Roberto Donadoni

Roberto Donadoni was born in Cisano Bergamasco, on September 9, 1963.

Source Wikipedia

In 1981 he joined Atalanta and played for the youth team but also made 3 appearances for the first team in Coppa Italia. The Bergamaschi were in Serie C1 but won the league and promotion to B under Ottavio Bianchi.

Over the next four seasons Donadoni became a regular. The Nerazzurri finished 8th and 1st in B, 10th and 8th in A. He played 120 games (52 in A) with 7 goals (3 in A). His managers were Bianchi again and Nedo Sonetti (promotion year and next two in A). He played alongside several Lazio connections: Andrea Agostinelli (1975-79), Aldo Cantarutti (1978-79), Enrico Vella (1982-83), Daniele Filisetti (1983-87), Giorgio Magnocavallo (1985-87), Roberto Soldà (1989-92) and Armando Madonna (1990-91).

In 1986 Donadoni joined A.C Milan. He would stay a total of 12 seasons. He played 371 games (274 in A) and scored 23 goals (18 in A). He won the Scudetto 5 times, the European Cup/Champions League 3 times, the UEFA Super Cup 3 times, the Intercontinental Cup twice and the Italian Supercoppa twice. His managers were Nils Liedholm then Fabio Capello in the first year, then Arrigo Sacchi for four seasons, Capello for five. Donadoni therefore was an integral part of the two great Milan teams of the late 80's and 90's, those of Sacchi and Capello.

In May 1996 Donadoni went for the U.S experience and joined the New York/New Jersey MetroStars. He stayed a year and a half, playing 52 games with 6 goals. They finished 3rd and 5th, first under Carlos Queiroz and then Carlos Alberto Pereira.

In October 1997 Donadoni returned to A.C Milan. The manager was still Capello and the Rossoneri finished 10th. They reached the final of Coppa Italia but were defeated 3-2 on aggregate by Lazio. The following season Alberto Zaccheroni was manager and Milan won the Scudetto again. In these two seasons Donadoni played another 29 games (24 in A).

In October 1999 he went to Saudi Arabia for one last season. He signed for Al-Ittihad and played 15 league games. The Tigers won the league.

Donadoni then retired at 36.

He won 63 caps for Italy and scored 5 goals. He took part in two World Cups and two European Championships. He won a bronze at Italia '90 and a silver at USA '94. He also won a silver with the U21s in the 1986 European Championships.

After retiring he went straight into coaching. He started at Lecco in C1. He was sacked during the season but then called back and finished 10th.

In 2002-03 he was with Livorno in Serie B and finished 10th.

In the summer of 2003 he took charge of Genoa in B but was replaced in September.

In January 2005 he was back at Livorno now in Serie A. The Amaranto finished a decent 9th. He stayed on the following season but resigned in February to become Italy manager.

He took the Azzurri to Euro 2008 winning the qualifying group. At the championships, in Austria and Switzerland, Italy reached the quarterfinals. In the group they defeated Holland 3-0, drew 1-1 with Romania and beat France 2-0. They then lost to eventual winners Spain on penalties after a 0-0 draw. A decent and unlucky campaign but Donadoni was then a little unfairly substituted with the return of Marcello Lippi leading to the disastrous 2010 performance in South-Africa.

In March 2009 Donadoni returned to club football and took over at Napoli from Edy Reja. The Partenopei finished 12th. He stayed on the next season but was sacked in October.

A month later he took on the Cagliari job and finished 14th in Serie A.

In January 2012 he joined Parma and stayed three and a half seasons. The Gialloblu finished 8th, 10th, 6th and 20th (relegated but had 7-point docking). The club by the end of this period was in serious financial difficulty.

His next job was with nearby Bologna. He replaced Delio Rossi in November 2015 and stayed three seasons. The Rossoblu finished 14th and 15th twice.

In 2019 he went for an experience abroad and flew to China. He took over Shenzhen during the season and finished 15th. The following season he was sacked after 4 games, 1 win and 3 defeats.

Donadoni then took a break. He returned in November 2025 at Spezia in Serie B, replacing Luca D'Angelo. The Aquilotti from Liguria were struggling near the bottom of the table. Donadoni has the difficult task of keeping them up.

As a player he was a right- winger. He was fast, skilful and tactically very intelligent. He was a complete player, athletic and technical. He was a prolific assist man but could also shoot with both feet. At Milan Marco Van Basten, Ruud Gullit, Jean-Pierre Papin, Marco Simone, George Weah and many others certainly appreciated his hard work and crosses from the wings.

At Milan Donadoni is a legend. He was a protagonist in one of the best, if not the best, periods in their history.

Sources

Wikipedia