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   » » Wiki: Ciro Ferrara
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Ciro Ferrara (; born 11 February 1967) is an Italian former footballer and manager. Ferrara spent his playing career as a defender, initially at and later on at , winning seven total titles as well as other domestic and international trophies.

His most recent position was as manager of . He had also previously coached and the Italy national under-21 team. As an assistant coach to , he won the 2006 FIFA World Cup with Italy.

At international level, he earned 49 caps for the Italian national team and represented the team at the 1988 Summer Olympics, at two UEFA European Championships, in 1988 and 2000, and at the 1990 World Cup.


Club career

Napoli
A native of , Ferrara began his career with the youth system of hometown club in 1980. He graduated the primavera youth squad in 1984, and began to earn first team call-ups that season. He made 14 total appearances with the club in his first full season. The following season, Ferrara became a part of the starting XI, and he soon began earning call-ups to the Italy national team, making the squad for the 1990 FIFA World Cup. He also scored one of Napoli's goals as they won the 1989 UEFA Cup final. In addition to the , with Napoli he won two titles (in 1986–87 and 1989–90), the 1987 Coppa Italia final, and the 1990 Supercoppa Italiana, the latter over his future team, .


Juventus
In the summer of 1994, Ferrara transferred to -based club Juventus under coach , and was quickly introduced into the starting XI, making over 40 total appearances for the club in all competitions in his first season, scoring one goal. He is considered one of the best central defenders of his generation, not relinquishing his starting position for the club for the next ten years. He also captained the team from 1995 to 1996 and became one of the most experienced and decorated players of the past two decades, winning eight Serie A championships, six of which were with Juventus, and two with Napoli. Ferrara was also part of two titles (one with each team), three Supercoppa Italiana titles (two with Juventus, one with Napoli) and several European competitions, including the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Cup, Intercontinental Cup and European Super Cup). His role as captain, however, was taken over by Alessandro Del Piero in 1996.

Throughout his Juventus career, Ferrara played an important role in the club's backline, with his vast experienced and dominating defensive style. Throughout his 12-year tenure with the club, Ferrara formed impressive defensive partnerships with the likes of , Moreno Torricelli, , Gianluca Pessotto, , Alessandro Birindelli, , Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie and . Juventus had what was considered as the best defence in the world at this time, and teams strongly regretted ever going down a goal to the club, as they knew how hard it would be to score one back for themselves. In the 1996–97 season, one of his peak seasons, he scored 4 goals in 32 Serie A matches, while also being capped eight times internationally. Following the -winning season, Ferrara, along with veteran defensive teammates and , ended their Juventus careers. While Montero returned to Uruguay and Iuliano opted to join smaller clubs to conclude his career, Ferrara retired from football altogether in May 2005 at age 38. He made just four Serie A appearances in his final season with the club. Following Juventus' involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal, " Calciopoli", Juventus' 2004–05 title was later revoked.


International career
In June 1987, Ferrara debuted for the Italian senior squad in a against Argentina. In 1988, he was a member of the Italy team that finished in fourth place at the 1988 Summer Olympics after reaching the semi-final.


Style of play
An elegant yet powerful and aggressive defender, Ferrara was known throughout his career for his composure, anticipation, technical skills, ball-playing ability, versatility, and class, which enabled him to play anywhere along the back-line, both in the centre, as a man-marker ("stopper"), or as a full-back, usually on the right flank, and allowed him to adapt to various formations and systems. A world-class defender, who is regarded as one of the best Italian centre-backs of his generation, Welsh former winger described Ferrara and his defensive teammate at Juventus as "...the toughest defenders he played against", also adding that they were often very hard in their challenges, while Polish former midfielder has stated that Ferrara was the best defender he ever faced. A precocious talent in his youth, Ferrara later established himself as one of the best defenders in the world in his prime. He was considered to be a complete, experienced, consistent, cautious and successful defender, with a good positional sense, who was quick, athletic, strong in the air, a good tackler, and who excelled at reading the game and marking his opponents; these skills enabled him to be effective in both a man-marking and a zonal marking defensive system. In addition to his defensive skills, he was also known for his offensive contribution as a centre-back, and was also capable of playing as a sweeper. In spite of his tenacious playing style, he was also known to be a fair and correct player. In addition to his ability as a defender, he was also known for his professionalism, leadership, strong personality, and his commanding presence both on the pitch and in the dressing room.


