Marco Tardelli

Marco Tardelli was born in Careggine (Lucca), on September 24, 1954. He was the fourth child of a working-class family

His first club was local team San Martino di Pisa while he still worked as a waiter to get by. He had trials with Bologna, Fiorentina and Milan but was considered too small physically.

He joined Pisa in 1972. The Nerazzurri were in Serie C and he stayed two seasons, playing 41 league games with 4 goals. The Tuscans finished 13th and 6th.

In 1974-75 he spent a season with Como in Serie B. The Lariani won promotion under Giuseppe Marchioro and Tardelli played 36 league games with 2 goals and 4 games in Coppa Italia. Tardelli had a good season and earned a call from Juventus.

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He joined Juventus, immediately broke into the first team and stayed ten successful seasons. He won the Scudetto 5 times, the Coppa Italia twice, a European Cup, a Cup Winners Cup, a UEFA Cup and a UEFA Super Cup. He played 379 games and scored 52 goals. His managers were Carlo Parola for one season and then Giovanni Trapattoni for nine.

At 31 he left the Bianconeri and joined rivals Inter. He stayed two seasons with 6th and 3rd places. He played 71 games with 8 goals. His managers were Ilario Castagner (1-10) and Mario Corso (11-30) in the first year and then Giovanni Trapattoni in the second.

He then played one last season in Switzerland with San Gallo. He played 33 games with one goal and the Espen finished 5th.

At almost 34 he then retired but went straight into coaching. He was head coach of Italy U16s from 1988-90 and assistant coach of Italy U21s from 1990 to 1993.

In 1993 he went into club coaching. He started at Como in C1 and won promotion but the following year the Lariani were relegated.

In 1995-96 he was in charge at Cesena in Serie B, finishing 10th. He was then sacked in October of the following season.

He then went back to work for the Federation and in 1997 won the Mediterranean Games with the U23s and in 2000 won the European Championships with the U21s. In 2000 he was in charge of the Olympic team at Sydney 2000.

In 2000 he was called up by Inter in October to replace Marcello Lippi. The Nerazzurri finished 5th.

In December 2002 he became Bari manager in Serie B and finished 11th. The following year he was replaced in November after 2 league wins, 4 draws and 7 defeats.

In 2004 he had a brief experience as Egypt head coach.

In March 2005 he took over at Arezzo in Serie B but only lasted 5 games (W2, D1, L3).

From 2008 to 2013 he was assistant manager to Giovanni Trapattoni for Ireland. The Boys in Green failed to qualify for any major tournament, not helped by a Thierry Henry goal scored with his hand in the 2010 World Cup playoff with France.

He has since worked as a pundit on Italian television.

Tardelli was a midfielder. He started as left full-back at Como but was then transformed into a modern box to box midfielder. He could defend well and was a hard tackler but could also attack and score goals. He was nicknamed "Schizzo" (spurt) for his dynamic style of play. He is considered one of the best midfielders of his generation.

Tardelli also had a fantastic international career. He won 81 caps for Italy and scored 6 goals. He participated in two World Cups and one European Championship. In 1982 in Spain he and Italy won the biggest prize of all in football, the World Cup. Tardelli scored against Argentina in the second round and then got the second goal in Italy's 3-1 triumph over Germany in the final. His subsequent reaction, a wild and passionate celebration, has become the iconic image of that victory, even more so than Dino Zoff lifting the actual cup.

Tardelli is an Italian hero.

Sources

Wikipedia