Cristiano Lucarelli

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Cristiano Lucarelli
Lucarelli in 2011
Personal information
Date of birth (1975-10-04) 4 October 1975 (age 48)
Place of birth Livorno, Italy
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1993
Cuoiopelli
28 (5)
1993–1995
Perugia
7 (0)
1995–1996 Cosenza 32 (15)
1996–1997 Padova 34 (14)
1997–1998 Atalanta 26 (5)
1998–1999 Valencia 13 (1)
1999–2001 Lecce 59 (27)
2001–2003 Torino 56 (10)
2003–2007
Livorno
146 (92)
2007–2008 Shakhtar Donetsk 12 (4)
2008–2012
Parma
45 (16)
2009–2010
Livorno
(loan)
28 (10)
2010–2012Napoli (loan) 12 (1)
Total 498 (200)
International career
1996 Italy Olympic 2 (0)
1996–1997 Italy U21 10 (10)
1997 Italy U23 2 (0)
2005–2007 Italy 6 (3)
Managerial career
2013 Perugia
2013–2014
Viareggio
2014–2015 Pistoiese
2015–2016 Tuttocuoio
2016–2017 Messina
2017–2018 Catania
2018
Livorno
2019–2020 Catania
2020–2022 Ternana
2023 Ternana
2023 Ternana
2023–2024 Catania
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Cristiano Lucarelli (Italian pronunciation: [kriˈstjaːno lukaˈrɛlli]; born 4 October 1975) is an Italian football manager and a former player who played as a forward.

Club career

Lucarelli was born in Livorno, Italy.

A journeyman

following season, with 24 in 35 matches as Livorno finished in eighth place.[3][4][5]

A rarity in the football world in terms of club loyalty, he rejected several better-paying offers from other Italian and European clubs (among them a €3 million offer from Zenit Saint Petersburg in July 2006) to remain with Livorno.[3] He was once quoted as saying, "Some football players pay a billion for a Ferrari or a yacht; with that money, I bought myself Livorno’s shirt. That's all."[6]

He scored his 100th Serie A goal as part of a hat-trick in a 4–1 defeat of

Catania on 1 April 2007.[7]

Lucarelli's seemingly perfect relationship with the team soured after a conflict with club president

Reggina
, with many fans going as far as to accuse Livorno of match-fixing. Lucarelli, hurt by the fans' criticism, reiterated his plans to leave Livorno at the end of the season.

In May, he was quick to snuff out rumours of a move to Serie A rivals

being interested in his services.

However, on 13 July, Lucarelli agreed to join

Shakhtar Donetsk for £6 million, signing a three-year contract worth £2.8 million a season, thus becoming the first Italian to play in Ukraine.[8] The news resulted in a flood of negative responses from fans on his official website. He replied to the furore at a press conference, "I am going, but I didn't hold a gun to anyone's head... Shakhtar signed me for a figure that was below the buy-out clause of my contract. That means the club made its considerations and thought that £6m was good for a player going on 32."[citation needed
]

Lucarelli scored his first European goal for Shakhtar in their 3–1 third qualifying round return game of the 2007–08 Champions League against Red Bull Salzburg on 29 August 2007.[9]

On 15 January 2008, Lucarelli was sold to Parma for 4 million, and he signed a three-and-a-half year, 1.2 million contract.[10] His younger brother, Alessandro, joined him at Parma for the 2008–09 season. His time at Parma did not prove to be particularly successful, as he scored only four goals in 16 matches in the remaining half of the 2007–08 season, with his side being ultimately relegated to Serie B after a long struggle with results. He also opted to stay with Parma for the 2008–09 season, aiming to contribute to bringing the team back into the top flight. During the first part of the season, he initially served as the club's captain and played 19 games, scoring a total of eight goals; however, on 5 February, ahead of the team's away fixture against Ancona, he was ultimately left out of the first team after leaving a training session early. He was subsequently featured intermittently throughout the second half of the season. In total, he only made 29 appearances for the club throughout the season (out of a possible 42), scoring 12 goals.[11]

In July 2009, Lucarelli completed a much-publicized comeback at Livorno on a loan move from Parma; he had already played for Livorno from 2003 to 2007.[12][13]

In June 2010, after

Parma, who continued in Serie A.[14]

On 21 August 2010, it was announced that he had been loaned to Napoli.[14][15] After two seasons with the club, he announced his retirement after the end of the 2011–12 season.[16]