Coaching career
Ferrara was part of the Italian technical staff for the 2006 World Cup. After winning the World Cup, he became part of Juventus' staff, joining former club and national teammate Gianluca Pessotto, with Ferrara being named youth system chief ( responsabile settore giovanile), dealing mostly with organisational aspects of the Juve academy. In July 2008, Ferrara took the UEFA Pro License coaching badges following training at Coverciano, . After Juventus fired following a string of seven league games without a win in the 2008–09 season, Ferrara was named interim head coach of Juventus on 18 May 2009 for the remaining two weeks of the season, with the goal of maintaining second place in the league table, and the possibility of being appointed on a full-time basis for a longer period. In his two games as caretaker manager, he led Juventus to 3–0 and 2–0 wins over Siena and Lazio respectively, thus ensuring a second-place finish over rivals . Following these results, he emerged as a strong candidate for to take the job permanently for the next season. On 5 June 2009, Juventus formally announced his appointment as manager for 2009–10 season.

During the summer, the team was then strengthened with high-profile signings such as Brazilian internationals Diego and ; 2006 World Cup champions and in defence; and young Uruguayan international Martín Cáceres, on loan. After winning his first four league matches, Ferrara's fortunes changed after Juve failed to make the knockout stage of the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League following a 4–1 defeat by Bayern Munich at home in a match where a draw would have awarded Juve the qualification to the following phase, despite a promising start to the campaign. Despite a win over Derby d'Italia rivals , Juve embarked on a losing streak over the winter, notably against minor teams such as side and recently promoted . He came under intense scrutiny from the media and there was much speculation about who would succeed him as manager, especially after he was absent at the traditional meeting of all Serie A managers, coaches and referees in during mid-season and was instead represented by then-Juventus director of sport and 23-year-old midfielder Claudio Marchisio at the press conference.

Six days later, Juventus were knocked out of the by Inter 2–1 at the , leading the board of directors to ultimately sack Ferrara after weeks of speculation regarding his position, replacing him with Alberto Zaccheroni until the end of the season.

On 22 October 2010, Ferrara was announced as new head coach of the Italy under-21 team, with former teammate his assistant. Under Ferrara, the Azzurrini remain unbeaten in the 2013 UEFA European U21 Championship qualifiers as of June 2012. On 2 July 2012, he left the country's U-21 side to coach newly promoted Serie A side for the 2012–13 season. However, he was sacked on 17 December 2012.


Personal life
With his fellow Neapolitan friend and former defensive teammate Fabio Cannavaro, Ferrara has helped establish a charity foundation, Fondazione Cannavaro Ferrara, specialising in the procurement of cancer research equipment and surgery for special cases of cancer for a hospital in their native Naples. The foundation also aims to help at risk youth in Naples.


Career statistics

Club
+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
0
0
2
1
1
0
4
1
4
2
2
3
5
1
1
1
1
4
1
1
0


International
+ Appearances and goals by national team and year
Italy0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0


Coach
20092010

Italy U-21 20102012

20122012

Wuhan Zall 20162017


Honours

Player
Napoli
  • : 1986–87, 1989–90
  • : 1986–87
  • Supercoppa Italiana: 1990
  • UEFA Cup: 1988–89
Juventus Official Site

Italy Olympic Team

  • Summer Olympic Games: semi-finals: 1988

Italy

Individual

  • ESM Team of the Year: 1996–97
  • (Reserve): 2000
  • Premio Nazionale Carriera Esemplare "Gaetano Scirea": 2003
  • Pallone d'Argento: 2003

Orders

* 5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 1991

* 4th Class / Officer: Ufficiale Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 2000


Assistant coach
Italy
  • FIFA World Cup: 2006


Notes

External links

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