Ciriaco Sforza

Ciriaco Sforza (; born 2 March 1970) is a Swiss football manager and former professional player who last managed Swiss Challenge League club FC Schaffhausen.

After beginning his career with Swiss clubs FC Aarau and Grasshopper Club Zürich, he most notably played for Inter Milan in Italy, and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and Bayern Munich in Germany. Sforza represented the Switzerland national team 79 times, and represented his country at the 1994 World Cup and Euro 96.

Early and personal life Sforza was born Wohlen, in German-speaking Switzerland, where he was also raised, to an Italian father from Avellino. According to his website, he is married and has two children.

Club career Sforza started his career in his hometown club FC Wohlen. He was signed by FC Aarau in 1989, where he impressed commentators and fans alike. Sforza's precocious talent was soon noticed, and he was signed by Swiss club Grasshoppers Zürich one year later. He represented Grasshoppers during three successful seasons, also setting a record for the club as the youngest player to make his debut in the Swiss Challenge League.

Sforza became the general of the Kaiserslautern midfield and was recognised as one of the best midfielders in the German Bundesliga championship, also receiving a Ballon d'Or nomination in 1994, finishing in 21st place. During his time with Inter, Sforza became known for his inconsistency in Serie A, and he is famously remembered in Italy for being referenced in the Italian film Tre Uomini e una Gamba, by Italian comedic trio Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo; in the film, Aldo states that he had to purchase Sforza's number 21 Inter jersey as Ronaldo's was out of stock. He represented Switzerland at the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament in England, where they were eliminated in the first round. He also captained the Swiss national side. In total, he managed 79 appearances for Switzerland, scoring 7 goals.

Managerial career Sforza went on to become manager of Swiss team FC Luzern, and was sacked after two more or less successful years managing the team. On 9 June 2009, he was named as the new manager of Grasshopper Club Zürich. signing a contract between 30 June 2011. On 13 April 2012, Sforza left the club after poor results.

In February 2014, he was appointed as the new head coach of FC Wohlen, replacing David Sesa.

On 1 April 2019, he became the manager of FC Wil.

On 26 August 2020, Sforza became the head coach of Basel, signing a two-year contract. He took his assistant Daniel Hasler from Wil with him. Massimo Colomba was goalkeeper coach and on 21 September the club announced that they had hired Patrick Rahmen as second assistant coach to complete Sforza's coaching team. Sforza's first match was on 17 September in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round against Croatian team Osijek which ended with a 2–1 victory. On 6 April 2021 the club announced that, due to the lack of sporting success, FC Basel 1893 were separating themselves from head coach Ciriaco Sforza with immediate effect. They also announced that they separated themselves from assistant manager Daniel Hasler at the same time.

On 14 June 2024, after three years away from coaching, he was confirmed as the new head coach of FC Schaffhausen, who play in the Swiss Challenge League, the second tier of Switzerland. He was dismissed from his position on 4 March 2025, with Schaffhausen in last place of the league and having won just 20 points in 24 games.

Career statistics Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sforza goal.

Managerial statistics

Honours

Player Grasshopper Club Zürich Swiss Super League: 1990–91

Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 2000–01 UEFA Champions League: 2000–01 UEFA Cup: 1995–96 Intercontinental Cup: 2001

Inter Milan UEFA Cup runners-up: 1996–97

1. FC Kaiserslautern Bundesliga: 1997–98