Ciriaco Sforza
Sforza c. 2013
Personal information
Date of birth (1970-03-02) 2 March 1970 (age 53)
Place of birth Wohlen, Switzerland
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Youth career
1986–1989 FC Wohlen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1990 FC Aarau 22 (3)
1990–1993 Grasshoppers 75 (7)
1993–1995 1. FC Kaiserslautern 61 (15)
1995–1996 Bayern Munich 30 (2)
1996–1997 Internazionale 26 (2)
1997–2000 1. FC Kaiserslautern 91 (4)
2000–2002 Bayern Munich 35 (1)
2002–2006 1. FC Kaiserslautern 47 (1)
Total 387 (34)
International career
1991–2001 Switzerland 79 (7)
Managerial career
2006–2008 Luzern
2009–2012 Grasshopper
2014–2015 Wohlen
2015 Thun
2019–2020 Wil
2020–2021 Basel
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Ciriaco Sforza (Italian pronunciation: [tʃiˈriːako ˈsfɔrtsa]; born 2 March 1970) is a Swiss football manager and former professional player who last managed Swiss Super League club Basel. After beginning his career with Swiss clubs FC Aarau and Grasshopper Club Zürich, he most notably played for Internazionale in Italy, and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and FC Bayern Munich in Germany. Sforza represented the Switzerland national team 79 times, and represented his country at the international 1994 World Cup and Euro 96 tournaments.

Personal life

Sforza is of Italian descent; his father was originally from Avellino, before emigrating to Switzerland.[1] Sforza was born and raised in Wohlen, in German-speaking Switzerland. According to his website, he is married and has two children.

Club career

Sforza started his career in his hometown club FC Wohlen. He was signed by FC Aarau in 1989, where he impressed commentators and fans alike. Sforza's precocious talent was soon noticed, and he was signed by Swiss club Grasshoppers Zürich one year later. He represented Grasshoppers during three successful seasons, also setting a record for the club as the youngest player to make his debut in the Swiss Challenge League.[1] He won the 1991 Swiss Super League championship with the club, and made his national team debut in August 1991. In 1993, after winning the "Swiss footballer of the Year" award, he moved abroad to Germany to play for 1. FC Kaiserslautern.[2]

Sforza became the general of the Kaiserslautern midfield and was recognised as one of the best midfielders in the German Bundesliga championship, also receiving a Ballon d'Or nomination in 1994, finishing in 21st place.[2] After two seasons at Kaiserslautern, he was bought by German giants FC Bayern Munich in 1995. Sforza was signed at the same time as German superstar Jürgen Klinsmann, compared to the homely smalltown club Kaiserslautern, Bayern was a team with many stars. Conflicts between Klinsmann and team captain Lothar Matthäus poisoned the atmosphere and many scandals underlined why Bayern is nicknamed FC Hollywood. Bayern also missed out on the German championship for the second season in a row, though Sforza was a part of the 1996 UEFA Cup winning Bayern team.[2]

Sforza initially had trouble settling in at Bayern, and after one season at the club he moved to Italy. He signed for Internazionale, where he was united with former Swiss national team manager Roy Hodgson. Sforza was regarded as one of the most promising young Swiss players at the time, and he made a notable debut with Inter, scoring the matching winning goal in 1–0 away win on 7 September 1996 against Udinese.[2] Despite the initial glimpses of his potential, Sforza also had a difficult time at Internazionale.[2] Although Hodgson had initially purchased him as to function as a playmaker, to solve Inter's lack of creativity in midfield, Sforza had problems performing consistently, and he spent a lot of time on the bench, although he was able to reach the UEFA Cup final with the club, and also managed a third-place finish in the league.[3] During his time with Inter, Sforza became known for his inconsistency in Serie A, and he is famously remembered in Italy for being referenced in the Italian film Tre Uomini e una Gamba, by Italian comedic trio Aldo, Giovanni e Giacomo; in the film, Aldo states that he had to purchase Sforza's number 21 Inter jersey as Ronaldo's was out of stock.[3]

After a single season with Inter, he moved once again – but this time to known territory. In time for the 1997–98 season, Sforza moved back to Kaiserslautern where he immediately made an impression, experiencing a more successful stint with the club and finally demonstrating strong and consistent performances, which justified his reputation as one of the leading Swiss players of his generation.[2] Even though Kaiserslautern had just been promoted from the 2. Bundesliga, Kaiserslautern became German champions, beating Sforza's other former team, German giants FC Bayern, to the title. Sforza spent two more seasons at Kaiserslautern, impressing commentators and fans alike.[2]

In 2000, he decided to give FC Bayern Munich another try. Once again, he failed to perform and spent a lot of time on the sidelines, although he later managed to participate in a more successful period with the club. FC Bayern had many star players competing for places, and the team won both the 2000–01 Bundesliga and 2000–01 UEFA Champions League titles that season. After two seasons at Bayern, he returned to Kaiserslautern for a third spell in 2002. The aging and now somewhat injury-prone Sforza helped FCK avoid relegation, however, in October 2005, he had a public falling-out with the club and was blackballed. He retired at the end of the season, in summer 2006.[2]

International career

Sforza was selected to play for Switzerland at the 1994 FIFA World Cup by national manager Roy Hodgson, putting on a notable performance, and reaching the round of 16.[4] He represented Switzerland at the UEFA Euro 1996 tournament in England, where they were eliminated in the first round. He also captained the Swiss national side. In total, he managed 79 appearances for Switzerland, scoring 7 goals.[5]

