Roberto Mancini
Attacking Midfielder / Forward · Sampdoria · Italy
About Roberto Mancini
Roberto Mancini is one of the finest Italian attacking players of the 1980s and 1990s — a technically gifted, creative forward who won four Serie A titles and three European trophies with Sampdoria and Lazio. He later became an even more celebrated manager, winning the Premier League with Manchester City and — most remarkably — the 2021 European Championship with Italy.
Roberto Mancini's story
Sampdoria's Heart
Mancini was born in Jesi and joined Sampdoria as a teenager. He spent 15 years at the Genoa (ITA) club — a one-club devotion comparable to Totti at Roma — and became the creative heart of one of Italian football's great teams. Under Vujadin Boškov, Sampdoria won their only Serie A title in 1991 and reached the European Cup final in 1992.
The Manager's Career
Mancini's managerial career proved even more decorated than his playing career. He won three consecutive Serie A titles with Inter Milan (2006-2008) and a first Premier League title in 44 years for Manchester City in 2012 — the famous Agüero moment. But his greatest achievement came with Italy's national team — winning Euro 2020 (played 2021) with a squad most analysts considered too young and inexperienced.
Italy's Euro 2020
After Italy failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, Mancini rebuilt the squad around younger players and a new attacking philosophy. Italy won Euro 2021 — playing an attractive, pressing style that won every game in the tournament — and were named the world's top-ranked team. It was the greatest managerial turnaround in Italian football history.
Did you know?
- 🏆 He won the UEFA European Championship as Italy manager in 2021 — rebuilding a squad that had failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup into one of the finest in Europe within 3 years.
- ⚽ He spent 15 years at Sampdoria — scoring 159 goals and becoming the most decorated player in the club's history — before joining Lazio and winning two more Serie A titles.
- 👨👩👧👦 Divorced Federica Morelli; has three children: Filippo, Camilla, and Andrea. He settled in Italy and coached the national team to Euro 2020 glory.
- 📊 He won six major trophies as a manager — Serie A three times (Inter), Premier League (City), and two European Championships (Italy U21 and senior) — a record matched by few European managers.
- 🎯 His Manchester City side won the 2012 Premier League on the final day, on goal difference, in the 93rd minute via Agüero's winner — the most dramatic title climax in English football's history.
- 🤝 His playing partnership with Gianluca Vialli at Sampdoria is considered one of the finest in Italian club football history — technical creativity meeting physical threat in perfect complement.
- 🇮🇹 Italy went 37 consecutive games unbeaten under Mancini before losing in the Nations League — the longest unbeaten run in the national team's history.
- 👔 His tactical innovation was notable for combining Italian defensive solidity with high-press attacking football — a hybrid style that many called the most complete evolution in Italian football philosophy.
- 🏟️ Wembley — the scene of Italy's Euro 2020 final win over England on penalties — became the defining image of his managerial career; the same stadium where England had hoped to lift a trophy for the first time since 1966.
Honours
- Serie A x3: Sampdoria (1991), Lazio (1999, 2000)
- UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: Sampdoria (1990)
- European Cup Final: Sampdoria (1992) — runners-up to Barcelona
- As Manager: UEFA Euro 2020: Italy — most unexpected tournament win of the modern era
- As Manager: Premier League: Manchester City (2012) — first title in 44 years
See the full Roberto Mancini profile
Stats, photo gallery, what the press are saying and the daily challenge, free on DailyPlayer.
Open the full profile