Lionello Manfredonia (; born 27 November 1956 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) is an

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

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 ...

who played as a defender or

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 ...

. He is currently the leader of the youth sector at

Brescia Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...

Club career

During his club career, Manfredonia played for Italian sides

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

(1975–85), Juventus (1985–87) and Roma (1987–89), totalling 289 appearances and 15 goals in

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 Cop ...

. Along with his Lazio teammates, he was found guilty of being involved in the

Totonero 1980 Totonero 1980 or Totonero was a match-fixing scandal in Italy in 1980 in Serie A and Serie B. The participants in this scandal were Avellino, Bologna, Lazio, Milan, and Perugia of Serie A and Palermo and Taranto of Serie B, all of whom were decla ...

match-fixing scandal, and was banned for three years, while Lazio were relegated to

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie 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 season. It had been ...

. During his final season with Roma, on 30 December 1989, in an away match against

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language, 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 1 ...

, played at freezing temperatures (-5 degrees), Manfredonia collapsed after suffering a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

; his former Lazio teammate Bruno Giordano was the first to aid him. Although Manfredonia later managed a full recovery, he subsequently retired from football at the age of 33.

International career

Manfredonia also played four times for the

Italy national football team The Italy national football team ( it, Nazionale di calcio dell'Italia) has represented Italy in international football since its first match in 1910. The national team is controlled by the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), the governing bo ...

between 1977 and 1978, making his senior international debut in a 3–0 win over

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

on 3 December 1977. He was a member of the 1978 FIFA World Cup squad that managed a fourth-place finish in the tournament.1978 FIFA World Cup: Italy Squad
FIFA. Retrieved 5 February 2010.

Style of play

An athletic, tenacious, versatile, and hard-working player, with good technique, Manfredonia usually played as a defender, either as a sweeper, or as a man-marking centre-back (''stopper''); he was also capable of playing as a ball-winner in midfield, functioning as a central or

defensive 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 boundari ...

, or even on the left, on occasion.

Honours

Club

;Juventus *

: 1985–86 * Intercontinental Cup:

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

References

External links

Lionella Manfredonia Profile at tuttocalciatori.net

Lionella Manfredonia Profile at FIGC
1956 births Living people Italian men's footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's international footballers 1978 FIFA World Cup players SS Lazio players AS Roma players Juventus FC players Serie A players Serie B players Men's association football defenders Footballers from Rome {{Italy-footy-defender-1950s-stub