Managerial career

Sforza went on to become manager of Swiss team FC Luzern, and was sacked after two more or less successful years managing the team. On 9 June 2009, he was named as the new manager of Grasshopper Club Zürich. signing a contract between 30 June 2011.[6] On 13 April 2012, Sforza left the club after poor results.[7]

In February 2014, he was appointed as new head coach of FC Wohlen, replacing David Sesa.[8]

On 1 April 2019, he became the manager of FC Wil.[9]

On 26 August 2020, Sforza became the head coach of Basel signing a two-year contract. He took his assistant Daniel Hasler from Wil with him.[10] Massimo Colomba was goalkeeper coach and on 21 September the club announced that they had hired Patrick Rahmen as second assistant coach to complete Sforza's coaching team.[11] Sforza's first match was on 17 September in the 2020–21 UEFA Europa League second qualifying round against Croatian team Osijek which ended with a 2–1 victory.[12] On 6 April 2021 the club announced that, due to the lack of sporting success, FC Basel 1893 were separating themselves from head coach Ciriaco Sforza with immediate effect. They also announced that they separated themselves from Assistant manager Daniel Hasler at the same time.[13]

Career statistics

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sforza goal.
List of international goals scored by Ciriaco Sforza
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 16 August 1992 Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn, Estonia  Estonia 6–0 6–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
2 18 November 1992 Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland  Malta 3–0 3–0 1994 FIFA World Cup qualification
3 9 March 1994 Népstadion, Budapest, Hungary  Hungary 1–0 2–1 Friendly
4 12 October 1994 Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, Switzerland  Sweden 3–2 4–2 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
5 11 October 1995 Hardturm, Zürich, Switzerland  Hungary 2–0 3–0 UEFA Euro 1996 qualifying
6 13 March 1996 Stade Josy Barthel, Luxembourg, Luxembourg  Luxembourg 1–1 1–1 Friendly
7 6 October 1996 Olympiastadion, Helsinki, Finland  Finland 2–0 3–2 1998 FIFA World Cup qualification

Managerial statistics

As of match played 5 April 2021
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Luzern Switzerland 8 June 2006 10 August 2008 86 25 24 37 102 122 −20 029.07 [14]
Grasshopper Switzerland 9 June 2009 15 April 2012 111 45 17 49 175 156 +19 040.54 [15]
Wohlen Switzerland 16 February 2014 21 June 2015 55 28 8 19 88 68 +20 050.91 [16]
Thun Switzerland 21 June 2015 30 September 2015 18 5 5 8 26 31 −5 027.78 [17]
Wil Switzerland 1 April 2019 26 August 2020 48 16 11 21 71 81 −10 033.33 [18]
Basel Switzerland 26 August 2020 6 April 2021 31 12 6 13 48 52 −4 038.71 [19]
Total 349 131 71 147 510 510 +0 037.54 —

Honours

Player

Grasshopper Club Zürich

Bayern Munich

Inter Milan

1. FC Kaiserslautern

References

  1. ^ a b "Ciriaco Sforza: Sarà ricordato solo per una misera citazione al cinema" (in Italian). Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h "Scusate se segno…Ciriaco Sforza (Udinese-Inter 1996/97)" (in Italian). MaiDireCalcio.com. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  3. ^ a b "Sforza: Quanti bidoni in Serie A... ve li ricordate?" (in Italian). Goal.com. 2 January 2015. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  4. ^ "VE LO RICORDATE? - Ciriaco Sforza, tre uomini e un pigiama" (in Italian). SalentoSport.net. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  5. ^ "Vonlanthen a Sciaffusa, Sforza a... Wohlen". Archived from the original on 4 January 2014. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  6. ^ "Ciri Sforza neuer Cheftrainer – neuer Sportchef wird gesucht" (in German). gcz.ch. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 3 January 2010.[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ "Ciriaco Sforza räumt seinen Posten sofort". Fussball.ch (in German). 13 April 2012. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
  8. ^ "Wohlen: arriva Ciriaco Sforza". Tio.ch (in Italian). 16 February 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  9. ^ Ciriaco Sforza darf wieder Trainer sein, nzz.ch, 1 April 2019
  10. ^ FC Basel 1893. "Ciriaco Sforza wird neuer Cheftrainer beim FC Basel". FC Basel homepage. Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 26 August 2020.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ^ FC Basel 1893. "Patrick Rahmen wird zweiter Assistenztrainer beim FCB". FC Basel homepage. Retrieved 21 September 2020.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  12. ^ Caspar Marti (2020). "2:1-Sieg in Osijek - drt FCB ost eine Runde weiter". FC Basel homepage. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  13. ^ FC Basel 1893. "Der FCB und Ciriaco Sforza gehen getrennte wege". FCB and Ciriaco Sforza are going separate ways. FC Basel homepage. Archived from the original on 6 April 2021. Retrieved 6 April 2021.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "FC Luzern: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  15. ^ "Grasshopper Club Zürich: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  16. ^ "FC Wohlen: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  17. ^ "FC Thun: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  18. ^ "FC Wil: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  19. ^ "FC Basel: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 14 May 2021.

External links

Switzerland squads
Awards
Managerial positions
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