Ciro Ferrara

Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. Ferrara spent his playing career as a defender, initially at Napoli and later on at Juventus, winning seven total Serie A titles as well as other domestic and international trophies.

His most recent position was as manager of Wuhan Zall. He had also previously coached Juventus and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to Marcello Lippi, he won the 2006 FIFA World Cup with Italy.

At international level, he earned 49 caps for the Italian national team and represented the team at the 1988 Summer Olympics, at two UEFA European Championships, in 1988 and 2000, and at the 1990 World Cup.

Club career Napoli

A native of Naples, Ferrara began his career with the youth system of hometown club Napoli in 1980. He graduated from the primavera youth squad in 1984 and began to earn first-team call-ups that season. He made 14 total appearances with the club in his first full season. The following season, Ferrara became a part of the starting XI, and he soon began earning call-ups to the Italy national team, making the squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He also scored one of Napoli's goals as they won the 1989 UEFA Cup final. In addition to the UEFA Cup, with Napoli he won two Serie A titles (in 1986–87 and 1989–90), the 1987 Coppa Italia final, and the 1990 Supercoppa Italiana, the latter over his future team, Juventus. In 1988, he was a member of the Italy team that finished in fourth place at the 1988 Summer Olympics after reaching the semi-final.

Style of play Ferrara was known for his composure, anticipation, technical ability, and versatility as a defender. Although primarily a centre-back, he was capable of playing across the back line, including as a man-marker ("stopper") or as a right-back, allowing him to adapt to a variety of tactical systems. He is regarded as one of the leading Italian centre-backs of his generation. Welsh former winger Ryan Giggs described Ferrara and his defensive teammate at Juventus, Paolo Montero as "...the toughest defenders [he] played against", also adding that they were often very hard to face in their challenges, compared to Polish former midfielder Zbigniew Boniek, who has stated that Ferrara was the best defender that he ever faced. Described as a precocious talent in his youth, Ferrara later established himself as one of the best defenders in the world, in his prime. He was considered to be an experienced, consistent, cautious and successful defender, with a good positional sense, who was quick, athletic, strong in the air, a good tackler, and someone who excelled at reading the game and marking his opponents. In addition to his defensive skills, he was also known for his offensive contribution as a centre-back, In spite of his tenacious playing style, he was also known to be a fair and correct player, and for his professionalism, leadership, strong personality, and his commanding presence both on the pitch and in the dressing room.

Coaching career Ferrara was part of the Italian technical staff for the 2006 World Cup. After winning the World Cup, he became part of Juventus' staff, joining former club and national teammate Gianluca Pessotto, with Ferrara being named youth system chief (responsabile settore giovanile), dealing mostly with organisational aspects of the Juve academy. In July 2008, Ferrara took the UEFA Pro License coaching badges following training at Coverciano, Florence. After Juventus fired Claudio Ranieri following a string of seven league games without a win in the 2008–09 season, Ferrara was named interim head coach of Juventus on 18 May 2009 for the remaining two weeks of the season, with the goal of maintaining second place in the league table, and the possibility of being appointed on a full-time basis for a longer period. In his two games as caretaker manager, he led Juventus to 3–0 and 2–0 wins over Siena and Lazio respectively, thus ensuring a second-place finish over rivals Milan. Following these results, he emerged as a strong candidate to take the job permanently for the next season. On 5 June 2009, Juventus formally announced his appointment as manager for the 2009–10 season.

During the summer, the team was then strengthened with high-profile signings such as Brazilian internationals Diego and Felipe Melo; 2006 World Cup champions Fabio Cannavaro and Fabio Grosso in defence; and young Uruguayan international Martín Cáceres, on loan. After winning his first four league matches, Ferrara's fortunes changed after Juve failed to make the knockout stage of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League following a 4–1 defeat by Bayern Munich at home in a match where a draw would have awarded Juve the qualification to the following phase, despite a promising start to the campaign. Despite a win over Derby d'Italia rivals Internazionale, Juve embarked on a losing streak over the winter, notably against minor teams such as Sicilian side Catania and recently promoted Bari. He came under intense scrutiny from the media and there was much speculation about who would succeed him as manager, especially after he was absent at the traditional meeting of all Serie A managers, coaches and referees in Rome during mid-season and was instead represented by then-Juventus director of sport Alessio Secco and 23-year-old midfielder Claudio Marchisio at the press conference.

Six days later, Juventus were knocked out of the Coppa Italia by Inter 2–1 at the San Siro, leading the board of directors to ultimately sack Ferrara after weeks of speculation regarding his position, replacing him with Alberto Zaccheroni until the end of the season.

On 22 October 2010, Ferrara was announced as new head coach of the Italy under-21 team, with former teammate Angelo Peruzzi his assistant. Under Ferrara, the Azzurrini remain unbeaten in the 2013 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifiers as of June 2012. On 2 July 2012, he left the country's U-21 side to coach newly promoted Serie A side Sampdoria for the 2012–13 season. However, he was sacked on 17 December 2012.

Personal life With his fellow Neapolitan friend and former defensive teammate Fabio Cannavaro, Ferrara has helped establish a charity foundation, Fondazione Cannavaro Ferrara, specialising in the procurement of cancer research equipment and surgery for special cases of cancer for a hospital in their native Naples. The foundation also aims to help at-risk youth in Naples.

Career statistics Club

International

Coach

Honours Player Napoli Serie A: 1986–87, 1989–90 Coppa Italia: 1986–87 Supercoppa Italiana: 1990 UEFA Cup: 1988–89 Juventus UEFA Intertoto Cup: 1999 UEFA Super Cup: 1996 Intercontinental Cup: 1996 UEFA Champions League: Runner-up: 1996–97, 1997–98, 2002–03 UEFA Cup: Runner-up: 1994–95

Italy Olympic Team Summer Olympic Games: semi-finals: 1988

Italy UEFA European Championship: Runner-up: 2000 FIFA World Cup: Bronze Medal: 1990 UEFA European Championship: Bronze Medal: 1988 Scania 100 Tournament: 1991

Individual ESM Team of the Year: 1996–97 FIFA XI (Reserve): 2000 Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 2003 Pallone d'Argento: 2003 Juventus FC Hall of Fame: 2025

Orders

Assistant coach Italy FIFA World Cup: 2006