Angelo Peruzzi

Peruzzi began his Serie A career with Roma in 1987. He was loaned to Hellas Verona in 1989, but was one of the two Roma players (the other being Andrea Carnevale) to be suspended for a year in October 1990 after failing a doping test because of an appetite suppressant he was taking at the time, which contained the banned substance Phentermine. His signing with Juventus in 1991 successfully revived his career and he soon surpassed Stefano Tacconi as the club's starting goalkeeper, remaining with the team until 1999, and winning the Serie A Goalkeeper of the Year Award in 1997 and 1998, as well as the Guerin d'oro in 1997. Peruzzi won three Serie A titles, a Coppa Italia, two Supercoppa Italiana titles, a UEFA Cup, a UEFA Super Cup, an Intercontinental Cup and was part of Juventus' 1996 UEFA Champions League title squad that defeated Ajax in the final on penalties, saving two in the final shoot-out. He also reached two more consecutive Champions League finals with the Turin-based club, as well as a semi-final finish during his final season with the club. Peruzzi also won a runners-up medal in the 1995 UEFA Cup final and in the 1992 Coppa Italia final, and was voted to the ESM Team of the Year during the 1996–97 and the 1997–98 seasons. Over this period, several Italian pundits began to consider him the best goalkeeper in the world, due to his consistency. Following the departure of Gianluca Pagliuca, Peruzzi's perceived career rival in his position, from Internazionale to…

Peruzzi was capped 31 times in 11 years with Italy at senior level, between 1995 and 2005. At youth level, he was a member of the Italy under-21 side that took part at the 1990 and 1992 under-21 European championships, winning the latter edition of the tournament; he was also a member of the national squad that competed at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, making two appearances during the tournament. Peruzzi made his senior debut under manager Arrigo Sacchi, in a 4–1 home win over Estonia, in an UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying match, on 25 March 1995, and he was named Italy's starting goalkeeper at Euro 1996, although Italy suffered a group-stage elimination. He was scheduled to be the starter at the 1998 FIFA World Cup under Cesare Maldini, but suffered a late injury and was replaced in the starting line-up by Gianluca Pagliuca. After the 1998 World Cup, Maldini was replaced by Italy's former goalkeeper and record-setter Dino Zoff, who confirmed Peruzzi as first-choice goalkeeper during his first year as Italy's coach: nonetheless, after a match against Norway in 1999, Gianluigi Buffon was given the starting spot, while Francesco Toldo became his first substitute. Being overtaken by two colleagues, Peruzzi chose not to participate in the Euro 2000 as the third goalkeeper, a decision that, in Zoff's words, prevented him from potentially recovering his first-choice status: because of the last-minute injury that excluded Buffon from the tournament, Peruzzi could have been the…

A powerful, athletic, complete, and consistent goalkeeper – although injury-prone –, Peruzzi was renowned for his physical strength, positioning, explosive reactions, speed, and agility, in spite of his sturdy physique; he particularly excelled at quickly rushing off his line to parry or collect the ball on the ground, as well as at anticipating his opponents outside the penalty area, which made him particularly effective in teams which relied on a zonal marking defensive system with high defensive lines. Due to his modest height for a goalkeeper 1.80 m, according to some sources 1.78 m, he was less effective at coming out to collect crosses, and preferred to punch the ball out rather than trying to catch it, although his handling was generally reliable. While he was extremely gifted both technically and acrobatics-wise, he was an efficient goalkeeper, who performed spectacular dives only in case of strict necessity: he indeed believed that "a great keeper must walk across the line: this way he disheartens the opposing strikers, because he seems to save shots effortlessly". Throughout his career, he also stood out for his concentration, and for his ability to produce decisive saves even after not having been called into action for long periods of time during a match; he was also effective at stopping penalties, while he was not particularly skilled with the ball at his feet, and usually preferred to clear the ball away whenever it was passed back to him. A precocious talent…

After his retirement, Peruzzi worked in the Italy national team staff as one of Marcello Lippi's collaborators. He was then appointed Ciro Ferrara's assistant on the Italy under-21 team and in 2012 followed him in joining Sampdoria in Serie A.