Fabrizio Ravanelli

Fabrizio Ravanelli (; born 11 December 1968) is an Italian football manager and former player.

A former striker, Ravanelli started and ended his playing career at hometown club Perugia, and also played for Middlesbrough, Juventus and Marseille. He won trophies with Juventus including the Serie A in 1995 and the Champions League in 1996 where he scored in the final. In all, during his career he played with twelve clubs from four countries; his native Italy, England, France and Scotland. Nicknamed "The White Feather", he earned 22 caps for the Italy national team, scoring 8 goals, and was a member of the Italian squad that took part at UEFA Euro 1996.

Club career

Early career in Italy Ravanelli began his club career with his hometown club Perugia in 1986, where he remained until 1989. He had a spell with Avellino later that year, and subsequently played with Casertana for a season. In 1990, he moved to Reggiana, where he remained for two seasons. he was one of Europe's top goalscorers in the mid-1990s. After initially struggling to obtain a starting spot under Giovanni Trapattoni, due to competition from several other strikers, he eventually managed to break into the starting line-up. During the 1994–95 season, under Marcello Lippi, he played a key role as the club claimed a domestic double, playing in an attacking trident, alongside Vialli, and either Baggio or Del Piero. With the Turin club, Ravanelli won one Serie A title (1994–95), one Coppa Italia (1994–95), one Supercoppa Italiana (1995), one Champions League (1995–96), where he scored in the final against Ajax, and one UEFA Cup (1992–93). In the 1996 UEFA Champions League Final, he put Juventus 1–0 up at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. Ajax subsequently equalised, but Juventus still won the game through a penalty shootout. where his success was sustained. He scored a hat-trick on his league debut against Liverpool on the opening day of the 1996–97 season. Despite being one of the league's top scorers, Middlesbrough were relegated in the year that he joined. He did, however, help them to the final of both domestic cup competitions that season. He started both finals, as Middlesbrough lost 2–0 against Chelsea in the FA Cup Final, and Leicester City 1–0 in the replay of the League Cup Final. Against Leicester, he scored the first goal in the final of the first meeting, only for Emile Heskey to equalise and send the game to a replay, which Leicester subsequently won. Whilst at the club, he resided in the local small North Yorkshire village of Hutton Rudby, where Middlesbrough football associates, such as Paul Merson, Gordon McQueen and several other notable individuals have had residences.

Marseille After Middlesbrough's relegation, Ravanelli moved to Marseille. Ravanelli won his second Scudetto as Lazio ended the 1999–2000 season as champions, also winning the Coppa Italia, and the Supercoppa Italiana. signing a two-year deal, but could not save the club from relegation in 2002. Due to Derby's financial problems, they had to defer his wage payments which they paid for several years. following the end of his Derby contract, but was sacked after the club released all of their top earners. The only game in which Ravanelli scored for Dundee was against Clyde in a League Cup match, when he scored a hat-trick.

Perugia After the experience in Scotland, he returned to Italy to finish his career with his hometown club Perugia, with whom he had also started his professional career, with the aim of trying to save the club from relegation.

International career Ravanelli earned 22 caps for the Italy national team between 1995 and 1999, under managers Arrigo Sacchi, Cesare Maldini, and Dino Zoff, scoring eight goals. He made his international debut under Sacchi on 25 March 1995, in a 4–1 home victory over Estonia, in an UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying fixture in Salerno, also scoring his first international goal during the match. He was a member of the Italian squad that took part at UEFA Euro 1996, and made two appearances throughout the tournament, which came in Italy's opening two group matches, a 2–1 win over Russia, and a 2–1 loss against the Czech Republic, as Italy were eliminated in the first round. He missed out on a spot at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, however, as striker Enrico Chiesa was selected by Maldini in his place.

Player profile Style of play Ravanelli was a left-footed striker.

A prolific goalscorer, who was good in the air, and who possessed a powerful and accurate shot, in addition to his ability to score goals, Ravanelli was also capable of playing off his teammates, due to his link-up play, which, combined with his other skills, made him a complete forward. This also enabled him to play in a supporting role, as a second striker or even as a winger, positions in which he often utilised his ability in the air to get on the end of high balls and create chances for other strikers by providing them with headed assists from knockdowns.

Goal celebrations Ravanelli's signature goal celebration involved him pulling his shirt over his head and running around the field. He was therefore a strong opposer of the new FIFA regulation, which impeded players from removing their shirts during post goal-celebrations, and which punished any violators with a yellow card.

Managerial career

Juventus Ravanelli started his coaching career with the Juventus youth team. He joined the club's coaching staff in July 2011 and remained there until 2013.

Ajaccio On 8 June 2013, Ravanelli signed a two-year contract as the new head coach of Ligue 1 club Ajaccio.

On 2 November 2013, he was sacked from his post after his club had suffered its fifth consecutive Ligue 1 defeat (this time losing 3–1 at home against Valenciennes) on the same day that left them in 19th (second from bottom) position (one win, four draws and seven defeats in 12 Ligue 1 matches) in the Ligue 1 standings. "It is not an easy decision (to sack Ravanelli) for a number of reasons. I really appreciated Fabrizio Ravanelli, I really wanted it to work. I do not remember seeing a staff work that much, from morning till night without stopping. You know what football is like. If things are not going well, the only solution is to change the staff," said Alain Orsoni, the president of Ajaccio.

Arsenal Kyiv On 22 June 2018, Ravanelli signed contract with Ukrainian Premier League club Arsenal Kyiv. On 22 September 2018, Ravanelli resigned after the string of unsuccessful results.

Media career Following his retirement, Ravanelli also worked as a football pundit for Sky Italia, Fox Sports and Mediaset.

Personal life It has been mistakenly reported in some sources that Luca Ravanelli, a defender, is Fabrizio's son. According to Luca, he is not.

Career statistics

Club

International

Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ravanelli goal.

Manager

Honours Juventus

Middlesbrough FA Cup runner-up: 1996–97 Football League Cup runner-up: 1996–97

Marseille UEFA Cup runner-up: 1998–99

Lazio Serie A: 1999–2000 Coppa Italia: 1999–2000 Supercoppa Italiana: 2000

Individual Coppa Italia top scorer: 1994–95 (6 goals) Serie C2 top scorer: 1987–88 (23 goals) EFL Cup top scorer: 1996–97 (9 goals) FA Cup top scorer: 1996–97 (6 goals)