Paolo Zanetti (born 16 December 1982) 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 a former player who is the head coach of

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 ...

club

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Roman times. The comm ...

. As a player he played as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

Zanetti started his career at native club

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 ...

Empoli

Zanetti was sold to

in a co-ownership deal in July 2003, for

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

671,400 fee (about 1.3

billion Billion is a word for a large number, and it has two distinct definitions: *1,000,000,000, i.e. one thousand million, or (ten to the ninth power), as defined on the short scale. This is its only current meaning in English. * 1,000,000,000,000, i.e ...

lire).Vicenza Calcio S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007
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(in Italian) In his first season with Empoli, he just made 13 appearances in

. However, Empoli was relegated to

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 ...

at the end of the season and Zanetti followed the club. Zanetti played 30 games in the

2004–05 Serie B The 2004–05 Serie B is the 73rd season since its establishment in 1929. It is the second highest football league in Italy. Teams Arezzo, Catanzaro, Cesena and Crotone had been promoted from Serie C, while Perugia, Modena, and Empoli had been ...

season, helping the club to win promotion back to Serie A. However, he just made nine appearances for the club in Serie A in the following season. In June 2006 Empoli signed him outright from Vicenza, for an additional €125,000 fee, making Empoli had paid Vicenza €796,400 in total.

Ascoli

After acquiring the remaining 50% registration rights from Vicenza in June 2006 for an additional €125,000 transfer fee, Empoli sold Zanetti to

Ascoli Ascoli may refer to: Places in Italy *Ascoli Satriano, a town and ''comune'' in the province of Foggia in the Apulia region *Province of Ascoli Piceno, a province of the Marche region **Ascoli Piceno, a city which is the seat of the province above ...

in another co-ownership deal for €400,000 transfer fee in July.Empoli F.C. S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007
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(in Italian)

Torino

In May 2007, Zanetti said he would stay on at Ascoli, despite them being relegated to the Serie B. Ascoli bought the full registration rights of the player for an additional €750,000 fee, (making Ascoli had paid €1.15 million transfer fee in total) but sent Zanetti, along with

Saša Bjelanović Saša Bjelanović (; born 11 June 1979) is a Croatian retired footballer who played as a striker. He has held an Italian passport since 2007, as his grandmother was from Trieste, Venezia Giulia; this made him eligible to acquire Italian nationa ...

, to

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

in another co-ownership deals for €1 million fee each, in a five-year and three-year contract respectively. In the mid of same season Torino bought him outright for an additional €500,000 (making Torino had paid Ascoli €1.5 million transfer fee for Zanetti in total)Torino F.C. S.p.A. ''bilancio'' (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2008
PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
(in Italian) and Bjelanović was also bought by Torino for an additional €60,000 in June 2008. During 2009–10 season,

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

of Torino attacked the players during

David Di Michele David Di Michele (; born 6 January 1976) is an Italian football manager and former player in the role of striker, last in charge as head coach of Serie C club Turris. Throughout his playing career, he played for several Italian clubs, and als ...

's birthday party. After the incident the players involved: Di Michele,

Massimo Loviso Massimo Loviso (born 9 April 1984) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Castelnuovo Vomano. Career Bologna Born in Bentivoglio, the Province of Bologna, Loviso started his career at Bologna. After made his debut on 8 Novemb ...

Riccardo Colombo Riccardo Colombo (born 1 December 1982) is an Italian former footballer who played as a defender. Club career In the 2008–09 season, Colombo played three games in the 2008–09 Coppa Italiabr> During the 2009–10 season, ultras of Torino at ...

, Aimo Diana, Marco Pisano,

Francesco Pratali Francesco Pratali (born 17 January 1979) is a retired Italian footballer who played as a defender. During the 2009–10 season, ultras of Torino F.C. attacked the club's players during David Di Michele's birthday party. After the incident the ...

, Zanetti were transferred to other clubs and only

Rolando Bianchi Rolando Bianchi (; born 15 February 1983) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. With 77 total goals, he is Torino's 11th-highest all-time goal scorer. Bianchi was primarily known for his ability in the air. Clu ...

