Paolo Zanetti

Paolo Zanetti

Zanetti with Ascoli in 2007
Personal information
Full name	Paolo Zanetti
Date of birth	(1982-12-16) 16 December 1982 (age 42)
Place of birth	Valdagno, Italy
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Hellas Verona (head coach)
Youth career
0000–1997	Ponte dei Nori
1997–2001	Vicenza
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2001–2003	Vicenza	45	(1)
2003–2006	Empoli	52	(2)
2006–2007	Ascoli	29	(1)
2007–2011	Torino	72	(1)
2010	→ Atalanta (loan)	2	(0)
2011–2012	Grosseto	14	(0)
2012–2013	Sorrento	13	(1)
2013–2014	Reggiana	27	(1)
Total		254	(7)
International career
2000	Italy U19 [1]	2	(0)
2000–2001	Italy U20 B [1]	2	(0)
2001–2002	Italy U20 [1]	13	(2)
2002–2003	Italy U21 [1]	5	(0)
Managerial career
2017–2019	Südtirol
2019–2020	Ascoli
2020–2022	Venezia
2022–2023	Empoli
2024–	Hellas Verona
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Paolo Zanetti (born 16 December 1982) is an Italian professional football manager and former player, currently in charge as the head coach of Serie A club Hellas Verona. As a player, he played as a midfielder.

Club career

Zanetti started his career at his hometown club Vicenza.

Empoli

Zanetti was sold to Empoli in a co-ownership deal in July 2003, ^{[2] [3]} for €671,400 fee (about 1.3 billion lire). ^[4]

In his first season with Empoli, he just made 13 appearances in Serie A. However, Empoli was relegated to Serie B at the end of the season and Zanetti followed the club.

Zanetti played 30 games in the 2004–05 Serie B season, helping the club to win promotion back to Serie A. However, he just made nine appearances for the club in Serie A in the following season. In June 2006 Empoli signed him outright from Vicenza, ^[5] for an additional €125,000 fee, ^[4] making Empoli had paid Vicenza €796,400 in total.

Ascoli

After acquiring the remaining 50% registration rights from Vicenza in June 2006 for an additional €125,000 transfer fee, ^[4] Empoli sold Zanetti to Ascoli in another co-ownership deal for €400,000 transfer fee in July. ^{[6] [7]}

Torino

In May 2007, Zanetti said he would stay on at Ascoli, despite them being relegated to Serie B. ^[8] Ascoli bought the full registration rights of the player for an additional €750,000 fee, (making Ascoli had paid €1.15 million transfer fee in total) ^[6] but sent Zanetti, along with Saša Bjelanović, to Torino in another co-ownership deals for €1 million fee each, in a five-year and three-year contract respectively. ^[9] In the mid of same season Torino bought him outright for an additional €500,000 (making Torino had paid Ascoli €1.5 million transfer fee for Zanetti in total) ^[10] and Bjelanović was also bought by Torino for an additional €60,000 in June 2008. ^[10]

During 2009–10 season, ultras of Torino attacked the players during David Di Michele's birthday party. ^{[11] [12]} After the incident the players involved: Di Michele, Massimo Loviso, Riccardo Colombo, Aimo Diana, Marco Pisano, Francesco Pratali, Zanetti were transferred to other clubs and only Rolando Bianchi, Matteo Rubin and Angelo Ogbonna were remained.

On 19 January 2010, Atalanta B.C. signed him on loan from Serie B club Torino F.C. until the end of the season. ^[13]

Grosseto

After being inactive from football for a season, Zanetti joined U.S. Grosseto F.C. on 8 August 2011 in a one-year deal. ^[14] Torino and Zanetti terminated the contract between the two parties in mutual consent. ^[15]

Sorrento

In January 2012 he was signed by Sorrento Calcio. ^[16] In May 2012 he signed a new two-year contract with Sorrento. ^[17]

Reggiana

On 23 January 2013, he was signed by Reggiana. ^[18] On 26 August 2013, he signed a new two-year contract. ^[19] On 18 November 2014 Zanetti retired and became a backroom staff of the first team (Italian : collaboratore tecnico di Prima Squadra). ^[20]

International career

Zanetti was a player of Azzurrini in 2001 UEFA European Under-18 Championship qualification ^{[nb 1]} He played twice. ^[1] After the elimination of Italy from the competition, he also played for the U-19 team (de facto U-20 B) in two friendlies, ^[1] against Netherlands (who still in the Euro U-19 competition) ^[21] and Germany respectively in March and May 2001. In the 2001–02 season, he played 13 times for the U-20 team, including matches in a four nations tournament. In the following season, he played once for the U-21 team in 2004 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification as well as 3 friendlies. ^[1] In his only competitive appearance in the U-21 Euro, he was a substitute of Samuele Dalla Bona. ^[22] He played his final appearance in national team against Austria on 19 August 2003, another friendly match. ^[1]

Managerial career

After retiring, Zanetti stayed at Reggiana as a technical collaborator and then as a youth coach.

