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Giuseppe Signori

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Giuseppe Signori
Personal information
Date of birth (1968-02-17) 17 February 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth Alzano Lombardo, Italy
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Position(s) Striker, left winger
Youth career
1981–1984 Internazionale
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1986 Leffe 38 (8)
1986–1989 Piacenza 46 (6)
1987–1988 → Trento (loan) 31 (3)
1989–1992 Foggia 100 (37)
1992–1997 Lazio 152 (107)
1998 Sampdoria 17 (3)
1998–2004 Bologna 142 (66)
2004–2005 Iraklis 5 (0)
2005–2006 Sopron 10 (3)
Total 541 (230)
International career
1992–1995 Italy 28 (7)
Medal record
Representing  Italy
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up 1994
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Giuseppe "Beppe" Signori (Italian pronunciation: [dʒuˈzɛppe siɲˈɲoːri]; born 17 February 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

He played for several clubs in Italy throughout his career, and also had spells in Greece and Hungary with Iraklis Thessaloniki and MFC Sopron respectively. Signori won the Serie A top-scorer award three times and is one of the top ten scorers in Serie A history. At international level, Signori represented Italy 28 times between 1992 and 1995, scoring 7 goals, and took part at the 1994 World Cup, where they reached the final.[1]

Club career

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Signori was born in Alzano Lombardo, Bergamo. As a youngster he played in the youth system of Internazionale, but was eventually released after being told by the club that he was too short to succeed as a professional.[2] He went on to make his pro debut for Leffe (1984–86), followed by Piacenza (1986–87 and 1988–89), Trento (1987–88), Foggia (1989–92), Lazio (1992–97), Sampdoria (January–June 1998) and Bologna (1998–2004). He then spent two short periods abroad: first in Greece in 2004 with Iraklis Thessaloniki; and then in October 2005 he signed a one-year contract with Hungarian team MFC Sopron to end his professional career.

The pinnacle of Signori's career came at Lazio, where he was the top goalscorer in Serie A three times, in 1993, 1994, and 1996 (the last title shared with Igor Protti). In 1998, he was sold for an undisclosed figure to Sampdoria after being used more sparingly by the Lazio coach Sven-Göran Eriksson. At Bologna, he helped the club to qualify for the 1998–99 UEFA Cup by winning the 1998 UEFA Intertoto Cup that season. Bologna went on to reach the semi-finals of both the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia that season. Overall, he scored 188 goals in Italy's top division, the ninth highest in the history of the league, alongside Alessandro Del Piero and Alberto Gilardino.

Between 17 May 1992 and 28 February 1993, Signori scored in a record 10 consecutive away games in Serie A (1 in 1991–92 with Foggia, and 9 in 1992–93 with Lazio). Alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, he holds the records for most consecutive away games with at least one goal in a single season (9), which he set during the 1992–93 season with Lazio.[3][4]

International career

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Signori was not able fully to translate his success to the national level, partly due to differences between him and national coach Arrigo Sacchi, who preferred to play him in the midfield, as a left winger, only using him as a forward on occasion, both as a striker and as a supporting forward. He played for the national side 28 times between 1992 and 1995, scoring seven goals. The only major tournament Signori played in was the 1994 FIFA World Cup, where he appeared six times as Italy finished in second place, but he did not play in the final against Brazil, as Italy were defeated on penalties after a 0–0 draw following extra time. Despite going scoreless during the tournament, he assisted Dino Baggio's match-winning goal against Norway in Italy's second group match,[1] and Roberto Baggio's match-winning goal in the 87th minute of the quarter-final match against Spain.[5][6]

