Roberto Donadoni

Atalanta and AC Milan

Donadoni started his career with Atalanta in 1982, winning the Serie C1 title, and the Serie B title in 1984. He joined AC Milan in 1986 and he became a mainstay in the legendary team that dominated Italy and Europe in the late 1980s and early-to-mid-1990s. Usually playing a right-sided wide midfield role, Donadoni was a vital part of Milan's squad under both Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello, winning six Serie A titles, three European Cups, four Supercoppa Italiana, three European Super Cups, and two Intercontinental Cups during his time at Milan. Although Donadoni failed to win the Coppa Italia with Milan, he reached the final twice, during the 1989–90 and 1997–98 seasons. During the 1988–89 European Cup campaign, Donadoni was knocked unconscious and suffered a broken jaw after a violent tackle from Goran Vasilijević in the second leg of the second-round match against Red Star Belgrade. He required treatment on the pitch from Milan masseur Angelo Pagani, Milan doctor Ginko Monti, and a member of the Red Star medical staff to stop him choking; he was rushed to hospital, where he regained consciousness soon after. The match ended in a 1–1 draw, and went to a penalty shoot-out as a result of the 2–2 aggregate scoreline, with Milan prevailing and advancing to the next round. On 19 April 1989, he scored a goal in a 5–0 win over Real Madrid in the second leg of the 1988–89 European Cup semi-finals, which saw Milan advance to the final 6–1 on…

Youth career, senior debut, Euro 88, and 1990 World Cup

A member of the Italy under-21 national football team, reaching the final of the 1986 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Donadoni made his Italy national team senior debut on 8 October 1986, under Azeglio Vicini in a 2–0 victory over Greece. He soon became a key member of his national side, reaching the semi-finals of Euro 1988, and he subsequently played in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, on home soil, helping Italy to a third place finish. Unfortunately, he missed one of the penalties in the fateful semi-final shoot-out against defending champions and eventual runners-up Argentina. Overall, he made five appearances throughout the tournament, missing out on the 2–0 round of 16 victory against Uruguay due to injury, and the 2–1 bronze medal match victory against England. For his performances, he was named to the 1990 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team.

1994 World Cup and Euro 96

Donadoni also took part at the 1994 World Cup, under Arrigo Sacchi, helping Italy to a second-place finish, where Italy would once again be defeated on penalties, by Brazil, after a goalless draw. However, on this occasion Donadoni did not take a penalty in the final shoot-out. En route to the final, he set up Dino Baggio's goal in Italy's 2–1 quarter-final victory over Spain, and also provided the throw-in on the left flank from which Roberto Baggio scored his first goal in Italy's 2–1 over Bulgaria in the semi-finals of the tournament.…

Early club career: Lecco, Livorno, and Genoa

After retiring as a player, Donadoni trained to become a coach. His first job was as Lecco and he made his debut on 12 August 2001 in the Coppa Italia Lega Pro. This was followed by jobs with Livorno (2002–03) and Genoa (2003). In 2005, he returned to head Livorno in mid-season. After leading them to a surprising ninth-place finish and having the club in sixth place midway through the 2005–06 season, Donadoni resigned over criticism from club chairman Aldo Spinelli.

International career

In July 2006, following the resignation of Marcello Lippi three days after the Italy national team won the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Donadoni was named as new Italian head coach, his first task being to successfully lead Italy through qualification for UEFA Euro 2008. On 16 August, Donadoni made his Italy head coaching debut in a friendly match against Croatia played at Stadio Armando Picchi, Livorno, which did not feature any of the 23 world champions, save for third goalkeeper Marco Amelia, and ended in a 2–0 defeat. Donadoni took solace in the fact Lippi's first match in charge of the Azzurri was also a 2–0 friendly defeat, to Iceland in August 2004.

Path to Euro 2008

Donadoni's competitive debut came in Euro 2008 qualifying. Italy drew its first match 1–1 with Lithuania, then lost 3–1 to France. Accordingly, Italian newspaper La Nazione's front page featured, "How to reduce Lippi's masterwork to pieces in just three…

Player

Milan

Serie A: 1987–88, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96, 1998–99 Coppa Italia runner-up: 1989–90, 1997–98 Supercoppa Italiana: 1992, 1993, 1994 European Cup/UEFA Champions League: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1993–94 European Super Cup: 1989, 1990, 1994 Intercontinental Cup: 1989, 1990 Atalanta

Serie B: 1983–84 Serie C1: 1981–82 Al-Ittihad

Saudi Premier League: 1999–2000 Italy

FIFA World Cup runner-up: 1994; third place: 1990 UEFA European Championship semi-finalist: 1988 UEFA U-21 European Football Championship runner-up: 1986 Individual

Serie A Team of The Year: 1986 FIFA World Cup All-Star Team: 1990 MLS All-star: 1996, 1997 MLS Best XI: 1996 Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 1998 Premio internazionale Giacinto Facchetti: 2015 AC Milan Hall of Fame

Orders

5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1991