In 2017, Zanetti took on his first head coaching job at Serie C club Südtirol. After two seasons ended with two consecutive promotion playoff appearances, on 7 June 2019, he left Südtirol for Serie B club Ascoli. He was sacked by Ascoli on 27 January 2020 following a 0–1 home loss to Frosinone that left the club in the bottom half of the Serie B league table. ^[23]

On 27 May 2021, Zanetti secured Venezia's return to Serie A after a 2–1 aggregate win in the promotion play-off over Cittadella, thus ending their 19-year exile from the top flight. ^[24] On 27 April 2022, Zanetti was sacked by the club following a run of eight straight defeats that saw Venezia bottom of the Serie A table. ^[25]

On 6 June 2022, Serie A club Empoli, a former team of his as a player, announced they had hired Zanetti on a two-year deal as their new head coach. ^[26] After guiding Empoli to a mid-table placement in the club's 2022–23 Serie A campaign, Zanetti was dismissed on 19 September 2023 following a dismal start to the new season, with four losses in the first four games and following a 0–7 defeat against Roma. ^[27]

On 13 June 2024, Zanetti was unveiled as the new head coach of Hellas Verona, signing a one-year contract with an extension option for one further year. ^[28]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 20 December 2024^{[ citation needed ]}

Managerial record by team and tenure

Team	Nat.	From	To	Record
				G	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win %
Südtirol		6 July 2017	7 June 2019	85	35	29	21	95	75	+20	041.18
Ascoli		7 June 2019	27 January 2020	24	10	3	11	37	34	+3	041.67
Venezia		14 August 2020	27 April 2022	81	25	25	31	96	111	−15	030.86
Empoli		1 July 2022	19 September 2023	44	10	13	21	39	65	−26	022.73
Hellas Verona		12 June 2024	present	18	5	0	13	22	42	−20	027.78
Total				252	85	70	97	289	327	−38	033.73

Notes

1. The event was renamed to U-19 from 2001 onward to reflect the age limit at the end of the season instead of the start of the season. i.e. age limit unchanged

References

1. FIGC archive (in Italian)
2. "E' Paolo Zanetti il rinforzo per il centrocampo". Il Tirreno (in Italian). Gruppo Editoriale L'Espresso. 12 July 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
3. "Calcio Mercato 2003" [Football Market 2003](PDF) (in Italian). Lega Calcio. 17 July 2003. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 July 2003. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
4. Vicenza Calcio S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. (in Italian)
5. "partecipazioni 2006–07" (PDF) (in Italian). Lega Calcio. 20 June 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2006.
6. Empoli F.C. S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 30 June 2007, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. (in Italian)
7. "Mercato bianconero" [Market "White-Black"] (in Italian). Ascoli Calcio 1898. 7 July 2006. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
8. Ascoli midfielder Zanetti: I'll renew my contract, ontheminute.com, 24 May 2007
9. Torino F.C. S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2007, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. (in Italian)
10. Torino F.C. S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2008, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A. (in Italian)
11. Turco, Fabrizio (7 January 2010). "Il Torino è senza pace Ora si parla di sciopero". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). RCSMedia Group. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
12. "Torino fans in player restaurant attack". Soccernet. ESPN Inc. 7 January 2010. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 15 May 2010.
13. "ZANETTI ALL'ATALANTA" (in Italian). Atalanta B.C. January 2010.^{[ permanent dead link ‍]}
14. "Paolo Zanetti al Grosseto" (in Italian). U.S. Grosseto F.C. 8 August 2011. Archived from the original on 28 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
15. Torino F.C. S.p.A. bilancio (financial report and accounts) on 31 December 2011, PDF purchased from Italian C.C.I.A.A.
16. "ARRIVA PAOLO ZANETTI DAL GROSSETO" (in Italian). Sorrento Calcio. 31 January 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 28 March 2013.
17. Losco, Gianluca (15 May 2012). "ESCLUSIVA TMW - Zanetti continuerà con il Sorrento" (in Italian). Total Market Web. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
18. "Definito l'ingaggio di Zanetti" (in Italian). A.C. Reggiana 1919. 23 January 2013. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
19. "Zanetti allunga al 2015, Panizzi alla SPAL" (in Italian). A.C. Reggiana 1919. 26 August 2013. Archived from the original on 25 March 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
20. "Zanetti entra nello staff tecnico" (in Italian). A.C. Reggiana 1919. 18 November 2014. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
21. "Uitslagen: Onder 19 [2000]". onsoranje.nl (in Dutch). KNVB. 2016. Archived from the original on 7 September 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
22. Match Report from FIGC archive (in Italian)
23. "Comunicato: esonero per Paolo Zanetti". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 27 January 2020. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
24. "Venezia promoted to Serie A". Football Italia. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
25. "Paolo Zanetti relieved of managerial duties". Venezia F.C. 27 April 2022. Retrieved 27 April 2022.
26. "Paolo Zanetti è il nuovo allenatore dell'Empoli" (in Italian). Empoli FC. 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
27. "Comunicato ufficiale" (in Italian). Empoli FC. 19 September 2023. Retrieved 19 September 2023.
28. "Paolo Zanetti è il nuovo allenatore dell'Hellas Verona". Hellas Verona FC. 13 June 2024. Retrieved 13 June 2024.

External links

• 2005–06 Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian)