Carlo Ancelotti

Parma

Ancelotti began his career in 1974 with Parma. He made his professional debut in Serie C during the 1976–77 season, at the age of 18. Under manager Cesare Maldini, he was often deployed as an attacking midfielder or as a second striker, due to his eye for goal. Ancelotti excelled in these roles and helped Parma to a second place in the Serie C1 girone A during the 1978–79 season, which qualified the team for the Serie B play-offs. In the decisive match in Vicenza, against Triestina, with the score tied at 1–1, he scored two goals, which gave Parma a 3–1 victory and sealed their place in Serie B the following season.

Roma

After attracting strong interest from Inter Milan, in mid-1979 Ancelotti transferred to Roma, and made his Serie A debut in a 0–0 draw against AC Milan on 16 September. Under manager Nils Liedholm, he was deployed as a winger or central midfielder and became one of the club's most important players, in a team which featured Brazilian midfielders Falcão and Toninho Cerezo, as well as Italian footballers Roberto Pruzzo, Bruno Conti, Agostino Di Bartolomei and Pietro Vierchowod, winning consecutive Coppa Italia titles in his first two seasons with the club. During his eight seasons in Rome, he won the Coppa Italia a total of four times (1980, 1981, 1984 and 1986). After struggling with knee injuries, and managing second and third-place league finishes in 1981 and 1982, Ancelotti helped lead the team to win the Italian championship in…

Under manager Enzo Bearzot, Ancelotti made his Italy national team debut and scored his first and only goal on 6 January 1981 in the 1980 World Champions' Gold Cup against the Netherlands, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He was very likely to be capped for the 1982 World Cup campaign, but a dramatic knee injury forced him away for several months, as Italy went on to win the tournament without him. He was a part of Italy's squad in the 1986 World Cup, but did not make a single appearance, as both he and Paolo Rossi struggled during the team's fitness tests, due to the altitude of the region, and were replaced in the starting line-up by Fernando De Napoli and Giuseppe Galderisi, respectively. Under new Italy manager Azeglio Vicini, he was a key member of the Italy squad that reached the semi-finals of UEFA Euro 1988, and was also set to represent his nation at the Summer Olympics in Seoul that summer. An injury to the meniscus of his right knee, however, prevented him from taking part in the tournament, where Italy ultimately managed a fourth-place finish. Ancelotti later went on to play in the 1990 World Cup on home soil under Vicini at the age of 31, although another injury in the first group match against Austria once again limited his appearances in the competition to just three, and kept him on the sidelines until the third-place final against England, in which he returned to help Italy to a 2–1 win. Ancelotti made a total of 26 performances for the Italy national side, and…

Ancelotti was a midfielder known for his leadership and creativity; he was regarded as one of the best Italian midfielders of his generation. Although he lacked pace and physicality, he was a talented, hardworking, and tenacious player who had excellent technical ability, tactical intelligence, vision, and passing range; his most notable skill being his powerful and accurate shooting from outside the box. A versatile midfielder, he was capable playing several midfield positions. He often played as a deep-lying playmaker, as a central midfielder, or as a defensive midfielder, which allowed him to set the tempo of play after winning back the ball; he was also the mentor and predecessor of Demetrio Albertini and Andrea Pirlo when he was a playmaker at Milan. Despite his abilities, his playing time was cut short by several injuries, which forced him into retirement in 1992 at the age of 33.

Reggiana

Ancelotti undertook his coaching studies at Coverciano, where he penned a research article entitled "Il Futuro del Calcio: Più Dinamicità" (English: "The Future of Football: More Dynamism"). After serving as an assistant manager with the Italy national team under his former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi between 1992 and 1995, and reaching the 1994 World Cup final, Ancelotti began his managerial career with Serie B side Reggiana in 1995–96 season, where he immediately aided the team in achieving promotion to Serie A; he left after the 1995–96 Serie B season, finishing with a record of 17 wins, fourteen draws and ten losses in his only season with the club.

Parma

Ancelotti joined Parma the following season, a team which had recently enjoyed several years of domestic and European success under the previous manager Nevio Scala, and which contained several promising young players, including future Italy stars Gianluigi Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro. Ancelotti made his debut in the Coppa Italia in a 3–1 loss to Pescara. Ancelotti made several changes at the club, implementing a rigorous Sacchi-inspired 4–4–2 formation, and initially deploying creative forward Gianfranco Zola out of position on the left wing in order to accommodate Hristo Stoichkov up-front, although both players were later eventually sold by the club after lack of playing time, due to struggling to perform in this system. With the new attacking partnership of Enrico Chiesa and Hernán Crespo,…