Paolo Negro

Paolo Negro
Personal information
Date of birth (1972-04-16) 16 April 1972
Place of birth Arzignano, Italy
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Defender
Club information
Current team
Latina (youth coach)
Youth career
1988–1990 Brescia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1990–1992 Bologna 49 (0)
1992–1993 Brescia 26 (1)
1993–2005 Lazio 264 (19)
2005–2007 Siena 49 (4)
Total 388 (24)
National team
1991–1994 Italy U21 10 (2)
1994–2000 Italy 8 (0)
Teams managed
2010–2011 Cerveteri
2012–2014 Zagarolo

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


Paolo Negro (born 16 April 1972) is a retired Italian footballer and manager who could play as either a central or right defender. He was a strong, tenacious, hard-tackling, physical player, who excelled in the air, and who possessed a powerful shot from distance. He was also a tactically intelligent, reliable, and versatile player, and a cautious, disciplined defender, who excelled at zonal-marking. He was also an attentive man-marker, with reliable technique and distribution, as well as pace and stamina, which allowed him to be effective when moving forward along the right flank after winning back possession.[1]

In an 18-year professional career, he amassed Serie A totals of 362 games and 24 goals, namely in representation of Lazio, winning eight major titles with the club, including one national championship and the 1999 Cup Winners' Cup. He also appeared with Italy at Euro 2000, where Italy finished in second place.

Negro is currently active into football as Primavera youth coach of Serie B club Latina.

Club career

Negro was born in Arzignano, Province of Vicenza. A youth player at Brescia Calcio, he joined Bologna F.C. 1909 in 1990, and made his Serie A debut against Genoa C.F.C. on 28 October, amassing over 50 overall appearances in his first two professional seasons, the last spent in Serie B.

After a quick return with Brescia, he then went on to have a 12-year stint with Rome's S.S. Lazio. He won the Coppa Italia during the 1997–98 season, also reaching the UEFA Cup final that year with Lazio, losing out to Inter. The following season, Lazio won the Supercoppa Italiana, and placed second in Serie A behind A.C. Milan, but won the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, immediately followed by the UEFA Super Cup, defeating UEFA Champions League winners Manchester United in the final. On 17 December 2000, Negro scored an own goal in a derby against A.S. Roma, which eventually lifted the scudetto, as Lazio finished the season in third place. The previous season, however, he had helped Lazio win the Serie A title, with two goals in 26 appearances, also helping Lazio to capture the Coppa Italia and the Supercoppa Italiana over Inter, winning the first edition of the Pallone d'Argento. The prize is awarded to a player who has stood out during the course of a season, both for their discipline as well as for their footballing performances. Lazio also reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League that season. During the 2003–04 season, Negro was able to capture his third Coppa Italia title with Lazio, beating Juventus in the final.

Having joined A.C. Siena in 2005, Negro scored a dramatic 85th-minute goal to defeat former side Lazio 2–1 on the final day of the 2006–07 season; without it, Siena would have been relegated to the second division, instead of A.C. ChievoVerona. He appeared a further 50 times in the league in two campaigns, for a total of 363 official games, being an unused substitute in the club's 2–1 defeat of RCD Mallorca in the 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final.

In August 2008, almost one year after retiring, 36-year-old Negro underwent a trial at second level club Modena FC, but nothing came of it. In June 2011, he passed the category 2 coaching exams, which made him eligible to coach Lega Pro teams.[2]

International career

On 16 November 1994, Negro made his debut for Italy, in a match against Croatia for the UEFA Euro 1996 qualifiers (1–2 home loss). He received a total of eight caps with the Azzurri between 1994 and 2000, and he was selected by manager Dino Zoff to be a member of the Italian squad that took part at Euro 2000 tournament, where the national team reached the final, finishing the tournament in second place.

Previous, Negro was an essential member of the U21s, as they defeated Portugal at the 1994 European Championships, in Montpellier.[3]

Coaching career

On 30 December 2010, Negro took his first coaching job, becoming the boss of Promozione amateurs Cerveteri, a team from Lazio with former experiences in the professional tiers of Italian football.[4] He left the club after only three months, resigning on 23 March 2011 due to poor results.[5]

On 26 January 2012, Negro accepted a job offer as head coach of Serie D amateurs Zagarolo.[6]

On 5 January 2015, after Mark Iuliano's promotion as new head coach of Latina, Negro was appointed as a new youth coach for the club.[7]

Honours

Club

Lazio[8]

International

Italy[9]

Individual

Orders

5th Class / Knight: Cavaliere Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana: 2000[11]

References

  1. "Paolo Negro". Retrieved 22 September 2014.
  2. "Baggio's new life as a professional coach". La Gazzetta dello Sport. 18 July 2011. Retrieved 20 July 2011.
  3. "Nazionale in cifre: Negro, Paolo". figc.it (in Italian). FIGC. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. "Promozione, il Città di Cerveteri cambia in panchina: via Teloni, il nuovo tecnico è Paolo Negro" (in Italian). Il Corriere Laziale. 30 December 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  5. "Promozione, Paolo Negro si dimette da tecnico del Cerveteri. Al suo posto Fabrizio Carbone" (in Italian). Il Corriere Laziale. 23 March 2011. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  6. "L'ex Lazio Negro nuovo allenatore del Zagarolo" (in Italian). Resport.it. 26 January 2012. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  7. "Paolo Negro nuovo mister della Primavera" (in Italian). US Latina Calcio. 5 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  8. "Paolo Negro". Eurosport. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  9. "P. Negro". Soccerway. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
  10. "A Florenzi il "Pallone d'Argento" Coppa Giaimè Fiumano" (in Italian). ussi.it. 8 May 2016. Retrieved 18 May 2016.
  11. "ONORIFICENZE". quirinale.it (in Italian). 12 July 2000. Retrieved 19 March 2015.
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