Antonio Conte

Infobox Football biography


playername= Antonio Conte
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1969|7|31
cityofbirth = Lecce
countryofbirth = Italy
height = height|metres=1.78
currentclub = Bari
position = Manager (former midfielder)
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1985-1992 1992-2004
clubs = Lecce Juventus
caps(goals) = 089 0(1) 295 (29)
nationalyears = 1994-2000
nationalteam = Italy
nationalcaps(goals) = 20 (2)
manageryears = 2005-2006 2006 2007
2007-
managerclubs = Siena ("assistant coach") Arezzo Arezzo Bari
pcupdate = December 11 2006
ntupdate = December 11 2006

Antonio Conte (born July 31, 1969 in Lecce) is an Italian former football (soccer) player turned manager.

Career

Player

He began to play football in the Lecce youth team, before making his Serie A debut with the first squad in 1985. He was signed by Juventus in 1992, being later made captain before the promotion of Alessandro Del Piero to this role. During the 1998-1999 season when Del Piero suffered a horrendous leg injury, Conte returned to the captaincy temporarily and led Juventus to the UEFA Champions League semifinals.

In 2002-2003, Conte was part of the Juventus team which reached the UEFA Champions League final only to lose on penalties to AC Milan, with Conte himself coming closest to winning the game for Juventus in normal time when he crashed a header off the crossbar early in the second half.

Conte became one of the most decorated and influencial players of Juventus F.C. history.

He played for Italy national football team and was a participant at the 1994 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 UEFA European Championship.

Honours

* Serie A Winner (1995, 1997, 1998, 2002 & 2003)
* Serie A Runner-up (1992, 1994, 1996, 2000 & 2001)
* UEFA Champions League Winner (1996)
* UEFA Champions League Runner-up (1997, 1998 & 2003)
* UEFA Cup Winner (1993)
* UEFA Cup Runner-up (1995)
* UEFA Intertoto Cup Winner (1999)
* Intercontinental Cup Winner (1996)
* UEFA Super Cup Winner (1996)
* Italian Cup Winner (1995)
* Italian Cup Runner-up (1992, 2002 & 2004)
* Supercoppa Italiana Winner (1995, 1997, 2002 & 2003)

Coach

After having retired as footballer, Conte worked as assistant manager for Siena alongside Luigi De Canio in the 2005-2006 season. In July 2006 he was appointed coach of Serie B side Arezzo: however, after a series of disappointing results, he was sacked on October 31, 2006; on March 13, 2007 he was reinstated at the Arezzo head coaching position, as his predecessor failed to gain any significant improvement. In his second time at Arezzo he led the team to five consecutive wins in a row, and 19 points in 7 matches, which allowed the Tuscan side to fill the gap from the last safe spot; his team however did not manage to avoid relegation, and Arezzo dropped into Serie C1 on the final matchday, only one point behind Spezia.

On December 27, 2007 he was appointed by Bari to replace Giuseppe Materazzi for the second half of their Serie B 2007-08 campaign.cite web |url=http://www.corrieredellosport.it/Notizie/Calcio/12307/Materazzi+si+dimette:+Antonio+Conte+a+Bari|publisher=Corriere dello Sport.it |title=Materazzi si dimette: Antonio Conte a Bari |accessdate=2007-12-28 |date=2007-12-28|language=Italian ]

References