Vincenzo Montella

Vincenzo Montella
Montella as manager of Milan in 2016
Personal information
Full name Vincenzo Montella[1]
Date of birth (1974-06-18) 18 June 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Pomigliano d'Arco, Italy[2]
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
Turkey (head coach)
Youth career
1986–1990 Empoli
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1995 Empoli 51 (27)
1995–1996 Genoa 34 (21)
1996–1999 Sampdoria 83 (54)
1999–2009 Roma 192 (83)
2007Fulham (loan) 10 (3)
2007–2008Sampdoria (loan) 13 (4)
Total 383 (192)
International career
1999–2005 Italy 20 (3)
Managerial career
2009–2011 Roma U15
2011 Roma (interim)
2011–2012 Catania
2012–2015 Fiorentina
2015–2016 Sampdoria
2016–2017 Milan
2017–2018 Sevilla
2019 Fiorentina
2021–2023 Adana Demirspor
2023– Turkey
Medal record
Representing  Italy
Association football
UEFA European Championship
Silver medal – second place 2000
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Vincenzo Montella Cavaliere OMRI (Italian pronunciation: [vinˈtʃɛntso monˈtɛlla]; born 18 June 1974) is an Italian football manager and former striker. He is the current head coach of the Turkey national football team.

Montella's nickname during his playing career was "Aeroplanino", in reference to his small stature and trademark goal celebration, in which he spread his arms like wings.[3] A prolific goalscorer,[4][5][6][7][8] throughout his playing career Montella played as a forward for Italian clubs Empoli, Genoa, Sampdoria and Roma, and also had a spell on loan in England with Fulham. He is mostly remembered for his performances with Roma (1999–2007), where he won the Serie A title and the Supercoppa Italiana during the 2000–01 season, also later reaching the 2003 Coppa Italia final with the club. In 2013, Montella was inducted into the AS Roma Hall of Fame.[9] At international level, he made 20 appearances for Italy between 1999 and 2005, scoring three goals; he was notably a member of the Italian team that reached the final of UEFA Euro 2000, and he also represented his country at the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

Montella began his managerial career as Roma's caretaker manager in 2011, later coaching Catania the following season. In 2012, he moved to Fiorentina, where he spent three seasons, leading the club to three consecutive fourth-place league finishes, the 2014 Coppa Italia final and the UEFA Europa League semi-finals in 2015. After a season-long spell with Sampdoria, he was appointed Milan's manager in 2016, and later that year, he won his first title as a coach with the club, the Supercoppa Italiana. He was sacked by the club in 2017, and was subsequently appointed manager of Spanish side Sevilla. Despite reaching the Copa del Rey final and reaching the Champions League quarter-finals for the first time in the club's history, he was sacked by Sevilla four months after his appointment, following a run that included nine matches without a victory. He returned to Fiorentina in 2019, with the second spell lasting over eight months. After a period managing Adana Demirspor in the Turkish league, he was appointed as coach of the Turkish national team in September 2023, helping the team to qualify for UEFA Euro 2024.

  1. ^ "Comunicato Ufficiale N. 37" [Official Press Release No. 37] (PDF). Lega Serie A. 17 September 2019. p. 6. Retrieved 6 December 2020.
  2. ^ 2007/08 profile La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian)
  3. ^ "European football's best nicknames". UEFA. 27 January 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2017.
  4. ^ Dimitri Canello (15 April 2002). "Montella comes to the fore". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  5. ^ "Player Profile". BBC. 15 June 2000. Retrieved 27 June 2012.
  6. ^ "Vincenzo Montella". UEFA.com. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  7. ^ "Montella, il ritorno" (in Italian). Eurosport. 16 July 2007. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  8. ^ Mark Thompson (13 July 2000). "Vincenzo Montella Profile". ESPN FC. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  9. ^ "Hall of Fame 2014: Ghiggia, Ancelotti, Voeller and Candela inducted". AS Roma. Archived from the original on 19 February 2015. Retrieved 10 February 2015.