International career

Lucarelli was capped six times for the Italy senior squad between 2005 and 2007, scoring 3 goals;[17] he was also a member of the team that took part in the 1996 Summer Olympics.[18] His aforementioned debut was during a 2005 friendly tournament in the United States and Canada, where he scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw against Serbia and Montenegro at the Rogers Centre in Toronto on 8 June.[19] He was left off the Italy roster for the 2006 FIFA World Cup,[20] but was recalled by new coach Roberto Donadoni – who had briefly coached Lucarelli at Livorno earlier in the year – for a friendly against Croatia on 16 August 2006.[17][21]

Due to a rash of injuries among the Azzurri, Lucarelli was summoned for a pair of June

South Africa on 17 October.[17][26]

Coaching career

Lucarelli became a youth coach at

Viareggio, still in Lega Pro Prima Divisione.[29] He then left the club in June 2014 to accept an offer from newly promoted Lega Pro club Pistoiese.[30]

In October 2016, he was named the new head coach of relegation-struggling Lega Pro club

In July 2017, Lucarelli was appointed Catania's new head coach. After one season in charge, he left the club to become the manager of

Livorno, but he was sacked on 7 November due to a poor start in the 2018–19 Serie B
season.

On 22 October 2019, he was hired by Catania once again.[34] On 29 July 2020, his Catania contract was terminated by mutual consent.[35]

On 8 August 2020, he joined Ternana in Serie C.[36] Under his tenure, Ternana were crowned Girone C champions, winning promotion to Serie B on 3 April 2021 with still four games in hand.[37]

After guiding Ternana to safety in their first season back to Serie B, and despite a positive start to the 2022–23 Serie B season, Lucarelli was dismissed on 26 November 2022 following a negative string of results;[38] he was appointed back at the helm of Ternana on 27 February 2023, following the resignations of Aurelio Andreazzoli.[39] After not being confirmed by the end of the season, Lucarelli was hired for a third time on 14 July 2023, following a change of ownership and the early departure of Aurelio Andreazzoli, who was originally expected to be the new manager for the 2023–24 season.[40] He was however dismissed once again on 6 November 2023 after a negative start to the season.[41] Just a few days later, on 14 November, Lucarelli agreed to return to Serie C club Catania, signing a contract until 30 June 2026 with the Sicilians.[42] He was removed from his coaching post just a few months later, on 7 March 2024, after failing to improve the team results, leaving Catania just above the relegation playoff zone, despite having successfully led the Rossazzurri to qualify for the Coppa Italia Serie C finals.[43]

Outside of professional football

Personal life

Cristiano's younger brother, Alessandro, is also a former footballer, who played as a defender in the Serie A league (also sharing a few seasons together with Cristiano while at Livorno), and most notably captaining Parma.[44]

His son Mattia (born 1999), a full-back, followed in his father's footsteps, also playing for Livorno himself during the 2022–23 season.[45]

Business ventures

On 16 July 2010, Lucarelli became a share-holding partner of

Carrarese; he initially owned 50% of the club's shares, along with Gianluigi Buffon and Maurizio Mian.[46]

Passion, political views and controversy

Lucarelli's passion for his home club often resulted in many questionable incidents.[47] The May 2005 issue of Calcio Italia reported that he had paid for a bus that brought a cadre of travelling Livorno fans back to the city after they had been arrested for rioting. He has the Livorno logo tattooed on his left forearm and his jersey number, 99, was an homage to left-wing ultras group Brigate Autonome Livornesi, which was founded in 1999.[48]

He was also of an increasingly rare breed of Italian footballer who openly brought his politics onto the pitch; his goal celebration consisted of a dual

Communist party.[49] He has openly stated that he is a supporter of communism.[50] One of his mobile phone ringtones was Bandiera Rossa, and he once declared, “We Livorno get no favours from the referees because we are Communists!”, but later retracted this statement.[51]

He is a staunch admirer of

friendly in 2005.[49]