Style of play

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Signori was a fast, hard-working, and diminutive left footed striker, who was a prolific goalscorer, due to his powerful and accurate shot, which drew frequent comparisons with Luigi Riva in the Italian media. A versatile forward, during the early part of his career he was used as a left winger or as a second striker, where his pace, excellent technique, and accurate crossing and passing ability were put to good use; in this position, he was known for his ability to cut in from the left flank and subsequently score by placing the ball at the far post with his left foot. He was also an extremely accurate set piece and penalty-kick taker, and was noted for his tendency to take set pieces and penalties without taking a run-up. When taking penalties, he often observed the keepers' movements, and attempted to send them the wrong first by waiting for them to dive before striking the ball. He scored 44 penalties from 52 attempts, making him one of the most accurate penalty takers in Serie A history, and the fifth most prolific spot kick taker of all time in the Italian league.[7][8][9][10][11] Alongside Siniša Mihajlović, he is one of two players to have scored a hat-trick from free kicks in Serie A, a feat which he managed with Lazio in a 3–1 home win over Atalanta, on 10 April 1994.[12] In training, in order to refine his accuracy from free kicks, he used to practise by attempting to curl the ball over artificial walls that were up to two metres in height, and that were placed closer to the ball than regulation distance.[13] In addition to his goalscoring and ability as a footballer, he was also known for his leadership and mentality; however, despite his talent, he was also known to be injury prone.[11][14] Signori was sponsored by Diadora and used to squeeze his feet into boots that were too small for him, claiming that this improved his touch and accuracy on the ball.[1]

After retirement

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After working as a Serie A football pundit for RAI Radio1,[15] he served as director of football of Ternana Calcio in 2008 and 2009.[16][17]

On 1 June 2011, Signori was arrested in connection with a football betting scandal, together with other former players such as Stefano Bettarini and Mauro Bressan.[18][19] He was initially placed under house arrest,[20] until it was revoked two weeks later.[21] On 9 August 2011, it was announced that he had been banned from any football-related activity for five years.[22] On 23 February 2021, Signori was acquitted due to a "lack of evidence".[23] On 1 June 2021, FIGC's President Gabriele Gravina pardoned Signori to be able to return to football.[24]

Career statistics

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Club

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Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Leffe Calcio 1984-85 Serie D 8 5 — — — 8 5
1985–86 30 3 — — — 30 3
Total 38 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 38 8
Piacenza 1986–87 Serie C 14 1 3 0 — — 17 1
Trento 1987–88 Serie C 31 3 — — — 31 3
Piacenza 1988–89 Serie B 32 5 5 0 — — 37 5
Foggia 1989–90 Serie B 34 15 — — — 34 15
1990–91 34 11 3 1 — — 37 12
1991–92 Serie A 32 11 2 0 — — 34 11
Total 100 37 5 1 0 0 0 0 105 38
Lazio 1992–93 Serie A 32 26 6 6 — — 38 32
1993–94 24 23 1 0 3 0 — 28 23
1994–95 27 17 5 4 7 0 — 39 21
1995–96 31 24 4 1 3 1 — 38 26
1996–97 32 15 4 0 3 0 — 39 15
1997–98 6 2 4 5 3 2 — 13 9
Total 152 107 24 16 19 3 0 0 195 126
Sampdoria 1997–98 Serie A 17 3 — — — 17 3
Bologna 1998–99 Serie A 28 15 5 1 11 6 2[a] 1 46 23
1999–2000 31 15 1 0 6 4 — 38 19
2000–01 23 15 2 1 — — 25 16
2001–02 14 3 1 0 — — 15 3
2002–03 24 12 — 3 2 — 27 14
2003–04 22 6 1 0 — — 23 6
Total 142 66 10 2 20 12 0 0 174 81
Career total 526 230 47 19 39 15 2 1 614 265
  1. ^ Appearances in 1998–99 Serie A UEFA Cup qualification play-offs

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[6]
National team Year Apps Goals
Italy 1992 6 2
1993 6 2
1994 13 3
1995 3 0
Total 28 7

Honours

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Leffe[25]

Piacenza[25]

Foggia[25][26]

Bologna[26][25]

Italy[27]

