Gabriele Pin was born in Vittorio Veneto (Treviso), on September 10, 1962.
He spent his formative career at Juventus. From 13 years of age to 17 he was with the Bianconeri youth sector.
In 1979 he joined the first team squad and made his debut in 1980 in the last game of the season against Fiorentina. The following year he did not get any games so he was then sent out to get experience.
In 1981/82 he played for Sanremese in C1 making 22 appearances and scoring 1 goal. In 1982/83 he was at Forli in C1, again playing 22 times but scoring 5 goals.
Between 1983 and 1985 he was at Parma. The first year the Gialloblu were promoted to Serie B but the next they were immediately relegated back to the third tier. Over the two seasons Pin played 67 league games with 7 goals, plus 9 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal.
In 1985 he was called back "home" to Juventus. He was not first choice but played 21 Serie A games (1 goal against Bari), 7 in Coppa Italia (1 goal against Casertana), and 4 in Europe (1 goal against Jeunesse d'Esch). Juventus won both the scudetto and the Intercontinental Cup against Argentinos Juniors.
In 1986 he started his Roman adventure joining Lazio in Serie B. In his first year he was part of the team that avoided relegation after starting the season with a 9 point deduction. Pin played 40 matches under manager Eugenio Fascetti (including the play outs against Campobasso and Taranto) and scored 2 goals (Modena and Cagliari) plus another 5 in Coppa Italia (talk about midfield Stakhanovite...).
The following year Lazio won promotion to Serie A, Pin playing 36 league games and scoring 2 goals (Sambenedettese and Triestina) and another 5 games in Coppa Italia.
So in 1988/89 Lazio were back in Serie A and they kept on their reliable midfield dynamo. Pin made 27 league appearances and scored 2 goals (Verona and Torino) and 9 in Coppa Italia with 1 goal (Atalanta).
In 1989/90 he again played regularly with 31 league appearances but also had his most prolific year with 6 goals (Udinese, Napoli, 2 Cesena, Bologna and Inter) plus 2 games in Coppa Italia.
In 1990/91 he was almost ever present with 32 league appearances and 2 goals (a brace against Torino) plus another 2 games in Coppa Italia.
The 1991/92 season would be his last in Rome but he was consistent as usual and played 32 Serie A games and scored 1 goal (Genoa) plus 4 more games in Coppa Italia. At the end of the season with the imminent arrivals of Paul Gascoigne, Aron Winter, Diego Fuser and Dario Marcolin, all in midfield, for Pin it was time to move on.
At Lazio over six years Pin played 225 games with 16 goals and had been captain for three seasons.
Pin moved on but also back, joining Parma again in 1992. In Emilia he played his usual reliable, solid football for four seasons. He made another 98 Serie A appearances (2 goals - Fiorentina and Atalanta), 21 in Coppa Italia and 33 in Europe. Parma had great teams in those years (Asprilla, Brolin, Melli, Osio, Zola, Buffon, Stoichkov, Cannavaro just to mention a few) and Pin won a Cup Winners Cup (1993), a European Supercup (1993) and a UEFA Cup (1995).
In 1996/97 he moved up the road in Emilia to Piacenza in Serie A. Pin played 21 league games (plus 1 in Coppa Italia) contributing to the "Poppies" survival after a play off against Cagliari in Naples (3-1).
At this point at 35 years of age Pin called it a day and retired. He had been the midfield playmaker in 552 professional games and scored 35 goals. He had an excellent club career playing for prestigious clubs and winning silverware.
He then moved into a coaching career. Firstly at Parma in their youth sector and then as assistant to Arrigo Sacchi, Renzo Ulivieri and Cesare Prandelli. It was with Prandelli that Pin struck up a special rapport and was to be his assistant for countless teams; Parma, Roma (very briefly due to Prandelli's wife's health problems), Fiorentina, Galatasaray, Valencia, Al-Nasr, Genoa, Fiorentina again, plus of course the Italian national team (2010-2014- Runners up at Euro 2012).
In June 2021 Pin accepted the job at Esteghlal (Iran) as assistant to Farhad Majidi. He is currently assistant coach at Al-Ittihad Kalba in the United Arab Emirates, still under Farhad Majidi.
As a player Pin was a central midfielder. He could play in the heart of midfield or in front of the defence. He was an extremely dynamic player, had an excellent sense of position and astute tactical geometry. He was a perfect link between defence and attack. He was clean and technically precise with the knack of always making himself available for his team mates whether it was for defending or constructing an attacking move, always seemingly to have the time to make the right decision. He was a reliable player rarely missing games through injury or suspension. He was the type of player most people would put first or pretty high up on their list when picking a team.
What about Pin and Lazio? He was with the Biancocelesti for 6 years, captain for 3, played 225 games, scored 16 goals, was part of the heroic -9 team, won promotion, played in the Di Canio winning derby… I think it's fair to say Gabriele Pin has his name in a prominent position in the Lazio history books.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1986-87 | 45 (2) | - | 40 (2) | 5 |
1987-88 | 41 (2) | - | 36 (2) | 5 |
1988-89 | 36 (3) | 27 (2) | - | 9 (1) |
1989-90 | 33 (6) | 31 (6) | - | 2 |
1990-91 | 34 (2) | 32 (2) | - | 2 |
1991-92 | 36 (1) | 32 (1) | - | 4 |
Total | 225 (16) | 122 (11) | 76 (4) | 27 (1) |
Sources