Luigi Pieroni (born 8 September 1980) is a Belgian football manager and former player who is assistant manager of

Raja CA Raja Club Athletic ( ar, نادي الرجاء الرياضي, Nādī ar-Rajāʾ ar-Riyāḍī, zgh, ⴰⵙⵔⵉⵔ ⵏ ⵕⴰⵊⴰ ⴰⵎⴰⵏⵓⵏ), commonly referred to as Raja CA, Raja Casablanca or simply RCA is a professional footb ...

. A forward, he played in Belgium and France. At international level, he represented the Belgium national team.

Playing career

Pieroni was born in Liège, Belgium. He finished the

2003–04 Belgian First Division The 2003–04 season of the Belgian First Division was held between 8 August 2003 and 15 May 2004. Sporting Anderlecht became champions on 24 April 2004. Promoted teams These teams were promoted from the second division at the start of the s ...

season as topscorer with 28 goals while he was playing for

R.E. Mouscron Royal Excelsior Mouscron was a Football in Belgium, Belgian football club from the municipality of Mouscron, Hainaut (province), Hainaut. In December 2009 they were declared bankrupt and soon ceased to exist. A new club known as Royal Excel Mous ...

. He previously played with R.F.C. Liégeois,

Auxerre Auxerre ( , ) is the capital of the Yonne department and the fourth-largest city in Burgundy. Auxerre's population today is about 35,000; the urban area (''aire d'attraction'') comprises roughly 113,000 inhabitants. Residents of Auxerre are r ...

and was loaned out to

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...

and Anderlecht while he was under contract with the

FC Nantes Football Club de Nantes (; Gallo: ''Naunnt''), commonly referred to as FC Nantes or simply Nantes (), is a French professional football club based in Nantes in Pays de la Loire. The club was founded on 21 April 1943, during World War II, as a ...

. In 2008, he signed with

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a ...

and in 2010 he returned to Belgium, where he signed with

K.A.A. Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

. After a two-year stint with

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most ...

, he signed a contract with French Ligue 2 club AC Arles-Avignon on 19 July 2011. His playing career came to a halt in the end of the 2012–13 season when he retired at the age of 32 due to a long time

Phlebitis Phlebitis (or Venitis) is inflammation of a vein, usually in the legs. It most commonly occurs in superficial veins. Phlebitis often occurs in conjunction with thrombosis and is then called thrombophlebitis or superficial thrombophlebitis. Unlike ...

Coaching career

In March 2016 it was announced, that Pieroni had returned to

and should be working as a forward coach for the club's academy, scout for the first team and also as assistant manager for the reserve team. Pieroni left Standard in the summer 2019, to become the assistant manager of his former teammate, Christophe Grégoire, at

Royal Football Club Seraing RFC Seraing is a Belgian association football club based in Seraing in the province of Liège. They play their home games at the Stade du Pairay. History The club was founded in the early 20th century as ''RFC Bressoux'', registered with the B ...

. After promotion to the

Jupiler Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

in 2021, Luigi Pieroni left

Seraing Seraing (; wa, Serè) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. The municipality consists of the following districts: Boncelles, Jemeppe-sur-Meuse, Ougrée, and Seraing. With Liège, Herstal, Sai ...

to train the U16 youth of

KAA Gent Koninklijke Atletiek Associatie Gent (, English: ''Royal Athletic Association Ghent''), often simply known as Ghent or by their nickname ' ( en, The Buffalos), is a Belgian sports club, based in the city of Ghent, East Flanders. Their football ...

, following head coach

Emilio Ferrera Emilio Ferrera (born 19 June 1967 in Schaerbeek) is a Belgian football manager and former player, who is currently managing the U21 squad of Gent. His last former club was OH Leuven in the Belgian First Division B. Before he also worked at G ...

who became head of youth at Gent. On 16 November 2021, it was reported that Pieroni had quit the U16 of Gent to become the assistant of

Marc Wilmots Marc Robert Wilmots (born 22 February 1969) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who recently managed the Iran national team and is now active at Raja CA. During his club career as attacking midfielder, he won trophies w ...

.Luigi Pieroni adjoint de Marc Wilmots au Raja Casablanca
Rtbf.be, 16 November 2021

Personal life

He has a son, Gianluca born on 4 January 2007.

International goals

:''Scores and results list Belgium's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pieroni goal.''

References

External links

* * 1980 births Living people Footballers from Liège Men's association football forwards Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's international footballers Belgian people of Italian descent RFC Liège players Royal Excel Mouscron players AJ Auxerre players FC Nantes players RC Lens players Valenciennes FC players AC Arlésien players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Standard Liège players K.A.A. Gent players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France {{Belgium-footy-forward-stub