Matteo Rubin Matteo Rubin (born 9 July 1987) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender for club Campodarsego. Club career Early career & Torino Matteo Rubin signed his first professional footballing contract for Serie C1 team Cittadella before sig ...

and

Angelo Ogbonna Obinze Angelo Ogbonna (; born 23 May 1988) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club West Ham United. Ogbonna signed for Torino in 2002, having previously been a member of Nuova Cassino's youth set-up. Ogbonna m ...

were remained. On 19 January 2010,

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 ...

signed him on loan from Serie B club

Torino F.C. Torino Football Club (), commonly referred to as Torino or simply Toro, is an Italian professional football club based in Turin, Piedmont. They currently play in Serie A. Founded as ''Foot-Ball Club Torino'' in 1906, Torino are among the mos ...

until the end of the season.

Grosseto

After inactive from football for a season, Zanetti joined

U.S. Grosseto F.C. Unione Sportiva Grosseto 1912 is an Italian association football club, based in the city of Grosseto, Tuscany. The club was founded in 1912 as ''Unione Ginnico Sportiva Grossetana''. The team's most associated nickname is ''grifone'', after it ...

on 8 August 2011 in a one-year deal. Torino and Zanetti terminated the contract between the two parties in a mutual consent.

Sorrento

In January 2012 he was signed by

Sorrento Calcio A.S.D. Sorrento 1945 is an Football in Italy, Italian association football club from Sorrento, Italy, Sorrento, Italy, which was founded as Sorrento Calcio in 1945. Currently the club plays in the Serie D Group G, the fourth tier of Association ...

. In May 2012 he signed a new two-year contract with Sorrento.

Reggiana

On 23 January 2013, he was signed by Reggiana. On 26 August 2013, he signed a new two-year contract. On 18 November 2014 Zanetti retired and became a backroom staff of the first team ( it, collaboratore tecnico di Prima Squadra).

International career

Zanetti was a player of ''Azzurrini'' in 2001 UEFA European Under-18 Championship qualificationthe event was renamed to U-19 from 2001 onward, to reflect the age limit at the end of season instead of the start of season. i.e. age limit unchanged He played twice. After the elimination of Italy from the competition, he also played for the U-19 team (''de facto'' U-20 B) in two

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

, against

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

(who still in the Euro U-19 competition) and Germany respectively in March and May 2001. In the 2001–02 season he played 13 times for the U-20 team, including matches in a four nations tournament. In the following season, he played once for the U-21 team in 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification as well as 3 friendlies. In his only competitive appearance in the U-21 Euro, he was a substitute of Samuele Dalla Bona. He played his final appearance in national team against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on 19 August 2003, another friendly match.

Managerial career

After retiring, Zanetti stayed at Reggiana as a technical collaborator, and then as a youth coach. In 2017, Zanetti took on his first head coaching job 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

Südtirol it, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano – Alto Adige lld, Provinzia Autonoma de Balsan/Bulsan – Südtirol , settlement_type = Autonomous province , image_skyline = , image_alt ...

. After two seasons ended with two consecutive promotion playoff appearances, on 7 June 2019 he left Südtirol for

club

. He was sacked by Ascoli on 27 January 2020 following a 0–1 home loss to

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the Va ...

that left the club to the bottom half of the Serie B league table. On 27 May 2021, Zanetti secured

Venezia Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The islan ...

's return to Serie A after a 2–1 aggregate win in the

promotion play-off Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or ...

over

Cittadella Cittadella ( vec, Sitadeła) is a medieval walled city in the province of Padua, northern Italy, founded in the 13th century as a military outpost of Padua. The surrounding wall has been restored and is in circumference with a diameter of around ...

, thus ending their 19-year exile from the top flight. On 27 April 2022, Zanetti was sacked by the club following a run of eight straight defeats that saw Venezia bottom of the Serie A table. On 6 June 2022, Serie A club

, a former team of his as a player, announced to have hired Zanetti on a two-year deal as their new head coach.

Managerial Statistics

Notes

References

External links

2005–06 Profile
at

La Gazzetta dello Sport ''La Gazzetta dello Sport'' (; "The Sports Gazette") is an Italian daily newspaper dedicated to coverage of various sports. Founded in 1896, it is the most widely read daily newspaper of any kind in Italy (in 2018). History and profile ''La ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanetti, Paolo Living people 1982 births Sportspeople from the Province of Vicenza Association football midfielders Italian footballers Italy under-21 international footballers Italy youth international footballers L.R. Vicenza players Empoli F.C. players Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. players Torino F.C. players Atalanta B.C. players F.C. Grosseto S.S.D. players A.S.D. Sorrento players A.C. Reggiana 1919 players Serie A players Serie B players Serie C players Italian football managers Ascoli Calcio 1898 F.C. managers Venezia F.C. managers Empoli F.C. managers Serie A managers Serie B managers Serie C managers Footballers from Veneto