Gianluigi Lentini
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | March 27, 1969 | ||
| Place of birth | Carmagnola, Italy | ||
| Height | 1.81 m (5 ft 11 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Winger | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Torino | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1992 | Torino | 111 | (16) |
| 1988–1989 | → Ancona (loan) | 37 | (4) |
| 1992–1996 | Milan | 60 | (13) |
| 1996–1997 | Atalanta | 31 | (4) |
| 1997–2001 | Torino | 93 | (6) |
| 2001–2003 | Cosenza | 56 | (6) |
| 2003–2004 | Cosenza F.C. | 14 | (3) |
| 2004–2008 | Canelli | 74 | (37) |
| 2008–2009 | Saviglianese | 30 | (5) |
| 2009–2011 | Nicese | 9 | (2) |
| 2011–2012 | Carmagnola | ? | (?) |
| National team | |||
| 1987–1990 | Italy U21 | 2 | (0) |
| 1991–1996 | Italy[1] | 13 | (0) |
|
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. | |||
Gianluigi Lentini (born March 27, 1969)[1] is a former Italian professional footballer who played as a winger, usually on the left flank.
He was once the world's most expensive footballer, when he moved from Torino to Milan for £13 million in 1992.[2]
Club career
"He was a really big talent… Fast, strong, physical. Really good."
Lentini grew up playing in the Torino youth system. After occasional appearances for the senior side, he spent the 1988–89 season on loan with Serie B club Ancona. He returned to a Torino team that had been relegated, but scored 6 goals as they won the Serie B title and were promoted straight back to Serie A for the 1990–91 season.[4] Under the coach Emiliano Mondonico, he immediately won the Mitropa Cup in 1991, and he reached the final of the UEFA Cup in 1992, also achieving a third-place finish in Serie A during 1991–92 season.[5]
His skill, talent, and notable performances with Torino attracted attention from larger clubs, as well as his first international call-up for Italy. During this time, he was known for his pace, mobility, work-rate, strength, intelligence, and leadership. In particular, he was highly regarded for his creativity, his excellent technical ability, balance, and his dribbling skills, as well as his crossing ability, which made him extremely effective on either wing, and allowed him to beat opponents and provide assists for team-mates. He was eventually signed by A.C. Milan for a world record of £13 million in 1992, and was a key part of their side during the 1992–93 season under manager Fabio Capello, scoring 7 goals in Serie A as they won the league title, two Italian Supercups in 1992 and 1993, and as they also reached the Champions League Final, only to be defeated by Marseille.[4][5]
A year after signing for Milan, at the age of 24, Lentini was involved in a serious car crash whilst driving home from a pre-season tournament in Genoa, in August 1993. He fractured his skull and damaged his eye socket and he spent approximately 2 days in a light coma.[6] After the crash he never fully recovered those mercurial dribbling skills. Plagued by 'memory loss', periods of blurred vision, and 'dizzy spells' he was tormented by the spectre of what his career once was, when he returned to the pitch at the end of the 1993–94 season. His team-mate at the time, Marcel Desailly, was compelled to confess that “You could see the skills, how he was before the accident and after the accident, the balance was completely different”[3] His career in Milan fizzled out and culminated in a European Cup medal and another Serie A title that season, but this was merely for filling the bench; a paltry return for the world's most expensive signing at the time. The next two seasons would see him make few appearances, although he collected another Italian Supercup with the club, as well an UEFA Super Cup, in 1994, also receiving runners-up medals in the 1994 Intercontinental Cup and the 1995 UEFA Champions League Final. During his final season with the club, he won a third Serie A medal.[5]
In 1996, he moved from Milan to Atalanta for a season, helping the club to a mid-table finish alongside Filippo Inzaghi, and he went on to play for six further clubs.[7] He returned to Torino in 1997, spending three seasons with the club, and during the 1998–99 Serie B season, he helped his side to earn to promotion to Serie A the following season, where they once again would face relegation, before playing several seasons in the lower divisions with various other clubs. He subsequently played with Cosenza (2001–03), Cosenza F.C. (2003–04), Canelli (2004–08), Saviglianese (2008–09), and Nicese (2009–11), before ending his career with Carmagnola during the 2011–12 season, at the age of 43.[5]
International career
Lentini initially made 2 appearances with the Italy national under-21 football team between 1987 and 1990, making his debut on 29 November 1989; he was a member of the squad that reached the semi-finals of the 1990 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, under manager Cesare Maldini, eventually finishing the tournament in third place. Whilst at Torino, he gained his first senior cap for the Italy national football team, in an international friendly in Terni against Belgium on 13 February 1991, which ended in a 0–0 draw. He later become a regular member of Arrigo Sacchi's Italy side during the 1994 FIFA World Cup Qualifying campaign, although he would miss out on the final tournament due to his inconsistent performances following his serious car accident in August 1993. He was capped on 13 occasions in total, making his last appearance on 6 November 1996.[1]
Personal life
His son, Nicholas, is currently a goalkeeper playing for Bari.[8]
Honours
- UEFA Champions League: 1993–94
- Serie A: 1992–93, 1993–94, 1995–96
- Italian Super Cup: 1992, 1993, 1994
- UEFA Super Cup: 1994
References
- 1 2 3 "Convocazioni e presenze in campo: Lentini Gianluigi". Club Italia: Nazionale A (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ↑ Oliver Irish (2 September 2001). "The 10 biggest wastes of money in football history". The Observer. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
- 1 2 Charlie Pulling (27 January 2013). "The real story of Gianluigi Lentini". worldsoccer.com. World Soccer. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
- 1 2 Daz Pearce (24 March 2010). "Calcio Retro - the Lentini story". footballitaliano.co.uk. Retrieved 25 February 2012.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Gianluigi Lentini" (in Italian). Storie di Calcio. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ↑ "Lentini 'will recover' from car crash injuries". The Independent. 4 August 1993. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- ↑ "Gianluigi Lentini – Legend Of Calcio Or Not". Forza Italian Football. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
- ↑ Paolo Ghisoni. "NICHOLAS LENTINI" (in Italian). Talenti del Calcio. Retrieved 28 January 2016.