Individual

References

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  1. ^ a b c Emmet Gates (21 January 2015). "Remembering Dino, the other Baggio". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  2. ^ Matt Vincent (22 January 2014). "The forgotten legends of football: Giuseppe Signori". Sports Keeda. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Juve, CR7 da record: 9 trasferte di fila con gol in Serie A. E nel mirino c'è Messi". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  4. ^ "Así está la Bota de Oro: Cristiano Ronaldo empata con Mbappé y se sitúa a tres goles de Messi" (in Spanish). www.marca.com. 10 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  5. ^ Giancarlo Padovan (10 July 1994). "Spagna Adios, l'Italia avanza" (in Italian). Il Corriere della Sera. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  6. ^ a b "Nazionale in cifre: Signori, Giuseppe". www.figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  7. ^ "Chi è Signori, l'ex bomber con la mania di scommettere" (in Italian). Sky.it. 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 November 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  8. ^ Lorenzo Marucci (3 March 2015). "ESCLUSIVA TMW - Signori e i calci di punizione:"Bene Tevez, ritroviamo gli specialisti"" (in Italian). TuttoMercatoWeb.com. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  9. ^ Giorgio Dell'Arti (3 September 2014). "Biografia di Giuseppe Signori" (in Italian). www.cinquantamila.it. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  10. ^ Roberto Vinciguerra. "I migliori rigoristi della storia della serie A" [The best penalty takers in Serie A history] (in Italian). Il Guerin Sportivo. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  11. ^ a b "L'omaggio di Sacchi: lui e Signori ancora più grandi del loro talento". La Nuova Ferrara (in Italian). 11 May 2004. Archived from the original on 28 July 2020. Retrieved 24 April 2020.
  12. ^ Lanfredo Birelli (14 December 1998). "Record Mihajlovic: mai 3 gol su punizione diretta" [Mihajlovic record: never before 3 goals from direct free-kicks]. La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 26 August 2015.
  13. ^ Fabrizio Salvio (13 March 2004). "Professione cecchino". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  14. ^ Paolo Menicucci; Dinnyés Márton (18 November 2005). "Signori segna, il Sopron sogna" (in Italian). UEFA.com. Retrieved 25 January 2017.
  15. ^ "RAI: WEEKEND CON LO SPORT IN DIRETTA SU RADIO, TV E SATELLITE" (in Italian). Satellite Oggi. 14 September 2007. Archived from the original on 1 December 2007. Retrieved 16 September 2007.
  16. ^ "Signori nuovo consulente di Stefano De Dominicis" (in Italian). 28 May 2008.
  17. ^ "Dominicis ha accettato le dimissioni di Giuseppe Signori" (in Italian). 28 January 2009.
  18. ^ "Italy: Giuseppe Signori held in football fixing probe". BBC Sport. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  19. ^ "Italy: Giuseppe Signori held in football fixing probe". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 1 June 2011. Archived from the original on 16 June 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2011.
  20. ^ "Calcioscommesse, Signori: "Abbiate pietà, non posso dire nulla"" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 2 April 2014.
  21. ^ "Scommesse, revocati i domiciliari a Signori" (in Italian). Archived from the original on 17 August 2011.
  22. ^ "Soccer-Atalanta have points deducted over alleged match-fixing". Reuters. 9 August 2011. Archived from the original on 11 September 2012.
  23. ^ "Signori cleared of match-fixing after a decade". Football Italia. 23 February 2021.
  24. ^ "The FIGC'S verdict: Signori can return to football". Football Italia. 1 June 2021.
  25. ^ a b c d "Giuseppe Signori". sololalazio.it. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  26. ^ a b "Giuseppe Signori" (in Italian). Eurosport. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  27. ^ "G. Signori". Soccerway. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
  28. ^ Roberto Di Maggio; Igor Kramarsic; Alberto Novello (11 June 2015). "Italy - Serie A Top Scorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 31 October 2015. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  29. ^ Roberto Di Maggio; Davide Rota (4 June 2015). "Italy - Coppa Italia Top Scorers". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 29 October 2015. Retrieved 15 June 2015.
  30. ^ "Italy - Footballer of the Year". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 21 January 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2015.
  31. ^ "Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare Gaetano Scirea: Alba d'Oro" (in Italian). Retrieved 21 January 2015.
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