeping coaches