Oreste Cinquini
Updated: 4 hours ago
Oreste Cinquini was born in Viareggio on October 16, 1947.
He began his involvement in football as a goalkeeper, playing for amateur clubs in Tuscany, including Forte dei Marmi. He also represented the Italy amateur national team and later worked as a coach, but it was as a sporting director that he would establish himself in Italian professional football.
Cinquini began his career as a football administrator with Viareggio, where he worked from 1988 to 1994. His first major Serie A appointment came at Fiorentina in 1994. During four seasons in Florence, he was part of the club's successful period under Vittorio Cecchi Gori and helped build the squad that won the Coppa Italia in 1996. Among the players he was particularly proud of bringing to Florence was Portuguese midfielder Rui Costa.
In 1998, Cinquini moved to Bologna, where he spent four seasons working alongside coaches including Carlo Mazzone, Sergio Buso and Francesco Guidolin. He subsequently joined Lazio in 2002, beginning a two-year spell as the club's sporting director.
At Lazio, Cinquini worked closely with Roberto Mancini, who became head coach in 2002. His second season in Rome, 2003–04, proved particularly successful as the campaign ended with Lazio winning the Coppa Italia. The Biancocelesti eliminated Milan in the semi-finals before defeating Juventus 4–2 on aggregate in the final. They also finished sixth in Serie A, securing qualification for the UEFA Cup.
After leaving Lazio in 2004, Cinquini briefly worked at Udinese and then Parma. He later became director general at Cagliari, before returning to Serie B with Pisa and subsequently working with Venezia. At Venezia, he helped the club win promotion before accepting an offer to join Fabio Capello's staff with the Russian national team in 2012.
Cinquini subsequently spent several years working in Russia. In 2017 he became sporting director of Zenit St Petersburg, later moving into an assistant sporting-director role.
His Lazio period therefore occupies an important place in a long career spanning more than three decades. His two seasons in Rome coincided with the beginning of the Mancini era and culminated in the 2004 Coppa Italia triumph, giving Cinquini another major trophy to add to the one he had already won with Fiorentina.
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