Lucarelli met Guevara's daughter, Aleida Guevara, after the 2004–05 Serie A season; one subject of discussion was the possibility of Livorno travelling to Cuba to play a charity match, but it never came to fruition.[54]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[55][56][1]
Club Season League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Cuoiopelli
1992–93 Nazionale Dilettanti 28 5 0 0 28 5
Perugia
1993–94 Serie C1 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
1994–95 Serie B 5 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Total 7 0 0 0 0 0 7 0
Cosenza 1995–96 Serie B 32 15 0 0 0 0 32 15
Padova 1996–97 Serie B 34 14 1 0 0 0 35 14
Atalanta 1997–98 Serie A 26 5 4 1 0 0 30 6
Valencia 1998–99 La Liga 13 1 0 0 7 2 20 3
Lecce 1999–2000 Serie A 30 15 4 2 0 0 34 17
2000–01 29 12 4 2 0 0 33 14
Total 59 27 8 4 0 0 67 31
Torino 2001–02 Serie A 30 9 0 0 0 0 30 9
2002–03 26 1 2 0 4 1 32 2
Total 56 10 2 0 4 1 62 11
Livorno
2003–04 Serie B 41 29 1 0 0 0 42 29
2004–05 Serie A 35 24 4 1 0 0 39 25
2005–06 36 19 3 3 0 0 39 22
2006–07 34 20 1 0 7 5 42 25
Total 146 92 9 4 7 5 162 101
Shakhtar Donetsk
2007–08
Premier League 12 4 0 0 9 4 21 8
Parma
2007–08 Serie A 16 4 0 0 0 0 16 4
2008–09 Serie B 29 12 1 0 0 0 30 12
Total 45 16 1 0 0 0 46 16
Livorno 2009–10 Serie A 28 10 2 0 0 0 30 10
Napoli 2010–11 Serie A 9 1 1 0 1 0 11 1
2011–12 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 0
Total 12 1 1 0 1 0 14 1
Career total 498 200 28 9 28 12 554 221

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[57]
National team Year Apps Goals
Italy 2005 2 1
2006 1 0
2007 3 2
Total 6 3

Managerial statistics

As of 18 February 2024[58]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Perugia Italy 24 June 2013 24 August 2013 1 0 0 1 0 1 −1 000.00
Viareggio
Italy 30 October 2013 12 June 2014 23 6 4 13 20 33 −13 026.09
Pistoiese Italy 12 June 2014 9 February 2015 27 7 9 11 29 44 −15 025.93
Tuttocuoio Italy 18 June 2015 26 April 2016 36 10 10 16 25 39 −14 027.78
Messina Italy 18 October 2016 15 June 2017 32 12 9 11 33 38 −5 037.50
Catania
Italy 15 June 2017 4 July 2018 43 25 8 10 80 38 +42 058.14
Livorno
Italy 6 July 2018 6 November 2018 12 1 3 8 9 20 −11 008.33
Catania
Italy 22 October 2019 29 July 2020 27 12 10 5 29 25 +4 044.44
Ternana Italy 8 August 2020 26 November 2022 95 52 20 23 185 122 +63 054.74
Ternana Italy 27 February 2023 21 June 2023 12 2 3 7 11 19 −8 016.67
Ternana Italy 14 July 2023 6 November 2023 13 1 3 9 10 17 −7 007.69
Catania Italy 14 November 2023 Present 17 6 5 6 21 15 +6 035.29
Career total 338 134 84 120 452 411 +41 039.64

Honours

Player

Perugia[1]

Valencia[59]

Shakhtar[1]

Napoli[1][59]

  • 2011–12

Individual

Managerial

Ternana

References

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  2. ^ "Cristiano Lucarelli allo Shakhtar Donetsk" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 13 July 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Paolo Menicucci (13 May 2005). "Money can't buy Lucarelli". UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  4. ^ Nadia Carminati. "Lucarelli top of the charts". Sky Sports. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  5. ^ "Livorno 'not interested in selling Lucarelli'". ESPN FC. 29 August 2005. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  6. ^ Greg Lea (30 November 2014). "Livorno keep the red flag flying in Italy". World Soccer. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  7. ^ "Lucarelli è l'anima del Livorno Il capitano festeggia i 100 gol in A" (in Italian). La Repubblica. 1 April 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  8. ^ Jonathan Wilson (18 September 2007). "Shakhtar Donetsk are hoping money talks in Europe". The Guardian. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  9. ^ Pavle Gognidze (19 September 2007). "Lucarelli justifies Donetsk decision". UEFA.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  10. ^ "2008 as it happened". World Soccer. 22 December 2008. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
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  18. ^ "Atlanta, 1996: Mexico - Italy (1 - 0)". FIFA.com. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
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  34. Catania. 22 October 2019. Archived from the original
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  35. Catania
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  43. ^ "Comunicato Stampa" (in Italian). Catania FC. 7 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
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  51. ^ Dan Silver (2 April 2013). "Political footballers: Paolo Di Canio and 10 other players who have nailed their colours to the mast". The Mirror. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  52. ^ Livorno Fans see Red – all the Time by Ian Hawkey, The National, February 5, 2010
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  55. ^ "Cristiano Lucarelli » Club matches". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 25 February 2018.
  56. ^ Cristiano Lucarelli at National-Football-Teams.com
  57. ^ Cristiano Lucarelli at National-Football-Teams.com
  58. ^ Cristiano Lucarelli coach profile at Soccerway
  59. ^ a b "Cristiano Lucarelli". Eurosport. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  60. ^ 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.

External links