Sergio Porrini (; born 8 November 1968) 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 former player. A tenacious, reliable, and determined defender, he was known for his tactical versatility and work-rate, as he was capable of playing both as a full-back and as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

, although he was usually deployed as a right-back, despite his lack of notable technical ability. Porrini played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, although he is mostly famous for his periods at

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 ...

, and Scottish club Rangers, where he won several titles. He is currently an assistant coach for the

Albania national football team The Albania national football team ( sq, Kombëtarja e futbollit të Shqipërisë) represents Albania in men's international football, and is governed by the Albanian Football Association, the governing body for football in Albania. Albania co ...

Club career

After growing up in the

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 ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

(failing to appear for the first team, however), Porrini made his senior debut in 1989 for

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 ...

, remaining with the club for four seasons, where he made his emergence. After attracting attention from larger clubs, he joined

in 1993 for 11 billion Lit., featuring as a starter during the 1993–94 season 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 ...

. During the 1994–95 season, however, he had difficulty finding a place in the team's starting line-up under the club's new manager Marcello Lippi; due to Lippi's new three-man back-line, Porrini faced heavy competition from other defenders, such as

Moreno Torricelli Moreno Torricelli (; born 23 January 1970) is an Italian football manager and former defender, who usually played as a full-back on the right flank. Torricelli played for several Italian clubs throughout his career, but achieved prominence dur ...

, and

Jürgen Kohler Jürgen Kohler (born 6 October 1965) is a World Cup-winning German footballer and manager, who played as a centre-back. Since 2018, he has been in charge of the youth team of Viktoria Köln. Playing career Kohler enjoyed a lengthy career at the ...

, as well as back-up

Massimo Carrera Massimo Carrera (; born 22 April 1964) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of clubs Spartak Moscow and later AEK Athens, before leaving continental football and joining local club Bari ...

. In particular, Porrini was kept out of the starting eleven by the newly acquired

Ciro Ferrara Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. His most recent position was as manager of Wuhan Zall. He had also previously coached Juventus and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to ...

, whom Lippi had even moved onto the right flank in order to accommodate him into the team's new back-line. Despite his limited appearances for Juventus during the season, Porrini still proved to be decisive for the team: he notably scored two goals over both legs of the club's 1995 Coppa Italia Final victory over

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

, as well as a crucial goal in a 2–1 home win against

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional footb ...

, in the second leg of the semi-final of the

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 ...

, helping his team to reach the

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 ...

of the tournament, where Juventus lost out to Parma; he captured his first Serie A title with the club that season. Porrini made 20 appearances for the club during the 1995–96 season, which saw Juventus capture the 1995 Supercoppa Italiana, but remained on the sidelines as Juventus celebrated their victory on penalties over defending champions

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

in the

1996 UEFA Champions League Final The 1996 UEFA Champions League Final was a football match played on 22 May 1996 between Ajax of the Netherlands and Juventus of Italy. The match ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time, forcing a penalty shoot-out, which Juventus won 4–2. It was ...

. During the 1996–97 season, he made 40 appearances, due to Torricelli's injury, scoring two goals, one of which was the opening goal in Juventus's 6–1 away win over

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As Fr ...

in the first leg of the

1996 UEFA Super Cup The 1996 UEFA Super Cup was a two-legged match that took place on 15 January 1997 and 5 February 1997 between Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain of France, champions of the 1995–96 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and Juventus F.C., Juventus of ...

, helping the

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, 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 ...

club to win the title; Porrini picked up his second league title with the club that season. He also started in Juventus's 1–0 victory over River Plate in the 1996 Intercontinental Cup Final in Tokyo, and in the club's 3–1 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 Champions League Final in Munich. Porrini eventually parted ways with the Turin side at the end of the season. Overall, Porrini made 87 league appearances for Juventus, scoring three goals, and 138 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring five goals in total. With Juventus, Porrini won two

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 ...

medals, one

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 ...

medal, and a Champions League medal during his four seasons with the team, as well as the

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 ...

, the

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 ...

, and the Intercontinental Cup. Porrini subsequently joined Scottish club Rangers in 1997, for £4 million and won two

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for 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' ...

and

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

title during his four seasons in Scotland. He started off his Rangers career at centre-back alongside

Richard Gough Charles Richard Gough (born 5 April 1962) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a defender. Gough played in the successful Dundee United team of the early 1980s, winning the Scottish league title in 1982–83 and reachi ...

but new manager

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former football player and coach who is currently the head coach of Eerste Divisie side ADO Den Haag. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a coach, including three sti ...

soon moved him to right-back where he remained until he left the club in 2001. In total, he made 133 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring seven goals, six of which came in league play in 80 appearances. He left Rangers to resume his football career in Italy at

Alessandria Alessandria (; pms, Lissandria ) is a city and ''comune'' in Piedmont, Italy, and the capital of the Province of Alessandria. The city is sited on the alluvial plain between the Tanaro and the Bormida rivers, about east of Turin. Alessandria ...

for a season, later moving to

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 ...

. After two seasons with Padova, Porrini joined lowly

Pizzighettone Pizzighettone ( Pizzighettonese: ) is a ''comune'' of the Province of Cremona in the Italian region Lombardy. The main population centre is located on the river Adda and is divided into two parts: Pizzighettone on the east bank and Gera on the ...

in 2004 and retired after five full seasons spent with the small Lombardian club at

Lega Pro Prima Divisione Lega Pro Prima Divisione was the third highest 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. Before the 1978� ...

and

Lega Pro Seconda Divisione Lega Pro Seconda Divisione was the fourth highest football league in Italy, the lowest with a professional status. Usually it consisted of 36 teams, but in the 2011–12 season, there were 41 teams divided geographically into two divisions of 2 ...

levels, in 2009.

International career

While at Juventus, Porrini gained two international

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

for

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1993, under manager

Arrigo Sacchi Arrigo Sacchi (born 1 April 1946) is an Italian former professional football coach. He has twice managed AC Milan (1987–1991, 1996–1997), with great success. He won the Serie A title in his 1987–88 debut season and then dominated European ...

, appearing in two 1994 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches. He made his international debut in a 6–1 home win over

Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...

, in Palermo, on 24 March, and his second and final appearance with Italy came on 14 April, in a 2–0 home victory over

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, in Trieste.

Coaching career

After his retirement, Porrini agreed to stay with Pizzighettone as youth coach for a season, then filling a similar role at Pergocrema. In August 2011, he was then named 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 Colognese. On 23 June 2012, he was named head coach of

club Pontisola. In 2019, he joined

as an assistant to

Edoardo Reja Edoardo Reja (born 10 October 1945) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who last manages the Albania national football team. After a career as a midfielder spent mostly with SPAL and Palermo, he began working as a manage ...

, whom he previously assisted at Atalanta.

Honours

Player

Juventus *

: 1994–95, 1996–97 *

: 1994–95 *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

: 1995–96 *

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:

(Runner-up): 1994–95 Rangers *

: 1998–99, 1999–2000 *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,1999–2000 *

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

: 1998–99

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Porrini, Sergio Living people 1968 births Footballers from Milan Italian footballers Italy international footballers Italy youth international footballers Association football defenders Serie A players Serie C players Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players Juventus F.C. players Rangers F.C. players U.S. Alessandria Calcio 1912 players A.S. Pizzighettone players Calcio Padova players Atalanta B.C. players Italian football managers A.C. Ponte San Pietro Isola S.S.D. managers UEFA Champions League winning players Italian expatriate football managers Italian expatriate footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate football managers in Albania